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emilia_digi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Death, Cancer, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Addiction, War, and Violence
Minor: Vomit
graciexpratt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, War, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, and Mental illness
coolasshit's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racism and War
Moderate: Homophobia and Toxic relationship
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Miscarriage
leahcull45's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Hate crime, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Homophobia, War, and Sexual assault
sadie_g's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, and Death
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Miscarriage
kia_y_k's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Addiction, Racism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, War, Sexual content, Drug use, and Death
Moderate: Abortion, Child abuse, Cursing, and Miscarriage
Minor: Excrement, Blood, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs
threeundertwopnw's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: War, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Addiction, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Mental illness, and Terminal illness
mareike_df's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
It's written like Goethes himself wrote it and the story is heartbreaking (and way better than Goethes Faust btw). But I just could not stand the long chapters where no sentence connects to the other. It is SO random that it is unnecessarily hard to read. The author has talent, that's obvious, but it's also obvious that this is his first novella.
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Grief, Rape, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Bullying, and Animal death
Moderate: Violence, Miscarriage, and War
higherwvrlvck's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This novel was heartbreaking. Although the primary story was about the main character, Little Dog, his mother, Rose, and his grandmother, Lan, it was also about his friend and lover, Trevor, his grandfather, Paul, and the character of the town Hartford, Connecticut and all those people it contained.
I read this book in about three to four days. Once I began, I could not stop. Vuong's language is captivating for both its beauty and relentlessness. Ocean Vuong puts on display the pain and the joy of having an immigrant mother who suffered through the Vietnamese War and domestic abuse. Vuong examines different standards of sexuality and masculinity in Little Dog and Trevor. He expresses resistance, his anger in words but continually recognizes language's failure to fully capture everything we want to say.
Stories by people of color tend to have this expectation of the characters of color be heroes, pick themselves up by the bootstraps, fight back, and achieve success, but Vuong simply tells it the way it is. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous depicts Asian American life from an Asian American voice. This should be enough. Bodies of color are not just faces for a movement, but lives worthy of being documented in Literature. Ocean Vuong does just this.
There are many, many topics of discussion in this novel. Depending on the emotional maturity of students, I think this would be a wonderful book to use in a high school world literature class and of course could be used in college curricula. I have heard many teachers argue that we don't read as many works by people of color because of time and lack of literary achievement, but Ocean Vuong has done both in this debut novel. I will forever cherish this story, and I can't wait to come back to it again.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Drug abuse, and Death
Moderate: Racism, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Abortion, Excrement, Miscarriage, Vomit, Bullying, and Alcohol
a_rock_to_live_under's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Hate crime and Racism
Moderate: Drug use, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse