bethmalena's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.0
The writing was really beautiful at times. Poetic. But it wasn’t my kind of memoir… some of the reflections and metaphors felt forced, and some of the stories felt too raw and graphic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Excrement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, War, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Racism, and Xenophobia
uuu7's review against another edition
5.0
I would get lost. I couldn’t understand some things. I tried and cried of frustration. I loved it. Word for word. Thank you.
bando_bauldio's review against another edition
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? Yes
5.0
nanamikento's review against another edition
5.0
idk how to feel, i feel like enjoying the beauty of this book is celebrating the hardships of the mc but that's just because i cannot gather enough words to describe how immensely mesmerized this book made me feel. i will take time to digest this! i think this is better off read not in one sitting like i did because it has heavy themes and the writing style needs to be contemplated.
thank you ocean vuong for getting me back to reading.
thank you ocean vuong for getting me back to reading.
forgetchinot's review against another edition
4.0
clearly wasn't written to be understood. Ocean Vuong can write, and he wanted everyone to know that. the book was so polished that a single word can hold a whole ideology. it offered me with thought-provoking beliefs, and made me look, again, at things that I've always taken as read, and not once questioned. but the whole thing felt neither real nor honest, which was unexpected for a memoir. here, the author was taking the role of a philosopher, commenting on things as somewhat of a third person, not directly involved. if I wanted to know what they actually felt, I would have to dig deep into every words, every gaps and line breaks to make sense of the stream of consciousness. unfortunately, it didn't make me empathize with the author or feel raw emotions like he supposedly did. I felt like an analyst, though.
bethanyhyde's review against another edition
3.0
The writing in this book is beautiful. That said, I didn’t get it. I was hoping for more of a story and some sort of conclusion or ending.
sichloeng's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.75
shezzly's review against another edition
2.0
las anécdotas familiares muy bonitas ojalá las familias fueran reales pero por qué le contarías a tu madre toditos los detalles de tu vida sexual????
whiteantelope11's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I learned a lot about the Vietnam war, opioid crisis, Purdue Pharma from this book. However, sometimes I found the book extremely boring, especially at the beginning. I don't think this book is either good or bad. Everybody that reads this book, front to back, will take away something different from the stories and lives of these characters.
sallysocker's review against another edition
3.0
“They say nothing lasts forever but they're just scared it will last longer than they can love it.”
Not one of my favorites but still pretty good. This books was real and didn’t hide anything from the reader. I like how this book was raw but at the same time I didn’t. I feel like there’s somethings that you don’t talk about but at the same time I liked that it was talked about because it made the book real and it’s real events that can happen.
Not one of my favorites but still pretty good. This books was real and didn’t hide anything from the reader. I like how this book was raw but at the same time I didn’t. I feel like there’s somethings that you don’t talk about but at the same time I liked that it was talked about because it made the book real and it’s real events that can happen.