Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

133 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

The setup: This novel is a letter from a son to a mother who likely will never be able to read it because she cannot read, especially in English. Little Dog, our narrator, discusses his family's life before he was even born in Vietnam, during the infamous war there, and his own life, unearthing some traumas and revelations throughout his teenage years.

Much of the novel is about Little Dog's relationship with his mother, Rose, and her mother, Lan. There is an intricate discussion about their familial affairs and what it took the women to survive for Little Dog to be writing this letter. Then it's also a pseudo-love story about Little Dog and Trevor, a boy he works with on a tobacco farm during the summers. There is a little bit of grief, love, and hardship throughout this novel, and you can feel Ocean Vuong's poetic side coming out as he describes Little Dog's complicated life. Honestly, it's a story about nothing, yet about everything for someone like Little Dog. It intertwines addiction, violence, and a plethora of trauma into a novel that shares the story of a son and his mother. 

What I loved: This book was a bit haunting AND lovely - somehow both, sometimes at the same time (but not always). Vuong was a storyteller here.


TBD

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Classism and Car accident

Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, and Transphobia

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

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

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

mdavis26's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Racism, Car accident, Mental illness, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Grief, Terminal illness, War, Sexual content, Death, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

a1exander's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, War, Addiction, and Cancer

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Excrement, Sexual content, Animal death, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Car accident, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Racism, Alcohol, Bullying, and Mental illness

maxthebeetlesheep's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A stunning book that i knew i would rate 5 stars from the very first chapter. absolutely captivating and such an important read. if i could only choose one book to read this year, it would be this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Grief, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Blood, Cancer, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident, Classism, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, and Violence

Minor: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

arainey's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Death, Cancer, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Addiction, Physical abuse, Abortion, War, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Violence

Minor: Car accident and Dementia

jayg's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Death, Homophobia, Alcohol, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Drug abuse, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Addiction, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Gore, Abandonment, Abortion, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, War, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

nadiadhansen's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.5

this is a beautifully written, very lyrical and deeply sad and at times very touching autobigrafical fiction...

and i really wanted to like it a lot more - it has all the things i usually love, queer themes, minority perspectives, genre pushing.. but i have to admit the tangents were confusing to me a lot of the times, and i dont usually have a hard time following stories. i've seen other people write that they missed a narrative they could 'follow', a more gathered story, so you could know where you were going and i feel that too.

that being said i didnt dislike this book, i would probably still recommend it to people who i knew enjoyed lyrical writing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, and Miscarriage