Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Lyhyt maallinen loistomme by Ocean Vuong

71 reviews

nepheloma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

I expected that this book would shake me very much, but not this much. There is a very gently violent honesty coming with it. The story format, which is not exactly linear but mostly from the perspective of someone floating over the writer's life, serves this book very much, making it not so much a memoir of events but moreso of feelings. It feels like when you're riding the train, gazing out of the window and get an orderly disorganized recollection of your life flooding through your brain. Very sensitive topics are treated with a very kind perspective, that of a kid who has been hurt by the world they live in, yet choose to try to understand where the hurt comes from. 
This book was definitely gorgeous, more than briefly because of my bad reading habits.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, and War

violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

misuki's review against another edition

emotional informative 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Mental illness and Sexual violence

zeldazonks's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

4.0

I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author which was genuinely an incredible way to take in the book. However it did mean that it felt like a 7 hour poetry reading, so I had to pace myself and probably listen in more instalments than if I'd physically read it. Not that that detracted from the book in anyway, but it's worth bearing in mind. Overall incredibly beautiful writing and a devastating story, very meditative and hops back and forth through time so it feels almost dream like or like memory. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and War

cwzw's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

A meditative story about a sub who doesn't like aftercare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and War

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Vomit

whimpix's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Excrement, and War

kthyha3's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

baddgerose's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

Vuong’s story is as deep and captivating as his writing style. This was a beautiful and heartbreaking story that keeps you down allowing you to come up for only brief and humorous pockets of air. This story was real and vivid. The writing was very poetic and the imagery provided, drops the reader right into the scene in the best and worst ways. I personally disliked the amount of the gruesome and gory details (animal abuse and body horror) which of course added emotional value but also distracted from the rest of the page. I found my mind stuck on horrible images long after turning the page. This book is beautiful and fearlessly describes the gorgeous, and the terrible. 

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Content Warnings

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

fernreads42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

sarasreading's review against another edition

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

5.0

Stunning and unflinching. I know this almost connected stream of consciousness writing might not appeal to everyone, but wow did it work for me. The way each short chapter bobs and weaves several ideas, or even completely disparate things, together was masterful. And the quality of the writing, the turns of phrase, it was all incredible. I'm not going to forget unicorns stamping in a graveyard for a long time. 

I didn't know much of what this was about before picking it up, only that it was beautifully written, but reader beware. Read the trigger warnings as there are many and some passages were hard to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Excrement

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual violence, Abortion, and War