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lanid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment
taylor24's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual assault, and Colonisation
sarahbythebook's review against another edition
4.0
"The problem with indigenous art in general is that it's stuck in the past. The catch or the double bind about the whole thing is this: if it isn't pulling from tradition, how is it indigenous? and if it is stuck in tradition, in the past, how can it be relevant to other indigenous people living now? How can it be modern?"
Tommy Orange's debut novel answers his own question as it weaves together the lives and experiences of 12 Native people coming together in Oakland, California, for a massive powwow. Their strings are all tangled together in ways clear and confusing, and Orange uses these characters and their experiences to bring front and center the lives of "Urban Indians" for his readers. Through their lives, readers are able to see the struggles, challenges, and failures that Native society is forced to navigate while highlighting the culture that still exists despite colonizers' best efforts.
As much as I enjoyed this book, I struggled with the sheer number of points of view and keeping them all straight, especially the young men. As the book progressed, that got better, but the beginning in particular was rough for me. I think this would have been better with a physical or digital copy of the book rather than the audiobook.
The ambiguity at the end is frustrating, but I also think it's perfect for this book. The lives of Native and Indigenous people are not static and do not have an ending; this story, a glimpse into that reality, should not have an ending either. Instead, readers should take it as a call to action to do the work to improve the lives of Native communities around them, boosting a beautiful culture so that the youth can break the cycles of poverty that white Americans forced them into years and years ago.
Graphic: Gun violence and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
There are so many interesting and experimental things going on in this book. There’s definitely a whole capstone paper about indigenous temporarily here. There’s a lot of interesting ruminations on Native identity and urban Native identity in particular (and I’m sure I missed a lot more as a white reader).
This is the first piece of long-form fiction that I’ve ever seen successfully incorporate first, second, AND third person point of view chapters as well as both present and past tense sections interspersed throughout the book (see earlier point about non-linear storytelling).
I read There There this week because it’s the Great Read at the library where I work and therefore kind of the book of the moment in my town. Tommy Orange is doing an author event that I tragically won’t be able to attend. It’s all very cool and I’m glad it got me to read this book!
I didn’t totally love this one, though. Some of the characters felt a bit too similar. The women in particular were all defined by sexual violence in one way or another, and while I know that it’s really important to talk about the horrible amounts of sexual violence faced by Native women, I wish that there had been more variety of women’s stories in this book. Maybe that’s unreasonable to expect from a cis man author. I don’t know.
Also, why did I think that Tommy Orange was queer? I’m pretty sure he’s not and the book is incredibly cishet, so I’m not sure where that idea came from. Oh well.
Please look at the very extensive list of content warnings if you have any of the major triggers. This book contains most of them.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Genocide, Rape, Suicide, and Colonisation
gilnean's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Torture, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Abandonment, and Classism
afriendwithfiction's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Gun violence, Racism, and Abortion
ashylibrarian's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy
laurao's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Xenophobia and War
The characters were numb and isolated. It’s an important topic, but it was just hard to read.kulera's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Abortion
percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Excrement, and Abortion