Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

There There by Tommy Orange

50 reviews

cass_ward's review

5.0

if i had a way to rate this higher, i would. read the trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Abandonment, and Addiction

Minor: Pregnancy, Fatphobia, and Rape

language_loving_amateur's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I feel like I would need a second read through with a character chart to understand the basics of what is happening in There There, let alone fully understand it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Colonisation, Blood, Genocide, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Domestic abuse

Minor: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Car accident, Self harm, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Excrement, Rape, Suicide, Abandonment, and Fatphobia

rei_reads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Racism, and Domestic abuse

bibliomich's review against another edition

challenging informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

As I made my way through There There, I found myself thinking repeatedly that my schooling must have failed me. I know so little about the history of Indigenous peoples here in the Bay Area. At a certain point, though, I have to acknowledge that I am a grown adult who is more than capable of learning more, regardless of what I failed to learn in my youth, and that's one of the reasons why I need to read more books like There There.

Tommy Orange’s novel is a story about family and history and violence and Indigenous identity. But also, it is very much a story about Oakland. I am so grateful for the recent release of Wandering Stars (which I’m planning to read next), as it brought There There back into the spotlight, without which I may have never discovered this phenomenal book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Racism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

signeskov's review against another edition

emotional informative sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Colonisation, Genocide, Death, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Addiction, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abandonment and Fatphobia

mbesq's review

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Beautifully written, but overwhelmingly about trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Alcoholism, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Rape

spicycronereads's review against another edition

funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A beautiful and heartbreaking read. 

The narrative is made up of many different points of view of “urban Indians,” mostly in and around Oakland, CA. With the multiple POVs you see the vast interconnectedness of the characters that leads toward the climactic event but you do lose out on a sense of depth with any given character. Nor do they have time to develop. So it is more like sketches of the various actors who all meet at the powwow event in the climax. 

Each of the characters is dealing with their indigenous identity as well as various class-based and family traumas, that are undoubtedly connected to the historic violence against Native Americans. I do wish that with one or two characters we could have focused more on community, or their successes, or joy. The focus was almost entirely anchored in trauma and deficit, exploring the “there there” that is gone. I suspect that contemporary indigenous identity is more multi-dimensional than that. 

There are many moments of poetry throughout the book. One of my favorite lines is “To cry is to waste the feeling. He needs to dance with it. Crying is for when there’s nothing left to do.” 

The ending is ambiguous and I didn’t mind that though there were a couple of loose ends I would have liked to have seen tied up.

Like, what does the spider legs mean? Did Blue and Edwin ever figure out their relationship? Did Tony die?

Overall a gorgeous read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Racism

Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Animal death

placeholder13's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Alcohol, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Car accident

ridern2002's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Genocide, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Car accident, Body shaming, Alcohol, Gun violence, Addiction, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Grief, and Drug abuse

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

Quite a powerful story about the life experiences of several Native American people living primarily in the Bay Area city of Oakland, California. There are multiple points of view from both men and women of different ages, from older youth to younger elders.

Each character in the book has a very powerful voice and the author, Tommy Orange, throughout the course of the storyline, exposes the common threads shared by the indigenous community and the almost predictable life struggles they will encounter. The book also dangles a carrot for the reader in knowing the story will eventually culminate in most of the main characters attending an upcoming powwow. The question is, how might they interact and what good outcomes can be expected?

I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience with this book. The author’s writing style is vivid and in my opinion, doesn’t have a lot of filler. The characters are relatable and I appreciated the history incorporated into the story. Most of the Native American authors and books I’ve read up to this point have been set on tribal land and take place within the tribal community only. While I’m aware of tribal communities and businesses in the desert areas of California, Arizona, and Nevada, my eyes are now opened to more urban centers like Oakland.

I listened to the audiobook and very much enjoyed the clear and crisp delivery of the ensemble of narrators that includes Darrell Dennis, Alma Cuervo, Kyla Garcia, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Emotional abuse, Child death, Bullying, Abortion, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Blood