Reviews - There There: A novel

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12.5k reviews for:

There There: A novel

Tommy Orange, Tommy Orange

4.1 AVERAGE

adventureswithactionbill's review against another edition

4.25

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

cahealwa's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Maybe listening to it as an audio book made it harder for me to follow due to the sheer number of names and places and the ways in which people were related.

The way all the stories interconnected by the end was well done but I did not find myself emotionally invested in the characters. However, I was moving country back and stressed so maybe I wasn’t absorbing the book in the same way I might’ve any other time

thward's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loved this book despite how devastating it is. Told from the perspectives of many folks who will come together later on in the book. So easy to love all the characters, so well written. Set in Oakland which is a plus too.

alisonlunch's review against another edition

3.0

Strong character development: Complicated

i was excited to read this, and i liked many pieces of it, but i wanted more in enough places that i called it with 50 pages to go and googled the ending

eoghangryan's review against another edition

4.0

As debut novels go this is impressive! Both intimate and broad in its scope it takes on generational trauma with a light touch but packs a powerful blow.
Reading this made me think about the myth that free will is somehow unburdened by circumstance and history. Orange’s brilliantly portrayed cast of characters are primarily people driven by personal and societal hurt as they hurtle towards a showdown of sorts like a laden down truck with the breaks failing.