Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Brevemente risplendiamo sulla terra by Ocean Vuong, Claudia Durastanti

169 reviews

mxlodique's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Probably my favourite book I've read so far.
It's not at all a "regular" book, meaning that it's much more focused on the characters rather than on telling a common story with a plot. It jumps from flashback to flashback quite abruptly I'd say, which at first might be unsettling.
It tells a variety of stories: from the war in Vietnam, to domestic abuse, to living as an immigrant in an unknown country, to sexuality and sex, to drug abuse and death.
I personally loved it.
For my foreign readers/non native english speakers: If you're not really fluent in English this book might be a bit challenging, I'd say I'm a B2 and at times I found it difficult to understand. I'd suggest reading it in your native language if you're not confident in English, it's truly a beautiful novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, War, Death, Abortion, Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Child abuse

Moderate: Excrement

niaaaaa's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Blood, Animal death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Excrement, Hate crime, Classism, Bullying, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, War, Chronic illness, Vomit, and Homophobia

montyalmoro's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Gore, Homophobia, Addiction, Abortion, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Excrement, Bullying, Car accident, Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, War, and Xenophobia

hannahga's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is very different from what I typically read. It was very literary if that makes sense. Ocean Vuong spins language in a beautiful way. Words and phrases and sentences get tangled up and then he pulls them straight again with ease. That doesn't even make sense but idk how else to describe it! It was all just very poetic. The content of the book was pretty heavy so it took me a month to read which is crazy for how short it is, but I'm glad I stuck with it and read the whole thing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, Homophobia, Abortion, Mental illness, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Racism, and War

It is HEAVY and deals with a lot of intense topics.

leoniekross's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Took me a month to read, partially because the subject matter at times was very challenging to read through and partially because of the ebb and flow of how much the book sucked me in. The author is know for a writing style bursting with metaphors and imagery which I found well-done throughout most of this book but veering into bloated towards the end. I didn't vibe at all with the last 30 or so pages but the beginning is wonderful. As you can see, I find it truly hard to make up my mind about this book in its entirety but I will say that my mom enjoyed it, for what it's worth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, War, Car accident, Sexual violence, Racism, Grief, Cancer, Addiction, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, and Cancer

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Homophobia, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Racism, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse

Moderate: Hate crime, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, Dementia, Death of parent, Classism, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Outing, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Cancer

Minor: Bullying, Abortion, Excrement, and Vomit

n0elle's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, War, Racism, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Death, Violence, Bullying, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Cancer, Excrement, Grief, Terminal illness, War, Blood, and Child abuse

steffi_jo's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence

apintch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

killeenm's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I wanted to like this book but I really didn’t. The first part was the best in my opinion, and I did appreciate the book’s exploration of war, immigration, parents, and queerness. Overall, I didn’t understand the sometimes overly metaphoric tangents, even though I wanted to understand what they were getting at, I didn’t. They didn’t flow well with the rest of the book and seemed like an author’s attempt to work in certain points without actually having to tie it into the story. As the book went on, graphic descriptions turned gruesome and torturous to read. I’m not one to shy away from reality or portrayals of it, but it was too much for me at times, and most of the time it didn’t seem to add to the point of the book. It was obviously written by a talented poet, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Bullying, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Child abuse, War, Murder, Abortion, Violence, Homophobia, Hate crime, Excrement, Vomit, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Addiction