Reviews tagging 'Murder'

There There by Tommy Orange

101 reviews

ericaconstance's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-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

This book was so incredibly impactful.  The layout of it was a bit disorienting in the beginning since it jumps to different characters, but I appreciated the diverse perspectives and intricate storylines.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion

dee_hzz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

jennaviolet's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

mass shooting

karwc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

idesofjaim's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.25

An incredibly powerful book to finish off my 2023 with. I’m grateful for the cast of characters in the beginning (that was easy enough to reference back to since I was reading the physical edition) in order to help keep everything straight. The twists and turns of how everyone came together at the powwow reeled me in.

I do agree with other reviewers that I wish there was more for the women of the book, and that some things had been handled much differently.

I’m also frustrated that the ending is basically a cliffhanger. We get invested only to not see the other side of the shooting. Part of me wonders if that is truly on purpose, that we don’t get to have these truly joyful reunions and feel lighter and brighter about things. I do think the bookends of the novel being Tony is an elegant setup.

Definitely a heavy read, be sure to check trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Sexual violence, and Murder

wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence

brooketreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

The beginning started out really strong for me. The writing throughout is really good. I wrote this in my story graph notes at 8%:

“The drone. I didn’t see it there. I saw an Indian. I saw a dancer.” 🥺

Some of the story lines were just so engaging and made me really feel for the characters. 

But, then the characters just kept coming. I couldn’t keep them or the story lines straight. I feel like I need to reread and make a diagram. This may be a me problem, but it affected my enjoyment a little.

I liked how all the storylines were converging, but when they finally did I felt like the story was rushed.

The last 30 minutes though… Wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Addiction

katelynprice's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

This book is moving and smart and so very important. I got a little bogged down by all the characters and trying to connect them all, but I loved that they were all woven together. I was not a fan of the ending, which really affects the way I see the book as a whole. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Abortion

kimschouwenaar's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

Secrets lie through omission just like shame lies through secrecy.

This took me so long to actually get into. Started reading this for my world lit class last May, and kind of forgot about it until I saw it again in my currently reading list.

This book is written from multiple perspectives and in first-person, second-person and third-person narrative. I think the main problem I had when I started reading is the amount of characters; each chapter is from the perspective of a different character, and in the final 25 chapters — which are all very short — they all come together at the powwow.

But those final 25 chapters had me crying. Reading the book, you know what's coming, and yet you remain hopeful that there will be some kind of interference so the ending will change. It's absolutely heartbreaking. There There is not only a story about Native American history, but it's also a tale about surviving in a system that is built against you. Would definitely recommend to everyone, you just need to get through the first couple of chapters and familiarise yourself with all the characters. Hard to digest, but definitely worth your time.

We didn't have last names before they came. When they decided they needed to keep track of us, last names were given to us, just like the name Indian itself was given to us.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, and Violence