Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

366 reviews

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

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

Moderate: Violence, Car accident, Abortion, and War

Minor: Vomit

kay_ne's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This was an emotional, beautiful, and difficult read that made me cry and tear up many times.  

It's not for everyone. The literary prose and writing can be confusing along with his themes that are difficult to get through at times. 

Content warnings may not include all that is in the book and tags shown may be in both graphic or moderate as I didn't keep track.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Racism, and War

Minor: Cancer

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Blood

bookish_skies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Drug abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Excrement, and War

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

booksndboba's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Homophobia

readingthebacklist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is simultaneously raw and tender, tentative and aggressive that it dispossessed me of my emotional defense cloak and confronted my own convoluted feelings about my mother. The knotted ball of resentment, guilt and admiration…I’m still processing the scope of this beautiful, fragmentary novel that impossibly, feels like so much of it was written just for me. 

 

Voung touches on a breadth of issues (war, masculinity, queerness, trauma, the opioid epidemic), but near and dear to my lived experience are immigration, language, family relationships, and social class – all written unflinchingly, but also with grace and warmth. I LOVE THIS BOOK

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and War

nicnevin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Poetic and raw, it's honestly beyond words for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Classism

kaimetcalfe's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Excrement and Medical content