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buffy87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I think this book is for someone who wants to take the time to make the connections, analyze the structure and writing. If you're not that personality then this novel might just piss you off and come off obnoxious.
Spoilers ahead.
I find it hard to rate this book as well. It is complex on purpose. As if it is meant to be inaccessible. I think that's where you start to get into pretentious/obnoxious vibes that other readers have mentioned. There's a lot of recurring themes and motifs, tied in with extended metaphors. The table metaphor at the end I'm still struggling to really understand. Part of me is defaulting to that's lame, but another part is thinking it's probably beyond me.
I'm most confused why the gritty sexual details needed to be included in a letter to his mother. It didn't seem to fit the relationship that he was building throughout. And in fact, there was a middle section where it was mostly focused on Trevor which felt out of focus for the book. There was a lot of content shoved in the story and I feel like it overcomplicated something that didn't need to be. However, I think the point is that by writing to his mom about the things he loves (Lan, her, Trevor, writing, Hartford) they are all acts of honour because he loves her. Writing about love to someone you love, demonstrates how deep the love you have is. I'd say the scene where they confess parts of themselves to each other is what this whole book is.
What's interesting is I feel like the reader is deprioritized in this book. We don't really matter. Whether we get it or not doesn't matter. We're just voyeurs - and it really felt like weird trauma porn voyeurism. This book that is apparently a letter to his mom, where he lays out all the shitty things that have happened to his grandmother, mother, Trevor, and himself and somehow it has to do with love.
There's a small part of me that is judging the content as quite exploitative.
All that aside? There is no doubt that Ocean can write. He can WRITE. There were a lot of lines I highlighted in my mind that really made me think. I thoroughly enjoyed the actual words and way the sentences were built.
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and War
chaosbumblebee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
tessa52's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Dementia, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and War
aein'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Racism, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Miscarriage
t0rixoxo'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
on earth we're briefly gorgeous is about a gay, vietnamese-american and the letters he writes to his mother. these "letters" describe different parts of his life with her and other people in his life, such as his grandmother, lan, and his lover, trevor. through these letters we get a beautiful look on how the vietnam war affected his family.
definitely a 5 star book, ocean vuong's words touch a deep part inside of me.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Hate crime, Miscarriage, and Vomit
nadiadhansen's review against another edition
3.5
and i really wanted to like it a lot more - it has all the things i usually love, queer themes, minority perspectives, genre pushing.. but i have to admit the tangents were confusing to me a lot of the times, and i dont usually have a hard time following stories. i've seen other people write that they missed a narrative they could 'follow', a more gathered story, so you could know where you were going and i feel that too.
that being said i didnt dislike this book, i would probably still recommend it to people who i knew enjoyed lyrical writing
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation
catzngoenz'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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Racism
florenceassetto'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
3.75
Graphic: Miscarriage and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction
baddgerose'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and War
poppyedition's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and War