Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

354 reviews

floki56's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? No

5.0

Modern classic.

I was expecting a very specific book when I picked this up but Ocean really delivered in a different way. Internal conflicts and interpersonal dynamics are a main focus, and he weaves so many areas of little dog’s life into a satisfying synthesis. He also loves metaphor, goes on for pages and pages explaining new revelations in little dog, sometimes using extremely explicit descriptions (

quite a lot about feces and it’s relation to the soul and shame, multiple sex scenes

) Extraordinarily written book. Take your time through it; Vuong’s prose unsurprisingly reads a bit like poetry (in the best way possible).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Sexual content, War, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Hate crime, Death, Addiction, Blood, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Gore, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Racism, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Cancer

may_lol's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Violence, War, and Homophobia

mxajlikesbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Addiction, Cancer, Homophobia, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book is DENSE. I had to really turn my brain on to read it, which was not a bad thing, but it did make me take much longer to read it than I expected. Like in his poetry, Vuong's descriptions are vibrant and original. My favorite aspect of his writing is I can see exactly what he is describing, even though his manner of description is unique. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Racism, War, Abortion, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Drug use, Excrement, and Sexual content

Moderate: Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Medical content, Cancer, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

Minor: Gun violence, Cursing, Vomit, and Abandonment

Uses of slurs against LGBTQ+ folks

redheadorganist's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Animal death, Cancer, Sexual content, Death, Drug use, and Mental illness

Moderate: War, Homophobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

It just wasn't for me. This would probably take multiple reads to unpack.

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

srhi96's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, War, Cancer, Sexual content, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Cursing

Minor: Pregnancy

luciovalencia's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Violence, Addiction, Excrement, Cancer, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Homophobia, War, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

wardenred's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.75

Sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you’ve been ruined.

To be honest, I find it really, really hard to think of this book as a novel. It read more like a collection of essays with the occasional poem thrown in, or perhaps a memoir. In some ways, it felt like reading a journal. 

I'm in awe of Ocean Vuong's raw, poetic prose; multiple parts of the book hit me really hard, especially everything related to the generational trauma of war hanging over the family, and also the author's thoughts about writing and language. I did feel like everyone but the narrator wasn't so much a character as the narrator's impression/memory/reflection of a person, an attempt to understand them from the outside. As for plot, it's... very definitely not the focus. There's a coming-of-age narrative, absolutely, but it really reads a lot like "this is something that happened, and I'm having thoughts and feelings about it, and here they are"; a collection of losses and gains and reflections upon them. Which is not bad in any way! The book is really, really good! Just... not what I usually envision when I think of novels. Then again, maybe it's just that I don't read that much literary fiction?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cancer, Racism, War, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Bullying, and Death

stardustdreamer's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Blood, Cancer, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Homophobia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Abortion, War, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Vomit