A review by rynicolereads
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I always know I’m going to love a book when @the.storygraph describes it as emotional and reflective. I wanted to dog-ear every page because Vuong’s writing is stunning (don’t worry, I didn’t ruin my signed copy).

The story is told by Little Dog (the main character’s nickname) in the form of poetic letters to his mother that are full of profound metaphors and intimate memories. This is one of those books that writers will love because every single word feels intentional.

“I am thinking of beauty again, how some things are hunted because we have deemed them beautiful. If, relative to the history of our planet, an individual life is so short, a blink of an eye, as they say, then to be gorgeous, even from the day you were born to the day you die, is to be gorgeous only briefly.”
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