Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

this book is so beautifully written. ocean vuong's writing style is so poetic and detailed that i truly felt invested in these characters.

on earth we're briefly gorgeous is about a gay, vietnamese-american and the letters he writes to his mother. these "letters" describe different parts of his life with her and other people in his life, such as his grandmother, lan, and his lover, trevor. through these letters we get a beautiful look on how the vietnam war affected his family.

definitely a 5 star book, ocean vuong's words touch a deep part inside of me.

Content Warnings

pezinho's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

The way that the family dynamic was written was so beautiful. Even regarding the negative aspects of it, it was done in a way that felt so real and relatable. Many aspects of the relationship between mother and son and mother and daughter were written in ways that even if I didn't necessarily relate to it I still felt like I could understand what they felt and their motivations.

The relationship between Trevor and the main character started interesting but the longer it progressed it became very clear that they weren't a good match for each other and that it was an unbalanced relationship, so having it be such a recurring point of the book was not to my liking.

Both his relationship with his mom and his relationship with Trevor was problematic at points, however, you can see that there was love when it came to his mom and you were able to understand where she was coming from, whereas, in Trevor's case, I don't think the way he treated Little Dog can be justified by anything (other than drug abuse but alas). I guess that's why I'm more critical and didn't necessarily like reading about Trevor.

There are some books I read that fall into the "literary fiction" genre that are SO literally that I find myself struggling to make sense of some of the things written. I'm sure they have a deep meaning, I just couldn't figure out what they were. Especially around the later half of the book, at times each paragraph felt like it was talking about something else, and the writing was so poetic. The poetry was beautiful but hard to follow.

Content Warnings

delliomellidom's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-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

3.5

It is a beautifully written book; I am in love with the author's prose. The story was non-linear, which made certain portions difficult to know where exactly they fit into the story.

I hadn't known there would be Graphic animal abuse and death. I could have done without it.

There is graphic sex, which was fine with me, but still a little unexpected.

This story is going to stick with me, and I don't doubt there are specific portions I'll be revisiting.

Content Warnings

emilygibbs's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

Content Warnings

sunscanid's review against another edition

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emotional 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

if you're considering reading this, do it

Content Warnings

books_tea_blanket's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad 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

Poetic and sad. Focuses on hard times as a part of the hard lives of the characters. You wanted characters lives to improve, but that doesn’t always happen in real life

Content Warnings

ienbdri's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring 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

4.5

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