Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

24 reviews

lindsaybethlyons's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

I think it’s a 5 star book, but for me, a 4.5. It was beautifully and brilliantly written. It taught me a lot of historical context, and tells so many important stories. I struggle with reading about addiction, so it wasn’t a 5-star read simply in my experience with it. I highly recommend it though! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape and Mass/school shootings

winter_b's review against another edition

I am not in the right headspace to read this book right now, but I will come back to it at a later point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Vomit

cindypepper's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

Not as cohesive as There, There, seeing as Wandering Stars acts as both a prequel and a sequel. I think if I hadn't read There, There before, I might have felt confused as to what had happened in between, given that the events from the book are referenced. That said, it's a testament to Tommy Orange's writing that the narratives of Charles and Jude and the current generation are strong enough on their own. I'm such a sucker for multigenerational family sagas, and this is no exception. It could have benefitted from a middle act to weave the acts together into a more solid arc, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Violence

chickaboogawah's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

sponberry's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Self harm and Violence

kayarosee's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved the beginning and the end. The middle had a very teen sounding voice which wasn’t my favorite, but I understood why it was done. It was nessacary to portray the emotions of the adolescent characters at that moment. But the beginning with the history and the letters, and the end with the grown revelations really took me and made me feel so many emotions. It all felt so close to home and so beautiful. The only reason I am giving it a 4 and not a 5 is just because I had a difficult time getting through the part filled with high-school angst. Maybe that is just because I do not really want to re-live those days or those feelings. All-in-all a beautiful book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War

arrr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Powerful intergenerational story of colonization and its effects on an Oakland Indigenous family up to and after the modern day shooting in the first book. Some parts are understandably dark, but the message is hopeful and reflective. Worth getting to the end, even if you have to put it down a few times to have a break and a cry. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Absolutely worth the read if you're in a good safe headspace to cope with the many triggers.

bailieshea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I liked it better than There, There, but it was emotionally draining to read. There were too many characters and storylines to get invested as deeply as I would’ve liked. Felt like the author was trying to cover way more ground than made sense for one book, or that it would’ve been a more successful effort if the book had been longer and taken more time to unravel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

katrinky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

a book about addiction that was 5 stars for me?!?! I had a characteristically hard time during the Orvil and Sean drug chapters because I hate reading things from the view of addicts while they're high, but the context of generational trauma and generational addiction meant I could get distance and perspective on it that made me want to hang in and keep reading. every character was written deeply and fully; everyone was a main character. it took me a long time to read because it was not a pleasant story, but also because the writing is gorgeous and I wanted to pay attention.  EXTREMELY recommend. will read again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic