Reviews tagging 'Blood'

There There by Tommy Orange

86 reviews

moriahleigh's review

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Abandonment, Mass/school shootings, Addiction, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer and Car accident

angievansprang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

5.0

Wow. This book was a sucker-punch to the gut by the end, but such a poignant and important read. I appreciated the mix of the author’s personal voice on more fact-based pieces interspersed throughout the book and I loved the large cast of characters. Tommy Orange did a wonderful job weaving together the lives of so many in a believable and riveting way. I highly recommend this book, but prepare to be devastated by the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Cancer, and Car accident

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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

5.0

God, I devoured this book. So intense, so real, so complex. If you're thinking about reading this book, just do it. An important book about Native communities and just all communities. How we've failed our neighbors on a systemic level since the inception of this country that was built on stolen land.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Classism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Toxic relationship, Child death, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Drug abuse, Racism, Abortion, Bullying, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful look into many different Native people’s lives. Surprisingly it didn’t take long to get used to and remember the characters (my personal favorite was Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield’s!!) and the stories were all great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Murder, Colonisation, Alcohol, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Mental illness

Moderate: Rape, Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Blood, Sexual assault, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment

sydapel's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

One of those books that will just haunt you in a way that feels both comforting but leaves a deep ache. Even with a tragedy you can see slowly approaching, it's the characters that grab onto you and leave you thinking long after you've finished the book. These characters will deeply change the way you think about indigenous people in America and what as a culture they have been through. Definitely check trigger warnings but this is not one to skip. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Violence, Alcoholism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Child death, Blood, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Murder, Mental illness, Hate crime, Genocide, and Physical abuse

clare072's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, and Mental illness

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Fatphobia, Cancer, Car accident, Genocide, Abortion, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

taylor24's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Grief, Suicide, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Body shaming, Colonisation, and Sexual assault

cassielaj's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

Absolutely stunning. This book features quite a few characters, each of whom has a fully crafted perspective and story. The author is able to pack so much emotion and story into each chapter, and he does an incredible job of weaving these stories and characters together. The book is a snapshot of the characters’ lives, but imbued with the depth of years, decades, generations of the stories that came before. The pace steadily increases throughout, giving this book a beautiful sense of flow and forward momentum. This book will be a classic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Gun violence, Death, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Blood, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Fatphobia, Rape, and Pregnancy

This book is emotionally taxing, but so worth the read

jennshelfishlife's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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

4.0

There There is a powerful story that connects the stories of urban Native Americans.
The dozen or so characters all have plans to attend the Big Oakland Powwow, which is how their stories interconnect along with the shared heritage. All of their stories were quite sad and had triggers (e.g. domestic abuse, guns, substance use, abandonment). Each character expresses a range of emotions from sadness to anger to joy. Tommy Orange's work is quite brilliant and sheds light on the experiences of some indigenous people. I recommend this novel to readers that enjoy sociology, culture, and the human experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, and Animal cruelty

tomnoor's review against another edition

3.5

In terms of themes there were so many that were intriguing, but I largely felt they were underdeveloped. There were also so many characters to keep track of that I often felt confused, and it was hard to form an emotional connection with any of them since we spent so little time with each before moving to the next, which ultimately made it difficult to care much about the events at the climax. I would’ve liked there to be another hundred pages or so to flesh things out more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gun violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Mass/school shootings, Alcoholism, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, and Physical abuse

Minor: Rape and Car accident