Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong

29 reviews

sahar18's review

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Death, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, War, Child abuse, Drug use, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

readbycarina's review

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Death, Addiction, Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Transphobia, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Racism

Minor: Abortion and Abandonment

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

adawada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal death, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Racism, Confinement, Racial slurs, Cursing, Addiction, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/injury detail

chiiibolaa's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, War, Addiction, Sexual content, Child abuse, Bullying, Abandonment, Drug abuse, and Death

wetdirtreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

This book absolutely lives up to the hype it’s received. And then some. It is so so so beautiful. It is also, however, truly harrowing. From start to finish.
 
It’s not (for me, at least) one of those books where you sob uncontrollably all the way through it. I cried a bit at one point. But it mostly just left me feeling completely hollow. Like a trauma response – a dissociated ‘freeze’ state. The book doesn’t offer a release from this emotional purgatory – which I assume is very intentional. To provide any relief would be disingenuous, because the pain this book articulates is still so raw, so real, so relevant. 
 
Vuong doesn’t try to offer the reader insights into Little Dog’s experience – little morsels of wisdom – like you’re watching him through a window or on a TV screen. He brings you right into it. Right into Little Dog’s remembering; his pleasure & his pain. You don’t get to just consume his story as a fun lil trauma porn fix and then walk away from it unscathed. It sticks with you. Like Gorilla Glue, that super heavy-duty stuff that’s a real bitch to get off.
 
If discomfort and tension are not things you look for in a read, then this book probably isn’t for you. However, even if you do enjoy those things, I would still highly recommend emotionally preparing yourself before reading it. I’d also recommend following it with something light-hearted and fun. Otherwise, you will just feel pain. Indefinitely. 
 
My personal storytelling practice usually seeks to destabilise comfort, not reinforce it. I often write in the hopes that people will walk away with questions, with a renewed awareness of the messy, unresolvable, undefinable nature of the world – not answers, conclusions or relief. This book does all of that. Times a thousand. And I feel honoured to have been hurt by it.

(Review originally posted on Instagram)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Racism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Death, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Violence, and War

Moderate: Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Excrement, Bullying, Abandonment, and Homophobia

Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, and Car accident

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

eve_o's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.5

i hated this. i’m in a state of emotional turmoil. 
five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Death, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug abuse, Racism, Homophobia, Addiction, Cancer, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Terminal illness

Minor: Excrement and Car accident

violetends's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.75

Read for my bookclub. I simultaneously loved and loathed this book. This was so emotional and cut me deeply while also bringing words to experiences, feelings and thoughts I never knew I sought to express. This was heavy and I had to lay it aside mutiple times, occasionally even to cry. Ocean Vuong writes so beautifully I can only find cheesy phrases to express it since I do not share his gift to find such haunting imagery with which to translate what is happening inside of me. I cannot wait to read further novels and his poetry as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexual content, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

lostboylio's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

nothing i could ever say in this review would sound nearly as good as anything written in this book.
truly heartbreaking and amazingly beautiful! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Abortion, Drug use, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Abandonment, Homophobia, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Bullying, Death, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Gun violence, and Hate crime