Reviews

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

msmichaela's review against another edition

4.5

Gorgeous writing with effortlessly shifting POVs. The first Thurs was exceedingly slow, but things picked up as the narrative reached the present day. This is a dark novel, shot through with humor and glints of light. 

mollybs's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.0

marthamarthamartha's review against another edition

4.0

An expansion of the There There universe, Orange has written another novel that weaves together narratives, timelines, and family trees to create a work of art. Though his writing style is beautiful, I found Wandering Stars harder to follow, which kept me from feeling as deeply connected to some fonthe characters. Still, I will read whatever Tommy Orange writes, no questions asked. 

flaico's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Characters you can really care about. You want to see them doing well. Great job tying in the struggles of previous generations and how those struggles are passed down. Many chapters and moments leave you feeling whole.

Two characters that weren't fully fleshed out: Sean Price and Loother. Sean especially felt like a misstep, and didn't necessarily carry the story forward in a meaningful way.

Orange also has a tendency to write long, clunky sentences that don't make much sense syntactically for force you to re-read the same sentence multiple times. It feels like he's trying to write too poetically, and it gets in the way of his story, which is a great one.

Still, a really thoughtful book, and significantly better than There, There!

brenbrown's review

slow-paced

3.25

ltho483's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

3.5

emilyyaksic's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

3.0

toejben's review against another edition

5.0

An absolute crushing story worthy of being the sequel to “There There”. It should be no surprise when Tommy Orange finds himself yet again on the Pulitzer list with this stunning novel.

hootreads's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

evanu185's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

4.5