Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

There There by Tommy Orange

21 reviews

laurao's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Religious bigotry, Racism, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Genocide, Fatphobia, Excrement, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Car accident, Cancer, Body shaming, Blood, and Addiction

Minor: War and Xenophobia

The characters were numb and isolated. It’s an important topic, but it was just hard to read.

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Colonisation, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Car accident, Drug abuse, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Abortion, Child abuse, Death, Excrement, Incest, and Infidelity

allyofshalott's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Excrement, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

eve_o's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Murder, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Abandonment, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, and Rape

Minor: Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, and Gore

anniefwrites's review against another edition

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

I think this book is one of those reads that I’ll need to reflect on for a while to understand its full effect. Tommy Orange has such a strong voice and uses inventive and intensely visual and sensory language. I personally found the multiple perspectives a little difficult to keep straight (and appreciated the cast of characters at the front; I referred back to it often) and

I understand why Orange opted for a violent ending, but especially given what’s going on in the news right now, it was disappointing and hard to take in.

Nonetheless, I think this was a great place to start for me to read more Indigenous stories, and it explores an often ignored community—Urban Indigenous groups—in a very complex and full way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, and Gun violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Genocide, Sexual assault, War, and Racism

v_neptune's review against another edition

too triggering :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Ableism, Gun violence, Rape, Cursing, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

kelly_e's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective 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

3.75

Title: There There
Author: Tommy Orange
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: June 5, 2018

T H R E E • W O R D S

Urgent • Profane • Gritty

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Set in Oakland, California, There There is a debut novel following 12 Native Americans as they converge on the annual Powwow. Following the death of his uncle, Dene Oxedene has won a grant and has decided to put together a documentary in the hopes of preserving the stories of his people. Weaving together past and present, each character divulges their story of what life is like for them. Exploring themes of violence, identity, despair, family, community and history the story takes us into the urban experience of each character.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Tommy Orange has taken a lot of risks, and with unique style and voice has delivered an ambitious and healing debut novel. It tackles many themes through both cultural and political perspectives, opening the eyes of the reader to a history they may be completely unaware of. It shines a light on the daily victories and losses, the multi-generational trauma of displacement, and stolen identity of not just the individual but the collective. The writing is superb and it's hard to come away unchanged. This book is filled with so many big ideas and the power in telling our stories.

I listened to the audio while reading a physical copy, and this added to the richness of the story as the audiobook contains a full cast. Because the book follows so many different characters I was appreciative of the list naming each one at the start.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers wanting to expand their knowledge
• book clubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"'Life doesn't work out the way stories do.'"

"'Some of us got this feeling stuck inside, all the time, like we've done something wrong. Like who we are deep inside, that thing we want to name but can't, it's like we're afraid we'll be punished for it. So we hide. We drink alcohol because it helps us feel like we can be ourselves and not be afraid. But we punish ourselves with it. The thing we most don't want has a way of landing right on top of us.'" 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death, Cursing, Drug use, and Suicide

Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Excrement, Sexual assault, Rape, Child death, Abortion, and Domestic abuse

substance misuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, adoption

grubbygrrrl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

hannahr's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Racism, and Rape

kim_kv's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I am interested to see what he writes next, and I'll definitely be interested to read other stuff. He writes about an overlooked community, and presents important themes. However, there were so many people and I didn't feel invested in many or clear on their motivations. They felt like props in the overall message about the cycles of harm in the Native community to me. In all that there were some story lines and moments that were very compelling though and again this did seem like a very unique book to me so I'm still giving it a 3.5.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Physical abuse