Reviews tagging 'Blood'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

123 reviews

leoniekross's review against another edition

challenging 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? N/A

3.5

Took me a month to read, partially because the subject matter at times was very challenging to read through and partially because of the ebb and flow of how much the book sucked me in. The author is know for a writing style bursting with metaphors and imagery which I found well-done throughout most of this book but veering into bloated towards the end. I didn't vibe at all with the last 30 or so pages but the beginning is wonderful. As you can see, I find it truly hard to make up my mind about this book in its entirety but I will say that my mom enjoyed it, for what it's worth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, War, Car accident, Sexual violence, Racism, Grief, Cancer, Addiction, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, and Cancer

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Homophobia, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Racism, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse

Moderate: Hate crime, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, Dementia, Death of parent, Classism, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Outing, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Cancer

Minor: Bullying, Abortion, Excrement, and Vomit

cobwebshelves's review

emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcoholism, Addiction, Excrement, Bullying, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Gore, War, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Homophobia, and Grief

n0elle's review against another edition

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, War, Racism, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Death, Violence, Bullying, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Cancer, Excrement, Grief, Terminal illness, War, Blood, and Child abuse

kellyung's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Addiction

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Blood

Minor: Cancer

readbycarina's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Death, Addiction, Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Transphobia, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Racism

Minor: Abortion and Abandonment

giulia_rossi's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Blood, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Abortion, Addiction, Drug use, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Body shaming, and Panic attacks/disorders

adawada's review

challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal death, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Racism, Confinement, Racial slurs, Cursing, Addiction, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

ardentlyelle's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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: Child abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug use, War, Violence, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Racism

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