Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - There There

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

There There by Tommy Orange

43 reviews

siaeme12's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

Other people here have explained far better than I could so I'll leave it at this: There There was lyrically written and thought provoking. It was real, intense, and well woven. Definitely recommend, but know that there is discussion of substance abuse, violence against women, gun violence, poverty, and other things that come alongside deep rooted systemic oppression. This isn't a light read by any means, but it is certainly an important one

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hollydyer328's review

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Fantastic! Tommy Orange is an excellent writer, both in prose and in authenticity of the Native American experience. I usually don't prefer character-driven novels, but you can't help yourself with this one. Orange pours his heart out into every single character to show the vast spectrum of what a Native American individual can look like. His scathing critique of the white-washing and erasure of the genocide of the Native American community in US history is excellent. The ending was so heart-breaking and I was sad to have the story end. Overall, I feel like Tommy Orange is one of those authors who I will be excited to read anything he writes, no matter what it is.

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cheazcakeguy's review against another edition

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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

4.75

This was a powerful read. Tommy Orange's writing feels like there's a real weight behind it with every sentence. It forces you to slow down at times and really reflect on the characters and their stories. You experience the full range of human emotion while reading this book, and there were several truly gut-wrenching moments, especially at the end. The ending

was shocking yet inevitable, and I can't stop thinking about the incredible metaphor of the spider's web, both a home and a trap, which brought the characters together...

Highly recommend, though this isn't a light read and it will tear your heart out.

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leahrosereads's review

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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

4.25

There There was such a stunning, haunting at times story, that ended with such a heart wrenching moment. I'm glad I read this when I did, because Wandering Stars, the follow up to this novel will be out in a few months.

While I normally don't mind open endings, I really want to see more from these characters and the aftermath of what happened at the powwow.

Orange's poetic storytelling did so much for this book, bringing a lot of really necessary and hard hitting conversations to light in digestible moments.

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pferdina's review

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challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Twelve interconnected characters illustrate modern native life in Oakland. Called the Urban Indians, these are not the reservation inhabitants nor the stereotypes of American Indians. The chapters are told from different perspectives. It was difficult for me to read the urban dialogue and to identify with the characters but I’m glad I read this.

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elleryfunk's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

If the content warnings are not too much for you then please read this book. It’s short, and easy to read (not in terms of the content but the way it flows and grabs attention).

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dinipandareads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

3.5 stars rounded up.

This isn't an easy book to review and there's nothing I can say that others haven't already said and done so much better than I ever could, too. This is a highly-lauded piece of literary fiction and part of me understands why but maybe this book was just too smart for me because I often struggled to really "get" it. I empathised with many of the characters and I wound up spilling tears over them by the end but, at times, it was hard to feel fully immersed in the story and to grasp what the author was trying to share. Perhaps it was the writing style that also didn't entirely work for me as we switched from third-person and first-person perspectives almost every other chapter. Add to that the wide array of characters and shifting timelines as we get their life stories from childhood to adulthood, and it wasn't always easy to keep track of who's who and what's what. That said, I loved seeing how each character's life intersects with another and I think Orange masterfully weaves together the fabric of their stories to create one big, captivating, yet heartbreaking tapestry.

Although the novel discusses the beauty, pride and fortitude of the native community, it is not a happy story. It explores weighty subjects including race, colonialism, intergenerational trauma, identity and belonging, mental health, abuse, and addiction. There is a lot of power behind the author's writing and although each character's narrative was difficult to read it also emphasised the need and importance of their stories being heard. Some of the quotes in this hit so hard and I think one of them sums this story up rather perfectly:

“The tragedy of it all will be unspeakable, the fact we’ve been fighting for decades to be recognized as a present-tense people, modern and relevant, alive, only to die in the grass wearing feathers.”

How utterly devastating. 🥺

Ultimately, while it wasn't always smooth sailing, I'm glad that I didn't give up on this because it was rewarding to work through. I can see why it's so well-loved and I'm glad to have finally read it. I don't doubt that although it may not feel like it right now, this will be a story I'll continue to think about long after I put it back on the shelf.

Content Warnings