Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Op aarde schitteren we even by Ocean Vuong

72 reviews

giulia_rossi's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Blood, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Abortion, Addiction, Drug use, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Body shaming, and Panic attacks/disorders

raelong12's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Animal death, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Car accident, Classism, Addiction, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Racism, Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and War

mmiirrpp's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad

• 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

This is one of my favourite books of all time. Reading this book felt like I was being gripped by the shoulders and forced to look at my life up close through Ocean Vuong's poetic musings on his own. 

While this book did touch me deeply I would warn people, particularly survivors of abuse and POC, that this book can be painful to read at times and to check the content warnings left by other reviewers. I couldn't finish it the first time around, nor could the majority of my queer Asian friends that I recommended it to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Grief, Racism, and Child abuse

Moderate: War, Transphobia, Outing, Colonisation, and Sexual assault

broccoli_mmm's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective

• 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

“To be an American boy, and then an American boy with a gun, is to move from one end of a cage to another”

“They say nothing lasts forever but they’re just scared it will last longer than they can love it”

Absolutely beautiful. Please read this i am begging you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Violence, Mental illness, Racism, Classism, Cancer, Death, Grief, Homophobia, and Colonisation

novella42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I can still hear Vuong's gentle, relentless voice when I read quotes or pages from the hardcopy I finally picked up. Sometimes I read a little to remind the writer part of my brain how lyrical words work, and what kind of writer I want to be.

His author-read audiobook performance of this powerful book was nothing short of magnificent. 

A queer Vietnamese American man writes a letter to his mother, a survivor of the Vietnam War, who cannot read. His love for her, and hers for him, is ferocious and beautiful beyond words. Vuong is a poet, but strangely, I find his novel more compelling than his poetry. Tons of content warnings, to the degree I don't know when I will ever feel mentally resilient enough in my own C-PTSD to re-read it in its entirety, but if you're in the mood for a good cry, I can't think of anything more cathartic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Chronic illness, Blood, Homophobia, Car accident, Misogyny, War, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Self harm, Addiction, Sexual content, Animal death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Cancer, Abortion, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Excrement, Cursing, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Gore, Pregnancy, Dementia, Suicide, Sexual assault, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Child death, Rape, Abandonment, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, Body horror, Sexism, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Torture, Cannibalism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Adult/minor relationship, War, Confinement, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, and Murder

ptitirodactyle's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Racism, Sexual content, War, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Infertility, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Dementia, Drug use, Homophobia, Cancer, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Excrement, and Mass/school shootings

rachbake's review against another edition

challenging 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug use, Homophobia, and Excrement

forestblue's review against another edition

Graphic animal abuse is not the vibe for a bedtime book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Excrement, War, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Vomit

tinyjude's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Cancer

neni's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• 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

This is a tricky book to rate. The format is quite interesting and unique, the story being broken up into little sections or "scenes", like little windows into the character's lives. While this sometimes made the narrative confusing and hard to follow, it was very effective in making the reader feel progressively more immersed into the character's lives, almost like watching a movie or a showreel of moments that on their own mean nothing, but together make a full, human picture. The writing itself was incredible and, I think, perfect for the type of story the author was trying to convey. The style was beautiful in its flowery descriptions and moving with its raw imagery. I didn't have a greater time reading this book because, while beautiful,  it's also incredibly sad and depressing, so in order to preserve my sanity I kept myself from being as emotionally invested as usual. That, in itself, is proof of the quality of the book, since the story and its characters felt like real people. Overall, a great piece of fiction, I think useful for everyone to read at some point in their lives. Just be mindful of the dark subjects and  trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Excrement, Drug use, Abortion, Bullying, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, and Car accident