Reviews round-up
The Emperor of Gladness
by Ocean Vuong
2 of 5 critics positive
8 reviews: 1 rave, 1 positive, 1 mixed, 2 pans; 3 not stating a verdict in public
What the critics said
“is a beautiful novel about hard work and found family”
'The Emperor of Gladness' is a beautiful novel about hard work and found family
“heartbreak and hope”
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong review – heartbreak and hope
“it’s overladen by its sentimental prose”
Gen Z adore this novelist – but he has run out of road
“I groaned my way through The Emperor of Gladness. I writhed. I felt real despair”
Tom Crewe · My Hands in My Face: Ocean Vuong’s Failure
“Did nobody actually read this book before it went to print?”
Did nobody actually read this book before it went to print?: The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
“happiness is elusive and the American Dream out of reach”
In Ocean Vuong’s melancholy ‘Emperor of Gladness,’ happiness is elusive and the American Dream out of reach
“florid new novel”
Odd Couple Roommates, Bonded by Pills and Precarity (Published 2025)
“an America steeped in pain”
Ocean Vuong review: the white lies of a lost boy
Verdicts are read from each outlet's own headline and summary; quotes are their words, credited and linked. Where a paywalled summary does not give the critic's view, we say so rather than guess. How it works.
