Reviews - Wandering Stars | The StoryGraph

3.48k reviews for:

Wandering Stars

Tommy Orange

4.02 AVERAGE

accountantmom's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

hedvig's review

3.5

dark 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: Complicated

jawab_e_shikwa's review against another edition

5.0

This was beautiful and devastating. It’s a prequel/sequel to there, there, but it can be a completely independent piece. A novel about generations of native Americans, and the consequences of history. One line that stuck with me: “They’ve taken so much they have lost themselves in the taking.”

whatlinareads's review against another edition

4.5

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Another book I had mentioned to my partner and ended up getting for Christmas. I loved “There There”, so this was a promising choice. Even more so because it’s an intergenerational novel. In it, we follow a number of native characters from the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 through boarding school/reeducation times of indigenous kids up to 2018 Oakland. Central themes are violence, racism, family, addiction and recovery.

Let me begin by saying that this book is heavy. There is not a single character conveying lightness. Both the topic of addiction and lack of perspectives/hope are very pronounced throughout the book. In my opinion, Orange’s biggest strength is how he manages to develop full characters with superb nuance - independent of relevance of the role to the storyline. I suppose that’s why his books have both left such an impact on me. Just two weeks later, I’m not able to recount much of the plot anymore but I feel the story staying with me (if that makes sense?). Wandering Stars (just like There There) really impressed me emotionally.

Speaking of both of his books: I realised much too late that some of the characters from There There reappear in Wandering Stars. While Wandering Stars works as a stand-alone, it would have added depth to still remember the characters’ stories. I listened to There There again afterwards and regret not knowing this in advance. In The Stacks Podcast, Orange mentioned that he didn’t want to seem lazy and thus had his reservations about his second book being framed as a spin-off. It helps to understand why this information was not given in the blurb. Personally, however, I would have preferred to make an informed decision whether to revisit his debut first or not.

That being said, I can only recommend Wandering Stars. It’s such a rich, well-written and informative story. If you have the chance, I’d suggest (re)reading or listening to There There first. I can’t wait for Orange’s third book (which he is currently working on) as he has qualified for auto-buy after these two absolute gems.

allison789's review against another edition

3.0

dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

meredith_gehrlich's review against another edition

4.75

MAYBE THAT’S WHAT WE’RE ALL DOING HERE!!!! ALIVE LONG ENOUGH TO GET THAT WHEN WE DIE IT’S HOME WE’RE GOING BACK TO, AND THAT WE CAME HERE TO KNOW THAT WHEN WE DIE IT ISN’T AN END BUT A RETURN!!!

Tommy Orange weaves stories and lives better than just about any living author. The ending letter—and the lives of everyone it’s addressed to—will stay with me for a very very long time.

(Lost this book halfway through reading before finding it again months later and that definitely messed with my perception of the book’s pacing, so the missing quarter star is my own fault, I think.)