Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

There There by Tommy Orange

94 reviews

lacey_wi's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

v_neptune's review against another edition

too triggering :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

masomunos's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

It's a struggle to find any flaw in Tommy Orange's There There. Connected through theme and plot, a multitude of characters struggle with Native identity and the difficulties of modern Native life. Characters are complex, life-like, and likeable; the plot builds slowly then all at once. The reader leaves breathless, thinking about the story and its characters as well as the reality they are based upon.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, and Colonisation

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol

lupemota's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

this is one of the most well written books I’ve read in a while. Orange builds up to the end so intricately, though sometimes it was difficult to keep up with the background characters knowing later they’d be important to the story. 

This book is a perfect example of learning history through fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Racism, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Genocide

marisa_n's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Native American, mutliple POV, mass shooting

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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? No

3.75

This is my first fictional novel written by a Native American in 2022 and I’m glad I took a chance with this. I originally assumed it was a collection of short stories but then I realized they all were connected in some six degrees way. I enjoyed the history that was intertwined with the fictional stories, enlightening and educating me a lot more than a textbook could. I listened to most of this via audio & other portions just reading but I liked all of the chosen voice overs. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

empeeeeee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence

habertoes's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

sarahmae531's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I wish that the conflict in the book happened earlier so we could see the aftermath of it. I felt like a lot of what lead up to the powwow wasn’t totally necessary, and I would’ve preferred it be swapped out for after the powwow. The amount of characters was also hard for me to follow along with, but I did enjoy slowly seeing how they were all connected and crossed paths with each other. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, and Car accident

katsbooks's review

challenging emotional 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

4.0

"We are the memories we don't remember, which live in us, which we feel, which make us sing and dance and pray the way we do, feelings from memories that flare and bloom unexpectedly in our lives like blood through a blanket from a wound made by a bullet fired by a man shooting us in the back for our hair, for our heads, for a bounty, or just to get rid of us."

"Don’t ever let anyone tell you what being Indian means. Too many of us died to get just a little bit of us here, right now, right in this kitchen. You, me. Every part of our people that made it is precious. You’re Indian because you’re Indian because you’re Indian."

"Only those who have lost as much as we have see the particularly nasty slice of smile on someone who thinks they're winning when they say "Get over it."

This story was told masterfully. Each of the different stories was so interesting. Some of the stories were more fleshed out than others and it wasn't until I got to the end that I felt like I understood why. Watching so many of the different threads come together was really satisfying. (And very heart-breaking at times). 

I also appreciated that this story centered urban Indigenous characters. I feel like that's a perspective that isn't often represented. I can totally understand why this book was considered for a Pulitzer. The themes it explores are are challenging and feel very real to me despite the fact that I don't share much life experience with any of the characters. Which, honestly, speaks to Orange's writing, in my opinion. 

Please note that this book deals with heavy themes. Some trigger warnings include: death, gun violence, drug content and mentions of rape. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Genocide, Rape, Blood, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Colonisation