Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

5 reviews

yleavy's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Genocide

Moderate: Abandonment

lvleggett's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Wandering Stars picks up where There, There left off - in terms of characters and themes. But you can enjoy as a standalone book.

First, Orange takes us back a few generations to when things initially shifted for the family. A massacre of a Shawnee village sends Jude Star on the run. He and the generations that follow are wandering through the world, separated from who they once were and unsure how or if they can get back to it. 

As with There, There, the narrative takes on the POVs of the different characters. Wandering Stars is a more reflective book. Plenty of plot, centered on the newest generation of Stars in modern-day America, but with a strong internal dialogue that brings us deep into the experiences of these characters. This book explores how you figure out who you are in a world that has sought to eradicate your family, history and culture across hundreds of years. Yet you exist. We meet characters across the generations who are striving to hold onto what's been lost, to reclaim & rediscover, and to define the future for themselves. 

Orange writes young men especially with such precision and care. I can see many generations of readers connecting with their struggles and joys.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Racism, Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent

faduma's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Abandonment, Alcohol, Racism, Torture, Violence, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Gore, and Racial slurs

pomoevareads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Author Tommy Orange of the Cheyenne and Arapaho people has written a prequel and sequel in one to his breakout novel, There There. Wandering Stars begins in 1864 at the Sand Creek Massacre and follows a character through several generations to the present day. Many of us know about the institutionalization of Indigenous Peoples in schools but Orange also shares in his story about a prison castle in Florida that was a seed for the future schools. He writes about intergenerational trauma, familial love and addiction. In the present day, we see how Orvil is doing after the events at the powwow in There There. 

Readers will find Wandering Stars an easier read in that it was easier to keep track of the characters. There is a lineage chart at the beginning of the book and we stay with a small group of characters at a time. 

I found myself deeply engaged throughout the novel and want an Opal in my life. My only reason for not giving this book five stars was for a possible dropped opportunity from one scene. A hint to those who have read it is what lies next to a typewriter many years ago. That said I have just learned that Orange is already signed to write his next book. I don’t know if it will be connected to these books but will read it nonetheless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Self harm, Addiction, and War

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Gun violence, Car accident, and Sexual assault

jamiejanae_6's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Dysphoria, Mass/school shootings, Cancer, and Gun violence