Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

107 reviews

mtaylor270'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Very artistic writing. Vivid portrayals of life as an immigrant, coming of age as a queer person, and the multigenerational trauma left from war. Unfortunately, the book felt unfinished to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Alcohol, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

ieotter13's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

absolutely gorgeous writing - truly poetic at times. loved reading it again for a friend (love u soph) and had sm fun annotating the prettiest of lines.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racism, Violence, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Classism, Death, Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Sexism

mirandyli's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

Beautifully written and will probably make you cry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, War, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

notartgarfunkel's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Abortion, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Body horror, Cursing, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Bullying, Cancer, Excrement, Vomit, Gore, Grief, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Fatphobia, Deportation, Pedophilia, and Transphobia

gabriella_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

His prose is beautiful and reads like poetry, it is recommended to read this before Night Sky with Exit Wounds, it adds so much more context to that read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Medical content, Drug use, Addiction, Bullying, War, Violence, Sexual content, Grief, Abortion, Xenophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Sexism, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Dementia, Death, Cursing, and Classism

purplehulk713's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

3.5

That was remarkable. Effortlessly elegant and profound, Ocean Vuong is an author’s poet. Little Dog redeems himself in his reflection, it seems, recalling the beauty of Lan, Rose, and Trevor, and how that both outweighed and encompassed their horrors and wars. And it does him too. Running towards the cliff is a choice for him because he lets himself fly instead of falling off the edge. Vuong’s voice along this journey was one of the most evocative and cathartic I have ever encountered. I adored his poetic use of etymology and data to express the trauma and truth of his characters. His critique of the United States is completely on point. Vuong truly understands how language informs us just as much as we inform it. This is evident in the Hoa Nguyen quote that ends the novel:

The past tense of sing is not singed.

This book is so raw and penetrating—I recommend listening to it and reading it at the same time. But I think the real question is—will you embrace your brief beauty?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Cursing, Excrement, Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Homophobia, Addiction, Blood, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, War, and Xenophobia

miller8d's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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

4.0

I read this book a few months ago, so it isn’t super fresh in my mind, but my memory of it entails gorgeous poetic language, brilliantly detailed storytelling, and incredible nonfictional world-building.
Note: I vaguely pictured Edvin Ryding as Trevor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Homophobia, Violence, Car accident, Grief, Torture, War, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Physical abuse, and Animal death

may_lol's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Violence, War, and Homophobia

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book is DENSE. I had to really turn my brain on to read it, which was not a bad thing, but it did make me take much longer to read it than I expected. Like in his poetry, Vuong's descriptions are vibrant and original. My favorite aspect of his writing is I can see exactly what he is describing, even though his manner of description is unique. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Racism, War, Abortion, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Drug use, Excrement, and Sexual content

Moderate: Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Medical content, Cancer, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

Minor: Gun violence, Cursing, Vomit, and Abandonment

Uses of slurs against LGBTQ+ folks

srhi96's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, War, Cancer, Sexual content, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Cursing

Minor: Pregnancy