Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

358 reviews

amandamuchmoreparker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

torivt's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Homophobia and Physical abuse

thesoftestcowboy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Grief, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Excrement, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

livbreading's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault

siebensommer's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.5

what is a country but a life sentence?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Hate crime, Mental illness, Medical content, and War

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

greenan26's review against another edition

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: Addiction, Biphobia, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Xenophobia and War

carojust'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.

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Content Warnings

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

elliotlea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Classism

tori21's review

challenging dark 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

3.5

Needed to let the book sit in my mind for a bit to comprehend how I actually feel about it.
And I really wish I could bring myself to give the book a better score. I really do, but the disappointment I felt compared to my expectations and the overall hype, I just can't.
The writing style was beautiful and I loved how refreshing the poetry-like style was, but sometimes it got a little too much and left me confused. Which made me not enjoy the book like I wanted it to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Physical abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia