Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Lyhyt maallinen loistomme by Ocean Vuong

707 reviews

hannahventer2802's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

This book just dragged and there was too much repetition - especially for such a short book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Rape

notapollosdaphne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Grief, Racism, Bullying, and Dementia

Moderate: Racism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Addiction

shayh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Homophobia, War, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Cancer, Bullying, Abortion, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, and Car accident

blau_elmo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Vuong's writing is extremely poetic; his prose is beautiful, filled with magical imagery that emphasises the crushing position of being a gay Asian-American in a community that is not so accepting. 

The style of writing is truly the star of this book, whilst the plot can be a bit slow at points. However, it does not feel too egregious in its slowness, as the slower pacing just feels like taking breaths between the various ideas being presented by Vuong throughout the book. Brilliant novella.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia and Xenophobia

Minor: Violence

siebensommer's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.5

what is a country but a life sentence?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Violence, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Drug use, Homophobia, Addiction, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: War, Hate crime, Mental illness, and Medical content

loveclairebearx's review against another edition

3.0

For years, this has been on my to-be-read list based on its gorgeous title alone.

Most of these vignettes read like Vuong’s specialty (poetry) and while I savored many turns of phrase, ultimately I longed for a more grounded narrative that wasn’t delivered on.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Addiction, and Homophobia

greenan26's review against another edition

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Homophobia, Sexual content, Biphobia, Racism, Grief, Mental illness, Classism, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death

Moderate: War and Xenophobia

caroisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

I almost gave up on this book 70 pages in. The writing felt too decorative for me, like a really, really long poem. Then I saw that Ocean is a poet, and it started to make sense. Something changed in the pages after that, as I got used to his cadence and by the end, craved it. It's a difficult story, triggering, somber, a dry landscape. But the beauty really is in the poetry of every description, half sentences, fragments, trains of thought. This was a long read, because of how much meaning there was to absorb in every sentence.

I'm glad I didn't give up on this. I'll keep thinking about this memoir forever.

You'll like this is you appreciate memoirs, are in a mentally good place with darker content in real-life context, Asian American stories, LGBTQIA+ perspectives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Gun violence, Cancer, Physical abuse, Racism, and Transphobia

hazyreads's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong is one of the best books I have read so far. The book just stole my heart and crushed it into a million pieces. 

The book portrayed the experience and trauma encompassing across three generations and how these mold them into who they are today. The protagonist, Little Dog, writes a letter to his mother. Telling her the story of his childhood, his coming of age, and how Little Dog discovers who he is. 

The novel is just exquisite. The writing style is pristine and so so poetic. I loved every bit of it. While it was a bit hard to get into since the flow is fragmented and jumps from memory to memory. After the first 30 pages, I finally understood it. Because it’s a letter for Little Dog’s mom, for the reader to understand the context of what Little Dog is saying, we have to jump from memory to memory. The author giving us the context of where his references are coming from. Then we come to understand its significance to their family, their experiences, and their identities. 

This book had me crying so much and it just affected me so much. It’s so beautifully written and I just cannot wrap my head around all the emotions this book just got out of me. 

I understand the complex emotions Little Dog is feeling towards his mother. You love them becuase they raised you, nurtured you and took care of you. But end up hating them for all the pain they caused as a response to the things they experienced before. Afterwards, you would just feel guilt, because you are afforded the privilege you have at the expense of their childhood, at THEIR expense. You still feel angry, but not towards your parents, but anger towards the world and everyone who made them who they are. Hurt, anger, love. It’s a painful cycle. 

While I didn’t experience what Little Dog went through, I just feel for him so much being in such a complicated relationship with my parents as well. I empathized and I felt seen. 

The author managed to put this complex feeling into words. You know you don’t deserve all this crap, but so did your parents. So you end up forgiving. End up loving them harder. I’m not condoning their mistake, and I would never. What I’m saying is this feeling is just so real and so hard to deal with. And the author beautifully conveyed it through this novel.

The ending really got to me because I want my own mother to wake up in a different world too. A world where she got to be the woman she was destined to be, even if it means that in that life she would never have me. As long as she doesn’t suffer, it would have been worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, War, and Homophobia

brennasjohnson's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse