Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

8 reviews

sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Devastating.

Especially now, everyone knows Ocean Vuong and his work. While I was familiar, this is the first time I’ve sat down and read one of his publications. His writing is absolutely beautiful and haunting, and can often be difficult to digest.

I don’t really have any criticisms of his work, I believe it has a strong voice and beautiful style, but I was not expecting the content to be so heavy and visceral. If you wish to read his work, make sure you are in a good headspace and take the time you need to process each poem, and care for yourself in the meantime.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in contemporary poetry. His work is beautiful, albeit incredibly depressing. I also think anyone interested in Woolf and Plath would greatly enjoy his work.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

While these warnings are not explicit in their descriptions, the emotion and pain is there. Be cautious when reading.

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism and Racial slurs

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

bchallis's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and War

tinyjude's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War

prideandparchment's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Ocean Vuong's poetry digs into your flesh. It is like acid mixed with the smell of spring flowers. Hurts like breathing underwater.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Blood, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

gabbygarcia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I have a lot of contradictory feelings about this book of poetry. I should say first that I do not think it is for me, but I know there are many out there who would enjoy this style of poetry and the content.

On nearly every page I went back and forth between loving and deeply disliking this book. At times I think it takes itself too seriously, especially in the first half (the second half is stronger, in my opinion). I did enjoy how the whole book felt like one long poem--the themes and verses often spilled into one another, complementing each other in thoughtful ways. However, some of the poems discussed too many things and could have been edited for clarity. They overflowed with so many images that it was hard to keep track of the main subjects. I also found myself frustrated with the way he wrote about women. I can't quite pinpoint why it made me so uncomfortable, but it did.

In his defense, Vuong is a master at crafting perfect lines--though they did not necessarily make whole poems great. Despite that, there are a lot of lines I will be coming back to for a long time, like:

Dear god, if you are a season, let it be the one I passed through / to get here ("Notebook Fragments" was excellent, one of my favorites from the collection)

and:
Know that I never chose/ which way the seasons turned. That it was always October/ in my throat/ & you: every leaf/ refusing to rust

and:
My son, tell them/ the body is a blade that sharpens/ by cutting

and:
Ocean. Ocean--/ get up. The most beautiful part of your body/ is where it's headed. & remember,/ loneliness is still time spent/ with the world.

and:
Red is only black remembering.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Blood, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

oliverlang's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

3.0

I read this to complete a queer poetry prompt in a reading challenge -- I'm not usually one to seek out poetry so this was a different one for me.

I liked some of it, but I think poetry and it's formatting is mostly lost on me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War