Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

There There by Tommy Orange

56 reviews

allisoncdn's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Alcoholism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

lindsayorme's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A really deeply moving story that manages to balance information about the Native American experience and emotional family stories with irreverence and humor. I generally enjoy stories that bring together multiple separate character threads to a final cohesive narrative/event, and this is a particularly well executed example of that trope. I will be thinking about this one for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, and Alcoholism

Minor: Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Car accident

libbybooboo1123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

4.5

thoughts:
I don’t usually read contemporary so this was a good book to get me out of my comfort zone. The writing was superb, the complexity of the characters was enthralling and the connections between them intricate. The moments of reflection were also great.

 I would have loved to know what happens to the characters next, I feel like the ending was so sudden and there were still story lines that didn’t get wrapped up fully. There was a lot of backstory on the characters until suddenly the tragic events happens and then it’s chaos. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Drug use, Rape, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Addiction, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Violence, Genocide, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Murder, and Racial slurs

colormecaro's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Topic wise this is absolutely a 5⭐️ book for me. However, for some parts I wasn’t a fan of the writing (long sentences strung together with too many commas; an odd chapter told in the second person).

There are a lot of characters that are being followed throughout, which makes sense given the overall story and how they all tie together. However, at times it felt like I didn’t know much about each character. There are so many of them and you get fragments of each character, but this comes at the expense of giving each one the depth they deserve. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Colonisation, Violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Drug use, Gun violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Rape

baguettegay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Abandonment, and Alcoholism

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Cancer, Death, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Car accident, Suicide, Mental illness, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Alcohol, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Sexual violence

cass_cgallegos's review against another edition

5.0

if i had a way to rate this higher, i would. read the trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Abandonment, and Addiction

Minor: Pregnancy, Fatphobia, and Rape

language_loving_amateur's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I feel like I would need a second read through with a character chart to understand the basics of what is happening in There There, let alone fully understand it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Colonisation, Blood, Genocide, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Domestic abuse

Minor: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Car accident, Self harm, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Excrement, Rape, Suicide, Abandonment, and Fatphobia

rei_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Racism, and Domestic abuse

bibliomich's review against another edition

challenging informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

As I made my way through There There, I found myself thinking repeatedly that my schooling must have failed me. I know so little about the history of Indigenous peoples here in the Bay Area. At a certain point, though, I have to acknowledge that I am a grown adult who is more than capable of learning more, regardless of what I failed to learn in my youth, and that's one of the reasons why I need to read more books like There There.

Tommy Orange’s novel is a story about family and history and violence and Indigenous identity. But also, it is very much a story about Oakland. I am so grateful for the recent release of Wandering Stars (which I’m planning to read next), as it brought There There back into the spotlight, without which I may have never discovered this phenomenal book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Racism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Body shaming, and Fatphobia