Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Brevemente risplendiamo sulla terra by Ocean Vuong, Claudia Durastanti

204 reviews

sashagalkina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Homophobia, Racism, and Abortion

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Alcohol

jackiedad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

Great book, I love how it's written in verse a little, the format brings the story to life. I did feel like it could've had a little more of something, maybe I'm missing the mom responding and making it more of a conversation than a one-sided letter. But I loved this book and would definitely recommend it to people who like reading books that don't sugarcoat the bad things in life while still allowing for this reverence for life to leap out of the page at you. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, and War

sofiadanielle's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Oh, how this novel made me cry. Vuong writes of his experiences and memories in a way that emotionally connected with me. Though we are not exactly similar, many of his experiences were lived in my own childhood, with my own mother, with my own sense of self as a first generation queer Asian-American. Impactful and raw, he invites the reader in to experience what he’s experienced, to almost feel it as if you were there. 

There are some sections where the writing style threw me off and I had to reread to understand, but overall, the book is quick to read, if only taking breaks because of the content. Still, I find this book beautiful, and I think the impact on me will long be lasting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Mental illness and Terminal illness

readinghavoc's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective 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? No

4.25

I’m having a hard time reviewing this because I think I need more time to digest it. Vuong’s writing is beautifully descriptive, and the juxtaposition of some more gruesome scenes with the most beautiful prose is really impressive! It struck a lot of emotional chords for me! But also, the most of the last 1/3 of the book sort of lost me. I’m not sure that that’s the book being bad though, I think it’s just a lot to process and a very stark style shift from the rest of the book that I wasn’t ready for. Overall I enjoyed it and am glad I read it. I think this is the type of book I’d enjoy more if reading with others who I could discuss with, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and War

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Violence

Minor: Terminal illness and Transphobia

211821181's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, and War

iris14's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

fronksnotdead's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sketchydelusion's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Abortion, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Dementia

hannahlouise_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

probably one of the best books i have ever read. i vigorously annotated every page, every word felt dripping with emotion and the weight of memory and remembering.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

dakotahreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Homophobia, Racism, and War

Minor: Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Car accident