I just finished this book and am still processing it. It’s amazing. Such great characters and the prose is breathtaking. I loved it so much I immediately bought another book by Vuong and I rarely do that.

Ocean Vuong’s writing is so beautiful that I wanted to start reading this again as soon as I finished it. Vuong finds beauty in the most unlikely places and shows the humanity and dreams of folks in the margins. It is not really a book “about” people who are struggling. Rather, it portrays people who are struggling in a way that sheds light on human existence in any walk of life. I happened to like his earlier book (On Earth We Are Briefly Gorge) a bit more, but this one is luminous.

I honestly don’t know about this, but yes, it’s a good book, but I felt like it was all over the place so many stories and many stories that were not related to the main characters. It was kind of weird.

This book was an absolute waste of time. Ending was predictable from the beginning. A long slog trough a demented story of unbelievably odd characters and obtuse situations. Do yourself a favor. Stay away from this book.

Another sad and touching story in the ilk of Hillbilly Elegy/Demon Copperhead. Well written and a quick read which begins well but meanders into too many different themes crossing small town America and beyond.

Pieces of story with no place to go. I never trust what Oprah is pushing. The end.

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I knew I should not have trusted an Oprah’s book club recommendation. Simply UNREADABLE. and believe me, I tried!