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

4.0

I feel confused.

When I tried to step into the shoes of a gay person who wanted to confide personally to his mum, I find it hard. Unlike him, I am more of an extrovert. And unlike him, I am close with my mother (she sometimes acts as a Human diary to where I share my secrets to).

In terms of the prose, I feel a sing-song vibe to it. It feels like listening to a piano piece. There are bits and pieces of calm, sometimes a sing-song tune. But there are moments where you hear a high note, depicting grief.

But it is in the beauty of this novel to tell you, that on this Earth, we see beauty so briefly. I realized this when I saw the lyrical beauty of the novel, but after a few pages, I saw myself being bored with immense negativity.

For me, the book made me feel torn between enthusiasm and boredom.