Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

60 reviews

aquaria127's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, War, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death, Abortion, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cancer, Animal death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

sketchydelusion's review

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Death, Sexual content, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, and War

Minor: Terminal illness, Dementia, and Panic attacks/disorders

hannahlouise_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

probably one of the best books i have ever read. i vigorously annotated every page, every word felt dripping with emotion and the weight of memory and remembering.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Abortion, Gun violence, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Gore

tinyjude's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Cancer

neni's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This is a tricky book to rate. The format is quite interesting and unique, the story being broken up into little sections or "scenes", like little windows into the character's lives. While this sometimes made the narrative confusing and hard to follow, it was very effective in making the reader feel progressively more immersed into the character's lives, almost like watching a movie or a showreel of moments that on their own mean nothing, but together make a full, human picture. The writing itself was incredible and, I think, perfect for the type of story the author was trying to convey. The style was beautiful in its flowery descriptions and moving with its raw imagery. I didn't have a greater time reading this book because, while beautiful,  it's also incredibly sad and depressing, so in order to preserve my sanity I kept myself from being as emotionally invested as usual. That, in itself, is proof of the quality of the book, since the story and its characters felt like real people. Overall, a great piece of fiction, I think useful for everyone to read at some point in their lives. Just be mindful of the dark subjects and  trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Excrement, Drug use, Abortion, Bullying, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, and Car accident

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

hannibanani29's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Abortion, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Racism, Grief, Cancer, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Homophobia, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Drug abuse

Minor: Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Alcohol, Classism, and Cursing

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, War, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Addiction, Violence, Death, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Cursing, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Cancer

Minor: Pregnancy

bites_of_books's review

challenging 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? It's complicated

3.5

There is no question that Ocean Vuong can write. There were passages that struck deep in my core and that I can't shake. 

Little Dog is a young man who is writing a letter to his mother, telling her about many aspects of his life that he'd never told her before. We learn about his family's story in Vietnam as well as what happened as he grew up in the US. This is all told in snippets that jump back and forth between memories, almost like a structured and poetic stream of consciousness. While it was beautiful it was also violent and raw and simply overwhelming at times. 

I so wish that the structure of the novel had been a bit more linear, adding that to the poetic writing made it quite difficult to fully appreciate everything that was going on in the novel. If anything, I think this is one novel that I'll get a lot more out of upon re-reading it. 

I'd recommend it but definitely check the trigger warnings before reading, be patient, take your time, and keep an open mind for a novel that is blurring the lines between novel and poetry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and War

bookwormfr_t0's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• 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? N/A

4.0

The book is beautiful, raw, harrowing, and captivating.  Vuong's writing is beyond impressive, the impact it had on me emotionally was staggering.  I would read it for a bit, feel very sad and almost hollowed out, then have to read something lighter after (look into the trigger warnings before reading!).

Some of the portions of the book went a little over my head - possibly too lyrical for myself.  It was still beautiful and I think someone who reads lyrical/poetic works often will be able to experience this to it's fullest extent!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Child abuse, Bullying, Addiction, Violence, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

Moderate: War