Reviews tagging Genocide

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong

25 reviews

reemoony's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i used to be so pretentious when it came to giving books five stars. i thought they had to check this huge list of boxes, but they dont. if you enjoy a book, give it five stars. with that being said, i dont know if i enjoyed this book. it doesnt feel like a book you’re supposed to like, but you love it anyway. its gut-wrenching and hurtful and powerful and loving. it’s everything in the universe at once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Racism, Medical content, Terminal illness, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual content, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and War

Moderate: Car accident, Excrement, Rape, Medical content, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Police brutality, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

minnie_xx's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

really beautifully written. you can tell vuong is a poet. page 153-160 are really  special.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Dementia, Cursing, Alcohol, Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Genocide, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Bullying, and Alcoholism

mjones14's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

I did really enjoy this book, but I believe it is more of a writer's book than a reader's book. In every way possible, this is what aspire to write like, but as a result it is not the easiest to read. 

I'm in love with the story. There wasn't a moment that I didn't feel sad in some type of way. Whilst it isn't a crying type of sad, it was enough to make me nostalgic for my own heritage and choices.

All in all, I'm confused by my reaction to this book, but I know its something special. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Gun violence, Homophobia, Cancer, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Animal death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Genocide, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Genocide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Terminal illness

savvylit's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This novel is an incredibly beautiful and heartbreaking exploration of parental love, intergenerational trauma, burgeoning queer love, and the opioid crisis. The narrator, Little Dog, paints a deeply nuanced portrait of his life through the lens of his complicated mother-son relationship. By continuously recognizing his mother's own traumatic past, he's able to better comprehend her tendencies towards coldness and cruelty. Despite their difficulties, the love between Little Dog and his mother is obvious. At its heart, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a marvelous reminder that familial love is a complex spectrum.

More than the unforgettable content of the novel (I won't spoil it!), perhaps the best thing about this book is Ocean Vuong's overwhelming talent. Vuong's background as a poet is evident in each of his perfectly crafted, haunting sentences. Some of them were too wonderful not to share. See for yourself:

"I believe the wound is also the place where the skin reencounters itself, asking of each end, where have you been?"

"In a world myriad as ours, the gaze is a singular act: to look at something is to fill your whole life with it, if only briefly."

"You once told me that the human eye is god's loneliest creation. How so much of the world passes through the pupil and still it holds nothing. The eye, alone in its socket, doesn't even know there's another one, just like it, an inch away, just as hungry, as empty."

"Too much joy, I swear, is lost in our desperation to keep it."

"They say nothing lasts forever but they're just scared it will last longer than they can love it."

"Let no one mistake us for the fruit of violence - but that violence, having passed through the fruit, failed to spoil it."

"Because freedom, I am told, is nothing but the distance between the hunter and its prey."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Sexual content, Death, Grief, War, Violence, Drug use, and Child abuse

hannahlouise_'s review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

probably one of the best books i have ever read. i vigorously annotated every page, every word felt dripping with emotion and the weight of memory and remembering.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Genocide, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Abortion, Gun violence, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Gore

tinyjude's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Cancer

mairi_red's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, War, Racism, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Genocide, Violence, and Xenophobia

yolie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

This book needs you to take your time. Although the novel appears slim it is quite tense in terms of the content and Vuong’s prose. Some chapters read more like short stories and long form poetry than a linear account. The book has moments of absolute hopelessness, you’re shattered by Little Dog’s accounts of growing up an Asian immigrant in America, gay and poor. 
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.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Blood, Dementia, Drug abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Violence, Addiction, Racism, Toxic relationship, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Alcoholism, Vomit, Violence, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Cursing

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Classism, and Biphobia

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Violence, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Self harm, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Injury/injury detail, Homophobia, Genocide, Cancer, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

flamesocks's review

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence