Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

71 reviews

naddl0r's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Colonisation, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Hate crime, Alcohol, Self harm, War, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail

josi1911's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Grief, Death, Racism, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Homophobia, Cancer, War, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Blood

raiju's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Addiction, Cancer, Car accident, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Abortion, Alcoholism, Death, and Colonisation

rgrgrg's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Drug use, Drug abuse, War, Sexual content, Death of parent, Colonisation, Violence, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Abortion

jasminawithab's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

imo there was absolutely no need for that many explicit sex scenes and its the main reason I'm not rating it higher. the writing in the sex scenes honestly felt like a wattpad fanfic and it felt so out of place next to the rest of the books stunning poetic, flowery language.
the book is set in 3 parts; part one was the best and its the part i resonated with the most (i cried multiple times cause i did not expect to be seen like that). I think you could remove most, if not all, of part 2 and the book would not be any different. Part 3 was fine but it felt disjointed at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Colonisation, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia

aliciae08's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

This was one of those books that I’d always heard great things about, and although I agree that Ocean Vuong’s writting was beautiful. He can draw you in and make you feel thing that are all at once love, hate, annoyance and understanding.  What a gift.  

At the same time I felt really complicated feelings around Little Dog, his relationship to his family, his relationship to Trevor and his relationship with himself.  There were times I was confused as Vuong brought us back to the past and forward to the present with no story fully complete.  However, if this is a letter to L.D.’s mother, then she’d know some of the stories so they wouldn’t need to be fully complete.  It was still sometimes a little frustrating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Colonisation, Drug use, Homophobia, Bullying, War, and Grief

Moderate: Excrement, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Abortion, and Physical abuse

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.5

This is absolutely beautifully written and absolutely heart wrenching.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Addiction, Cancer, Dementia, Excrement, Violence, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, Medical content, War, and Xenophobia

edgaranjapoe'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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Homophobia, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Racism, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse

Moderate: Hate crime, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, Dementia, Death of parent, Classism, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Outing, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Cancer

Minor: Bullying, Abortion, Excrement, and Vomit

killeenm's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

2.0

I wanted to like this book but I really didn’t. The first part was the best in my opinion, and I did appreciate the book’s exploration of war, immigration, parents, and queerness. Overall, I didn’t understand the sometimes overly metaphoric tangents, even though I wanted to understand what they were getting at, I didn’t. They didn’t flow well with the rest of the book and seemed like an author’s attempt to work in certain points without actually having to tie it into the story. As the book went on, graphic descriptions turned gruesome and torturous to read. I’m not one to shy away from reality or portrayals of it, but it was too much for me at times, and most of the time it didn’t seem to add to the point of the book. It was obviously written by a talented poet, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Bullying, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Child abuse, War, Murder, Abortion, Violence, Homophobia, Hate crime, Excrement, Vomit, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Addiction

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