Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

39 reviews

niaaaaa's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Blood, Animal death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Excrement, Hate crime, Classism, Bullying, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, War, Chronic illness, Vomit, and Homophobia

montyalmoro's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Gore, Homophobia, Addiction, Abortion, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Excrement, Bullying, Car accident, Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, War, and Xenophobia

hannahga's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

This book is very different from what I typically read. It was very literary if that makes sense. Ocean Vuong spins language in a beautiful way. Words and phrases and sentences get tangled up and then he pulls them straight again with ease. That doesn't even make sense but idk how else to describe it! It was all just very poetic. The content of the book was pretty heavy so it took me a month to read which is crazy for how short it is, but I'm glad I stuck with it and read the whole thing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, Homophobia, Abortion, Mental illness, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Racism, and War

It is HEAVY and deals with a lot of intense topics.

novella42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

I can still hear Vuong's gentle, relentless voice when I read quotes or pages from the hardcopy I finally picked up. Sometimes I read a little to remind the writer part of my brain how lyrical words work, and what kind of writer I want to be.

His author-read audiobook performance of this powerful book was nothing short of magnificent. 

A queer Vietnamese American man writes a letter to his mother, a survivor of the Vietnam War, who cannot read. His love for her, and hers for him, is ferocious and beautiful beyond words. Vuong is a poet, but strangely, I find his novel more compelling than his poetry. Tons of content warnings, to the degree I don't know when I will ever feel mentally resilient enough in my own C-PTSD to re-read it in its entirety, but if you're in the mood for a good cry, I can't think of anything more cathartic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Chronic illness, Blood, Homophobia, Car accident, Misogyny, War, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Self harm, Addiction, Sexual content, Animal death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Cancer, Abortion, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Excrement, Cursing, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Gore, Pregnancy, Dementia, Suicide, Sexual assault, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Child death, Rape, Abandonment, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, Body horror, Sexism, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Torture, Cannibalism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Adult/minor relationship, War, Confinement, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, and Murder

mariopartygod's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

I loved the metaphors in this book and I hope they'll stick with me for a long time.

The monarchs traveling for winter, but only their children return. And the buffalos not having a choice but to run off the cliff, as nature and their family prescribes.

I loved how vulnerable the author was, and how they seemed to remember that the most in other people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Racism, Addiction, Bullying, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Mental illness, Excrement, Cursing, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, and Miscarriage

lostboylio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

5.0

nothing i could ever say in this review would sound nearly as good as anything written in this book.
truly heartbreaking and amazingly beautiful! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Abortion, Drug use, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Abandonment, Homophobia, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Bullying, Death, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Gun violence, and Hate crime

aquaria127's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, War, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death, Abortion, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cancer, Animal death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

hannahlouise_'s review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

probably one of the best books i have ever read. i vigorously annotated every page, every word felt dripping with emotion and the weight of memory and remembering.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Abortion, Gun violence, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Gore

forestblue's review against another edition

Graphic animal abuse is not the vibe for a bedtime book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Excrement, War, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Vomit

sunsetcity's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, War, Grief, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Dementia, Drug use, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Trafficking, and Violence