Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

61 reviews

rebelkel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Wandering Stars is incredible! Truly a masterpiece. Can be read on its own but I highly recommend reading There There first. Incredible story of addiction, recovery and navigating relationships within your family. As a white American, this story opened my eyes to experiences I could never really understand otherwise. Tommy Orange is a phenomenal author and I will auto buy anything he writes. I felt such a strong, emotional connection to each character and the family this book follows. Highly recommend for ANYONE and everyone to read. Everyone should read these books!

Thank you Net Galley for providing this ebook in exchange for an honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Drug use

kimmykelly's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Drug abuse, Genocide, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Deadnaming, Abandonment, Self harm, and Violence

lettuce_read's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Gun violence

shay43geek's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Racism, Death, Addiction, Drug use, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Mental illness, Grief, Child abuse, Colonisation, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Animal death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Ableism, Cancer, War, and Alcohol

Minor: Slavery, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Cultural appropriation, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, Car accident, Pandemic/Epidemic, Ableism, Sexual assault, Bullying, Transphobia, Vomit, Body shaming, Rape, Racial slurs, Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Dementia, Misogyny, Excrement, and Abandonment

emelynreads's review

dark emotional reflective 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

I read There, There right before cracking Wandering Stars open. This book focuses heavily on addiction much more than There, There. You still get the author's amazing prose and unique style of writing inner dialogue. 

I'm not sure what the purpose of having one nonbinary character was when it's only brought up twice and not for development. This was a turn off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Blood, Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Self harm

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal death

deedireads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

4.5

All my reviews live at https://deedireads.com/.

Damn, Tommy Orange just plain knows how to write sentences.

Wandering Stars isn’t as propulsive as There, There was, but don’t worry; it twists the knife. It begins with a look through the eyes of several generations of Orvil Redfeather’s ancestors, from the Sand Creek Massacre to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and up through present day. Then we join back up with Orvil and his family in the aftermath of the events of There, There.

I’ve seen people say they didn’t feel like this book pulled together as well as they’d hoped, but I don’t agree. I thought the two sections worked great in concert, and I think the way they highlighted the generational trauma forced upon Native Americans was really effective.

I recommend reading There, There first because it’s truly excellent and the characters here are dealing with its aftermath, so the emotional impact will be greater if you’ve read it. But it’s not 100% necessary. In fact, I read it a long time ago and remembered very few concrete details, but I still loved this one.

Also! The full-cast audiobook was fantastic. I started the first few chapters on audio only (successfully) and loved listening along as I read once I settled in with my print copy.

What’s next, Tommy? I’ll be there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Addiction

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual assault and Mass/school shootings

taylornredmond's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

Wandering Stars is a story told across multiple generations, detailing both the trauma and resilience in the family lineage. The first third of the book was informative and interesting but at times felt a bit incohesive. Once the story of Orvil, Lony, Loother, Opal, and Jacquie began, the themes of addiction, family, and identity began to shine through more. Orange writes with such beautiful prose and I appreciate how he creates space for his characters to reflect on what they’ve learned and how it’s not only impacted them, but their family around them as well.

This book is both a prequel and sequel to “There, There” which I haven’t had the chance to read yet, but I definitely will add to my list. All in all, this book is heavy in many ways, but speaks to so many important lessons on identity and overcoming struggle. I hope that many get the chance to read this story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Suicide, and Drug abuse

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

Tommy Orange can write multiple points of view in a truly unparalleled manner. Beginning with a man who has gone mute after escaping the Sand Creek Massacre, each character's perspective is unique and wholly their own. Despite the years that lapse between vignettes, each character's presence carries from one descendant to the next in a way that illuminates the way that trauma is inherited.

As a fan of There There, I was delighted to not only get to know their ancestors but to have a chance to revisit Orvil, Opal, Jacquie, Lony, and Loother. When we return to the modern-day Readfeather family, each character is reckoning with the aftermath of the events of There There. The spectrum of emotion they each experience is both heartbreaking and palpable. Lony, the youngest member of the family, has a particularly devastating way of dealing with his trauma that feels so true to both his age and way of seeing the world.

If you're a fan of historical fiction and character studies, you can't miss Wandering Stars!

Thank you @netgalley and @aaknopf for the e-ARC of Wandering Stars in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, Death, Genocide, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

womanwill's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

4.75

A multigenerational look at belonging, identity, and family through the lens of colonization, addiction, and generational trauma on the Indigenous communities in the U.S. Set mostly in modern-day Oakland, the land of the Ohlone tribe and a follow up to Orange's There There, his writing is as rich and all-encompassing as ever. I highlighted elite paragraphs of prose dripping with beauty and pain. 

I most loved being back with the characters, particularly Opal Bearshield as she fiercely loves her family and 3 grandkids: Orvil, Lony, and Loother Redfeather. As well as their true grandma and Opal's sister, Jacque Redfeather as she worked through alcoholism. This book, also, at parts spans centuries in their family line of Cheyenne ancestors: a family that survives the Sand Creek Massacre, boarding schools, alcoholism and addiction.

This is not a light read but it is well worth its emotional depth and a must read for anyone who wants to read about the harsh survival of "Native Americans".

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Colonisation, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcoholism, War, Cancer, and Gun violence

Minor: Racial slurs and Mass/school shootings