Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

10 reviews

mikkiokko's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

No words, just astonishment. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Death of parent, Suicide, War, Homophobia, and Mental illness

fengxin's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Homophobia, Suicide, War, Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Cancer, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Violence, Car accident, and Racism

Moderate: Animal death

suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

ending the year with an ocean vuong bang. having read his last two books, i was curious about what he would do with his latest book— especially considering his mother's death and the staple that she had not just in his life and development into himself, but especially into his writing. in some ways, his mother was his work, she was his poetry. i think what this collection did exceptionally well was honor her and honor that staple that she had. while speaking on his sexuality, identity, and american politics, this collection became new in that it talked about his role as a writer and an artist. i would struggle calling this book poetry because it really reads like an ode: an ode to his mother, an ode to everyone who held a staple in his life, and an ode to his poetry, the persona that he crafted to make something great (and in this sense it also extends to the readers and the consumers). my only advice to people before going into this book is that reading his past texts are essential, since he makes many allusions to his past and his work. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Sexual content

krys_kilz's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

This collection was incredibly moving and several of the poems brought me to tears, especially the poem Nothing. I liked this collection better than his first, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, but it's similar in the way he plays with language, emotion and form. It's definitely a collection I plan to return to.

My favorite poems in the collection were: The Bull, Dear Peter, Beautiful Short Loser, American Legend, Not Even, Nothing and Ars Poetica as the Maker.

"I'm not sad, he told me once, laughing, I'm just always here."

"I know. I know the room you've been crying in is called America.
I know the door is not invented yet."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, and War

Minor: Suicide

sonyareadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Cancer, Mental illness, Suicide, Death, and Death of parent

vigil's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

for the most part, this collection didn’t hit as hard as his previous one for me. the poems in this one truly shined the more reflective they were, especially those focusing on the gathering thread of the poems, his mother. 

but so much time was spent, in my opinion, meandering that i believe that you could remove the first section and the collection would be stronger for it. my favorite of them all is section 2 where he really began to shine, and returned to the things that made me enjoy his poetry in the first place. the final two sections didn’t quite manage to live up to the second, but it was miles better than that first portion. 

my personal standouts here are:
the last dinosaur 

waterline

rise & shine

dear t

amazon history of a former nail salon worker 

nothing 

ars poetica as the maker

the punctum

tell me something good

woodworking at the end of the world

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, War, Suicide, Cancer, Death of parent, Mental illness, Bullying, and Death

lowbrowhighart's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Sexual assault, Cancer, Mental illness, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, War, Xenophobia, and Police brutality

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

auger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

I am the first to say that modern poetry can be disappointing to say the least. Vuong avoided everything that makes modern poetry cringy. He is quite criptic and the way his scentences start as one thing and end up as another is remarkable and very kawakami. Love it and will reread it many times over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Suicide, Self harm, Sexual content, Death, Cancer, Death of parent, Addiction, Racism, Police brutality, Mental illness, Blood, and War

pollyflorence's review against another edition

emotional reflective

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Death, Racism, Grief, and Mental illness

nstew16's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, and Death