Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

35 reviews

porridgegirl's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

"and you'll remember me, maybe." 
after an entire book about the complicated relationship the main character, little dog, has had with his mother, it's very human on the final few pages there is a passage about how little dog wishes his mother could be treated adequately in her life. because his character is really true to reality; we can hate or love our mothers for what they have done, but it is also by circumstance that they act the way they do. 

this book covers so much interesting material: the social turmoil and consequences of the wars in vietnam, race, homosexuality, and the american dream through an immigrant's lense. every page of this book i was deeply emotional and/or heavily interested in the main character's story; every page has its amazing quote. 

the best thing about this book is the way it handles family and the complexity of family. we have a natural bond with our family that is unlike any other relationship, yet our family can be our bullies and obstacles, whether they are the reason we flee from their homes or feel inadequate with ourselves.

now for the reasons it did not get 5 stars:
1. the character of trevor
i understand that trevor is little dog's first romance, so his character is supposed to be immature and irrational especially where the author tackles internalized homophobia and the social critiques of the "war against drugs", but i could not get along with his character especially since he is the main romantic interest centering the book. did i have a few moments at first where i liked him, of course, but most of the time i was begrudgingly rooting for little dog as trevor proceeded to detriment him through blatant homophobia and masculine resentment. 

and it wasn't just that trevor had blatant flaws; it was also that trevor had a lack of personality besides being contradictory in being an all-american white trash trailer park teenager while liking feminine things like sunflowers and baby cows. because that's literally all we know him by! in the passage where little dog reflects on all of the memories and ideas he associated with trevor, he basically keeps just saying "american gun-hauling teen with a horrible dad" and "sunflowers". i just generally wish trevor was a a little more agreeable and deep as a character.

2. the poeticism
this is also a big pro in the book, but sometimes the passages in the book felt more like singular poems than a novel. it felt like at certain points the author was trying to show off his use of metaphor, symbolism, and language rather than convey the main themes and developments of the novel. especially the table metaphor at the end of the book, it felt as if the table was definitely about family principles and heritage but maybe also a bit about functioning relationships.

3. the small details that should have been expanded
okay, i wish there was more history of little dog's mom rather than just lan, and probably the most interesting part of the story was the interracial communities in little dog's relationship with junior and their bonds. many parts of the story could have been explored much more and i would have loved to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Drug use, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Racism, Homophobia, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Genocide and Gore

grcompain's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.0

Vuong’s story is as deep and captivating as his writing style. This was a beautiful and heartbreaking story that keeps you down allowing you to come up for only brief and humorous pockets of air. This story was real and vivid. The writing was very poetic and the imagery provided, drops the reader right into the scene in the best and worst ways. I personally disliked the amount of the gruesome and gory details (animal abuse and body horror) which of course added emotional value but also distracted from the rest of the page. I found my mind stuck on horrible images long after turning the page. This book is beautiful and fearlessly describes the gorgeous, and the terrible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Blood, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Abortion, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Racism

pastelmeganes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Ocean Vuong is a brilliant poet and you can see it in his writing. There are so many good quotes from this book and his perspective and reflection on his Vietnamese identity and how that intersects with his status as a first generation child of a poor single mother as well as his struggles with his sexuality are conveyed with such thought provoking idioms, metaphors and similes that it requires you to try and encapsulate the true feelings he is trying to convey to his mother. He paints such vivid images with his mastery of the english language. His work envoked many emotions within me that i never reflected on. I would adore reading another book by him; I know he writes poems mainly but his work here was just so breathtaking and tantalizing and left me craving either another memoire in the future about his life again OR a work of fiction. This book was so simple gorgeous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Drug use, Cursing, Racism, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Bullying, Dementia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Genocide

fernreads42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Violence, War, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Genocide, Sexual violence, and Addiction

yummosocks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Animal death, Genocide, Grief, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, War, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Medical content, Cancer, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Bullying

Minor: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Racial slurs

aishallnot's review against another edition

emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

beginning was beautiful, middle i got lost, and end is a mixture of both, but I slowly was interested in the story again. 

no doubt, I did like this book and I'm glad that this is my first time reading ocean vuong's work. I think I just need to come to terms with the fact that time skips can be a 50/50 experience for me in books where they either work for me or they don't (which in this case it partly did). despite this, i will love to continue to read his works as I really loved the writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, and Racism

tetedump's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Car accident, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Abortion, Genocide, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Mental illness, War, and Xenophobia

naddl0r's review

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Colonisation, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Hate crime, Alcohol, Self harm, War, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail

masucolmusings's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

this made me simultaneously hopeful about life and despair my existence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, War, Violence, Mental illness, Hate crime, Genocide, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Suicide, Drug abuse, Sexism, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Dysphoria, and Addiction

reemoony's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

i used to be so pretentious when it came to giving books five stars. i thought they had to check this huge list of boxes, but they dont. if you enjoy a book, give it five stars. with that being said, i dont know if i enjoyed this book. it doesnt feel like a book you’re supposed to like, but you love it anyway. its gut-wrenching and hurtful and powerful and loving. it’s everything in the universe at once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Racism, Medical content, Terminal illness, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual content, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and War

Moderate: Car accident, Excrement, Rape, Medical content, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Police brutality, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexism