Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

188 reviews

peggymay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Death, Mental illness, Cancer, Abortion, Xenophobia, Bullying, Drug use, War, Child abuse, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Racism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, Death, Drug use, Child abuse, Homophobia, War, Domestic abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Domestic abuse, Abortion, Car accident, Bullying, Racism, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Animal death, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Grief, Racial slurs, Homophobia, War, Cancer, Excrement, Addiction, Child abuse, and Blood

thestarsaresad's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

3.5

This book was good, but honestly I feel like I'm just too dumb to truly comprehend and appreciate it. I'm sure someone smarter than me could read it and come up with a bunch of important meanings, but for me, I just read it as a letter from a son to a mother. It's not that this book was boring -- it's not, I loved reading about his experiences -- but the reflection and different metaphors in the book honestly flew over my head. I've read a lot of fantasy books recently, so this book was a much needed breath of fresh air, of reality, of the human experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Animal death, Abortion, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Medical content, and War

bunny_rose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

Deeply sad and deeply beautiful 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Homophobia

zuriisawesome's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Xenophobia

bethmalena's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.0

The writing was really beautiful at times. Poetic. But it wasn’t my kind of memoir… some of the reflections and metaphors felt forced, and some of the stories felt too raw and graphic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Excrement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, War, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Racism, and Xenophobia

riellife's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Bullying, War, Grief, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Moderate: Gore

meghanelizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Car accident, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: Car accident

nlammata's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Racial slurs, and Child abuse

_jasper_394's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Xenophobia, Drug use, War, Sexual content, and Racism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Death of parent, Cancer, Terminal illness, Addiction, and Violence

astrangewind's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Oh, I love books written by poets. Ocean Vuong's attention to detail - to the smallest pieces that define human existence - add color to an otherwise difficult world. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous flows from one chapter, one paragraph, one sentence to the next with such captivating language, such vivid imagery.

My one issue with this book, and with Vuong as a poet, is that the writing sometimes abstracts itself so far away that it is nearly impossible to tell what is happening. And maybe the point is to blur the lines between the real and the not, like between a dream and a memory - but it's damn hard to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Grief

Moderate: War

Minor: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Domestic abuse