Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

There There by Tommy Orange

43 reviews

mommarex1221's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

😢

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Grief, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Grief, Suicide, Colonisation, Abandonment, Addiction, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

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

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

marisa_n's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Native American, mutliple POV, mass shooting

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

emotional informative 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? No

3.75

This is my first fictional novel written by a Native American in 2022 and I’m glad I took a chance with this. I originally assumed it was a collection of short stories but then I realized they all were connected in some six degrees way. I enjoyed the history that was intertwined with the fictional stories, enlightening and educating me a lot more than a textbook could. I listened to most of this via audio & other portions just reading but I liked all of the chosen voice overs. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Cursing

freechiken's review

emotional reflective sad 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Cursing 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

jbro12's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Racism

swaggynikki's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-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

Crying and throwing up. It was so good. I literally read this book for English class but like. Holy shit. A book has never come closer to making me cry. There is so much left unanswered but at the same time maybe that's right for it but also I want to know so much more. It's beautifully written and beautifully crafted and it's empathetic and emotional and REAL and I love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Death, Cursing, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Domestic abuse, and Genocide