Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

There There by Tommy Orange

95 reviews

che1s's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Addiction, Death of parent, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Physical abuse, Genocide, Grief, War, Drug use, and Drug abuse

natashaball's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, and Alcoholism

amandaevans's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I did enjoy this book, don’t get me wrong. But I personally have such a hard time with books that are told from so many POV’s. 

There are twelve main characters in this book. Twelve. And they all have their own POV chapters. Some people love this, but for me I have such a hard time keeping up with the different characters and timelines in a story such as this one. 

I loved the reflection of the native people and the urban communities of native Americans, as I’ve never really encountered anything like this, but overall the story fell kinda flat for me. It was kinda hard to get into because of the layout. I found myself being more confused trying to keep up than anything else. 

But it is an interesting, and important story overall. I think it is crucial to read and hear marginalized stories from marginalized peoples. So for that aspect, I would highly recommend.

Worth the read, but good to know the layout beforehand if you are someone that struggles with this kind of writing style. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual assault, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Pregnancy, Addiction, Blood, Alcohol, Death, and Car accident

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

siaeme12's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Other people here have explained far better than I could so I'll leave it at this: There There was lyrically written and thought provoking. It was real, intense, and well woven. Definitely recommend, but know that there is discussion of substance abuse, violence against women, gun violence, poverty, and other things that come alongside deep rooted systemic oppression. This isn't a light read by any means, but it is certainly an important one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gun violence, Death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Addiction, Grief, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Colonisation, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Racism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Cancer

language_loving_amateur's review

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

library_anne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Rape, War, Violence, Child abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Drug use, Addiction, Blood, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Cursing, Genocide, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

spicycronereads's review against another edition

funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A beautiful and heartbreaking read. 

The narrative is made up of many different points of view of “urban Indians,” mostly in and around Oakland, CA. With the multiple POVs you see the vast interconnectedness of the characters that leads toward the climactic event but you do lose out on a sense of depth with any given character. Nor do they have time to develop. So it is more like sketches of the various actors who all meet at the powwow event in the climax. 

Each of the characters is dealing with their indigenous identity as well as various class-based and family traumas, that are undoubtedly connected to the historic violence against Native Americans. I do wish that with one or two characters we could have focused more on community, or their successes, or joy. The focus was almost entirely anchored in trauma and deficit, exploring the “there there” that is gone. I suspect that contemporary indigenous identity is more multi-dimensional than that. 

There are many moments of poetry throughout the book. One of my favorite lines is “To cry is to waste the feeling. He needs to dance with it. Crying is for when there’s nothing left to do.” 

The ending is ambiguous and I didn’t mind that though there were a couple of loose ends I would have liked to have seen tied up.

Like, what does the spider legs mean? Did Blue and Edwin ever figure out their relationship? Did Tony die?

Overall a gorgeous read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Racism

Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Animal death

kimmykelly's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Emotional abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Grief, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Racism, Death, and Domestic abuse

cassiealexandra's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.75

I was immediately drawn into this story of Natives preparing for and traveling to a powwow in Oakland, CA. The short chapters from multiple perspectives, the interesting characters, and the different voices held my attention throughout. The writing was beautiful and I paused so many times to think about phrases and ideas included. The chapters could almost stand alone as short stories rather than a whole book. I especially liked the chapter from Thomas Frank’s POV. Unlike some reviewers, I found the non-linear framing and the unresolved ending added to the experience of reading. The characters and storylines connect together in this beautiful, fragile, spider’s web. While violent and crude at times, I felt like I was getting a truthful look at the lives of these characters, a perspective not unlike the documentary that Dene Oxendene is filming in the book. The content was dense and emotional, and there were a couple of times when I wondered, “is there a message or point I’m missing?,” as if parts were going over my head. But, to be clear, I didn’t feel that way out of the author’s pretension at all. There were also moments I had to flip back and forth trying to remember character names and how each was related to another, which only made me want to reread it slower and more intentionally, mapping the plot and family tree. 

The bottom line: A tragic and beautiful story that’s kind of like Motown music, which one of Orange’s characters says, “asks you to carry sadness and heartbreak but dance while doing so.”

— NOTES —

Genres: literary fiction

POV: multiple, some in first, some in third

Content: an abundance – drug use, gun violence, domestic violence, alcoholism, rape (off-page), strong language

— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS

(all out of 5)

Pace: 5

Enjoyment: 4

Craft: 5

My Gut Feeling: 5
Total Stars: 4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, and Drug use