Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

177 reviews

aein's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

This is a letter from a son to his illiterate mother. Knowing full well that she may not be able to read it, he spills everything on paper in English - the generational trauma, hardships of being interracial, and sexuality among a few. An acceptance that beauty is something we can be, no matter the briefness of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, War, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, and Cancer

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Miscarriage

poindextrix's review against another edition

emotional reflective

3.5

Apparently I read this in 2019, but that was a lifetime ago. Hard to imagine I’d forget something with such distinctly poetic language.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Sexual content, and War

kjofalltrades'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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Cancer

Moderate: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and War

Minor: Vomit and Excrement

a1exander's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, War, Addiction, and Cancer

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Excrement, Sexual content, Animal death, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Car accident, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Racism, Alcohol, Bullying, and Mental illness

roseblossom999's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Death, Terminal illness, Drug use, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

maxthebeetlesheep's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A stunning book that i knew i would rate 5 stars from the very first chapter. absolutely captivating and such an important read. if i could only choose one book to read this year, it would be this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Grief, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Blood, Cancer, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident, Classism, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, and Violence

Minor: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

kiandrareadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Addiction, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Sexual content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jayg's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Death, Homophobia, Alcohol, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Drug abuse, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

janineledet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

A young man pens a letter to his mother explaining their complicated relationship, his sexuality, and how his past and dramatically impacted his current perception about life. Poetically written this unbearing of the soul is heart-wrenching to read, particularly since the actions of those at fault are simply a consequence of their own past. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Racism, Grief, Gore, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, War, Pregnancy, and Drug abuse

Minor: Abortion

gaypoetree's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

wa wa wa wa waaaaaa. I love poets! I LOVE POETS!!!!! I AM CRYING OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me start by saying: when some people criticize the book as “too lyrical,” I understand and in some sense even agree. There are definitely lines in there that feel like they were inserted just because they sound poetic (though Vuong perhaps mocks this himself at one point, saying “that meant nothing but you have it now”), but that is very few lines in an almost frustratingly tightly-woven work. In some sense, those lines were a relief to me. I could brush something aside.

I don’t seek to rate books by perfection; that’s silly. Five stars, to me, is a work that made me consider the world in new ways, feel big feelings, and that I would– WILL– eagerly return to again and again. Check, check, check. Five-star book. The only book I own that is more dog-eared or underlined than this is the book that I used while writing my undergrad capstone.

To avoid this being too long, let me rest on what truly impressed me about the novel, and what edges it into prose poem territory in my mind: the very basic structure of the story reflects its overwhelmingly myriad and complex themes. I don’t just mean the way the switch between tenses relates to the conflict of switching between languages with different relationships to time, or how the invocation of parataxis as a poetic form also renders the characters as different images somehow modifying one another. I mean the little things, too. Theme: writing as a form of liberation that, yet, was given to the narrator by the oppressive culture. Expression: a repeated callback to beginning sentences with “and” or “because” (a thing he was taught never to do) in moments of resistance or of joy. Theme: navigating multiple languages of care, some of which are at odds with each other, often all at once. Expression: The abandonment of the epistolary form into something more obviously poetic when the narrator begins to speak of a personal trauma which is not familial, which his mother does not necessarily share. 

I need to stop before I get too excited again. Yeah dude. Good book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Drug abuse, Addiction, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Homophobia

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, and Domestic abuse