Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Brevemente risplendiamo sulla terra by Ocean Vuong, Claudia Durastanti

131 reviews

blanxx_2102's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Hate crime, War, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Death, Car accident, Addiction, Racism, and Alcohol

caroisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

I almost gave up on this book 70 pages in. The writing felt too decorative for me, like a really, really long poem. Then I saw that Ocean is a poet, and it started to make sense. Something changed in the pages after that, as I got used to his cadence and by the end, craved it. It's a difficult story, triggering, somber, a dry landscape. But the beauty really is in the poetry of every description, half sentences, fragments, trains of thought. This was a long read, because of how much meaning there was to absorb in every sentence.

I'm glad I didn't give up on this. I'll keep thinking about this memoir forever.

You'll like this is you appreciate memoirs, are in a mentally good place with darker content in real-life context, Asian American stories, LGBTQIA+ perspectives.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Gun violence, Cancer, Physical abuse, Racism, and Transphobia

cepbreed's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.5

I honestly expected so much more from this book. I was told it would be earth-shattering and remarkable but upon reading the last page I didn't have any strong feelings. That isn't to say I didn't like it at all or feel strong emotions during certain parts, but the novelty wore off. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous was obviously written by a poet. The prose has a poetic quality and so does the organization. Paragraphs and chapters are arranged in such a way that sometimes appears random and is in need of clarification, which in poetry you can get away with but in a novel it became tiresome as I was getting to the end. Vagueness in poetry is almost necessary, but a novel is a much less flexible medium. I think a part of the reason this quality was so glaring to me is because I just read Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks, another novel by a poet, but one that is much more successful. I enjoyed reading about Little Dog from his perspective and the concept of writing to his mother was intriguing. My heart strings were continually tugged and the intimacy of Vuong's writing made Little Dog feel like a friend. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, War, Grief, Homophobia, Racism, Cancer, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Gun violence, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, and Drug abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Classism, and Colonisation

sadiaa's review against another edition

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Grief, Death, Mental illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Addiction, Child abuse, Classism, Xenophobia, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Toxic relationship

grcompain's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

Vuong’s story is as deep and captivating as his writing style. This was a beautiful and heartbreaking story that keeps you down allowing you to come up for only brief and humorous pockets of air. This story was real and vivid. The writing was very poetic and the imagery provided, drops the reader right into the scene in the best and worst ways. I personally disliked the amount of the gruesome and gory details (animal abuse and body horror) which of course added emotional value but also distracted from the rest of the page. I found my mind stuck on horrible images long after turning the page. This book is beautiful and fearlessly describes the gorgeous, and the terrible. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Blood, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Abortion, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Racism

pastelmeganes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Ocean Vuong is a brilliant poet and you can see it in his writing. There are so many good quotes from this book and his perspective and reflection on his Vietnamese identity and how that intersects with his status as a first generation child of a poor single mother as well as his struggles with his sexuality are conveyed with such thought provoking idioms, metaphors and similes that it requires you to try and encapsulate the true feelings he is trying to convey to his mother. He paints such vivid images with his mastery of the english language. His work envoked many emotions within me that i never reflected on. I would adore reading another book by him; I know he writes poems mainly but his work here was just so breathtaking and tantalizing and left me craving either another memoire in the future about his life again OR a work of fiction. This book was so simple gorgeous.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Drug use, Cursing, Racism, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Bullying, Dementia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Genocide

fernreads42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Violence, War, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Genocide, Sexual violence, and Addiction

reeveriee's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, War, Alcohol, and Mental illness

Moderate: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Addiction, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Abandonment, and Domestic abuse

mtaylor270's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Very artistic writing. Vivid portrayals of life as an immigrant, coming of age as a queer person, and the multigenerational trauma left from war. Unfortunately, the book felt unfinished to me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Alcohol, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

pseudolain's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Abortion, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and War

Moderate: Terminal illness, Bullying, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Hate crime, and Misogyny