Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

18 reviews

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

lupitabaeyongo's review

challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, War, Homophobia, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Racism and Sexism

emilia_digi's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Death, Cancer, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Addiction, War, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

meliflowers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

"All this time I told myself we were born from war - but I was wrong ma. We were born from beauty. Let no one mistake us for the fruit of violence - but that violence, having passed through the fruit, failed to spoil it."

I keep starting over and over. It's hard to put all of my thoughts into words. I'm mostly worried I'll end up putting too many of them.
I cried a few times and then frowned some times. Some of the scene coming dangerously close to my own experiences and feelings and other scenes so far removed from my world I had a hard time imagining them.

This book is filled with beautiful prose and I could quote a hundred things out of it. But the one I chose captures the essence of this book perfectly. It captures the reality of a Vietnamese boy growing up in the United States as a immigrant child. He explores various themes like war, trauma, abuse, addiction, immigration and racism but also gender and sexuality. Despite its heavy themes, the book is well balanced in its storytelling.

I picked this book up for its gorgeous title & cover and I don't regret it for one bit. I would recommend this as a mellow story, preferably read in a warm space with sunlight (the sun ought to compensate for some of the sadness you might feel). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, War, Xenophobia, and Homophobia

josie9's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Absolutely speechless, Vuong’s writing is truely ingenious, authentic and so freaking devastating 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, War, and Bullying

geneebee's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Dementia, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Racial slurs, and Sexism

jannathfazli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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

5.0

Vuong stole my heart with the prose (which is so poetic, I don't really want to call it "prose"). I don't know what else to say about this book, honestly. It broke my heart a little, but also fed it with courage and stronger will. The book is an experience that stands out from everything else I did during the days I read it. It is so lonely and self-sure at once, and that makes it beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, War, Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content

ocean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Death, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Addiction, Abortion, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Grief, Confinement, Medical content, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse