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I wish less time was spent on that relationship and more weight was given to the other significant relationships in his life and the milestones he achieves in his adulthood.
But there’s beauty in it too - a nod to the book’s title. Vuong/ Little Dog is able to hold so much compassion for people, he chooses to see them in their gorgeousness - irrespective of the brevity of that moment. Long after the novel is over you’ll keep coming back to certain phrases, marvelling at how stunning and lyrical Vuong’s writing is.
One of my favourite passages from the book reads:
“Because the sunset, like survival, exists only on the verge of its own disappearing. To be gorgeous, you must first be seen, but to be seen allows you to be hunted.”
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Abortion, Abandonment
Minor: Biphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Classism
Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Excrement
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Written as a letter to his illiterate mother who fled Vietnam during the war, Little Dog shares his struggles growing up as a gay Vietnamese man in America at a time where tolerance was almost non-existent. You hear about his mother’s story of survival, along with that of his grandmother’s. You hear about the horrific things his family has endured and that he has endured at the hands of his family. So much emotion is in this book, it completely destroyed me.
I highly recommend this novel and if you can, get the audiobook so you can hear Ocean’s narration of it! This is one I’ll be thinking about for awhile….
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, Classism
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Hate crime, Homophobia
Moderate: Drug use
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Death of parent
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
I loved the writer’s style, the constant change of tenses, narration and the really thorough descriptions.
The story itself is hard hitting, I cried several times (please check the cw!!!!)
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Excrement
Graphic: Hate crime, Miscarriage, Abortion
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Grief, Alcohol