Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

57 reviews

notapollosdaphne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Grief, Racism, Bullying, and Dementia

Moderate: Racism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Addiction

caroisreading's review against another edition

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

4.0

I almost gave up on this book 70 pages in. The writing felt too decorative for me, like a really, really long poem. Then I saw that Ocean is a poet, and it started to make sense. Something changed in the pages after that, as I got used to his cadence and by the end, craved it. It's a difficult story, triggering, somber, a dry landscape. But the beauty really is in the poetry of every description, half sentences, fragments, trains of thought. This was a long read, because of how much meaning there was to absorb in every sentence.

I'm glad I didn't give up on this. I'll keep thinking about this memoir forever.

You'll like this is you appreciate memoirs, are in a mentally good place with darker content in real-life context, Asian American stories, LGBTQIA+ perspectives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Gun violence, Cancer, Physical abuse, Racism, and Transphobia

pastelmeganes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

Ocean Vuong is a brilliant poet and you can see it in his writing. There are so many good quotes from this book and his perspective and reflection on his Vietnamese identity and how that intersects with his status as a first generation child of a poor single mother as well as his struggles with his sexuality are conveyed with such thought provoking idioms, metaphors and similes that it requires you to try and encapsulate the true feelings he is trying to convey to his mother. He paints such vivid images with his mastery of the english language. His work envoked many emotions within me that i never reflected on. I would adore reading another book by him; I know he writes poems mainly but his work here was just so breathtaking and tantalizing and left me craving either another memoire in the future about his life again OR a work of fiction. This book was so simple gorgeous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Drug use, Cursing, Racism, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Bullying, Dementia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Genocide

ellornaslibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

It hurts, but the writing is so beautiful. . .

And when I've had time to process this raw, emotional, beautiful read a little more I'll add to this review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Abortion, Alcohol, Homophobia, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, War, Physical abuse, Dementia, Death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Bullying, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

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

angelbabe_cj's review

challenging 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Death, Drug use, Death of parent, and Animal death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Dementia, Car accident, Blood, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Racism

romanticist's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Dementia

Minor: Bullying

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

mckennikal's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

Vulnerable and insightful! Author has such a unique attention to detail. Lovely read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Death, and Sexual content

sorcha's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Cancer, Child abuse, Addiction, Abortion, and Death

Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, Vomit, Car accident, Grief, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Blood, and Bullying