Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

44 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

minnie_xx's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

really beautifully written. you can tell vuong is a poet. page 153-160 are really  special.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Dementia, Cursing, Alcohol, Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Genocide, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Bullying, and Alcoholism

eve_o's review

challenging 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: Cancer, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Sexual content, Racism, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Confinement

Minor: Car accident and Excrement

violetends's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.75

Read for my bookclub. I simultaneously loved and loathed this book. This was so emotional and cut me deeply while also bringing words to experiences, feelings and thoughts I never knew I sought to express. This was heavy and I had to lay it aside mutiple times, occasionally even to cry. Ocean Vuong writes so beautifully I can only find cheesy phrases to express it since I do not share his gift to find such haunting imagery with which to translate what is happening inside of me. I cannot wait to read further novels and his poetry as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexual content, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

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

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I don’t really read poetry but I have now put Vuong’s works on hold at the library. The writing of this is incredibly lyrical almost dreamlike (or nightmare?). 
I also don’t annotate books but I want a physical copy of this book to annotate because there are so many wonderful lines and quotes and more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Drug abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Vomit, Abandonment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Animal death

moonbebe722's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, War, Addiction, Drug use, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Colonisation, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Xenophobia

Minor: Excrement

margozaldivar's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Abandonment, Transphobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use

yeuniversse's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Addiction, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, War, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

buchstabenmaedchen's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Bullying, Abandonment, Abortion, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship