A review by nepheloma
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

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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