Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

636 reviews

aksmith92's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

TBD

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Racism, Abortion, Child death, Violence, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, War, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Cancer, Addiction, Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Car accident and Classism

Minor: Transphobia, Misogyny, and Sexism

Rape is not discussed as a rape, but it is assumed.

grace_madeleine's review against another edition

5.0

I feel like my heart has been viscerally scooped out of my body and replaced except it wasn’t replaced correctly like there’s a deep ache there after reading this like it’s touched parts of grief I never expected would be touched by a book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, War, Grief, Drug use, Homophobia, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Bullying

bossley9's review against another edition

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

4.0

Ocean Vuong is a phenomenal poet and writer with such a powerfully distinct voice. The words are beautifully written for his mother as a sort of memorial to remember her life and legacy. It starts out a bit slow but gains speed and focuses on generational trauma, racial and sexual discrimintation, and recovery. I recommend this book if you love poetry and love his poems. It crushes me to find out that his mother likely never got to read (or hear) his book before she passed away.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Gun violence, and Sexual violence

kimisaboss123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Death, Grief, War, and Cancer

Minor: Homophobia, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Hate crime, and Gun violence

ennsez's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Homophobia, Addiction, and Suicide

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

rachelfazio's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Racism, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Death, Homophobia, Addiction, and Drug use

zorazadiezahrah's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

lots of really good poetry, but struggling to find the overall message

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Addiction and War

Minor: Grief and Colonisation

golden_hanne's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Addiction and Abortion

Minor: Cancer

idk_indigo's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-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? Yes

2.0

I wanted to like this book, I really did. And some of it was incredible! I loved the unique formatting, a son's letter to his mother brought a very emotional approach to the writing, and also a perspective that is so interesting. Letters are very intimate, and that is definitely how the book presents, in emotion but also in what the letter-writer is choosing to share (especially with a mother). I also really loved the formatting, almost like a poem but in prose, and you can tell when you're reading that the author is skilled in poetry. So yes, I definitely think this book is all that people say it is: deep, emotional, tragic, and beautiful. 

That being said, I don't really think this is for me... it honestly felt a bit like trauma porn at times, which is probably an unfair thing of me to say because I understand that an entire facet of poetry is making tragedy beautiful (/s), but I found myself almost wanting to roll my eyes at times. Idk. Also, I know this is coming from the perspective of written correspondence, and that definitely changes how a person talks about themselves/their experiences/reality, but I genuinely just got very sick of the main character, Little Dog. And towards the end, the poetry-as-prose format got very old for me. There's not anything specifically wrong with it, per se, I just didn't like it. I think maybe it would've held up better if it was shorter, but I'm almost like there's a reason why poems are short. 

I may read something else from the author, maybe some of his poetry, because the content of this book was super interesting to me. I think I would have liked this better had I been in a different mood, but I am not, so... 2 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Xenophobia, War, Racism, and Sexual assault

tessa52's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Homophobia, Dementia, Excrement, Racism, Car accident, Alcoholism, Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Animal cruelty, and War