Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

4 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

ptitirodactyle's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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: Abortion, Racism, Sexual content, War, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Infertility, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Dementia, Drug use, Homophobia, Cancer, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Excrement, and Mass/school shootings

clemrain's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I was not expecting sex scenes let alone the ones as graphic as the ones in the book. Beautiful writing that sometimes goes too long. But makes me excited to read the author’s poetry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Addiction, Death, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Racial slurs, Homophobia, War, Terminal illness, Abortion, Death of parent, Bullying, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Domestic abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

The sex scenes are not in there for fun. Nothing romantic about it. I skimmed or skipped over them because they were just hard to read.

the sex scenes portray internalized homophobia and really are on thin ice about consent.

vici_loves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• 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, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Mental illness