Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

10 reviews

reb_knits's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

I have so much to say about this book and know I’ll be thinking about many elements of it for years to come

This book is both a prequel and a sequel to There There and I didn’t know that going into it — I read that novel in 2020 so most of the plot is hazy

That being said, the sequel half of the book stands up without the first novel

And the prequel half is some of the best writing I’ve ever read in my life

Give me intergenerational multi-character perspective literary fiction forever!!!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer

arrr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Powerful intergenerational story of colonization and its effects on an Oakland Indigenous family up to and after the modern day shooting in the first book. Some parts are understandably dark, but the message is hopeful and reflective. Worth getting to the end, even if you have to put it down a few times to have a break and a cry. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Absolutely worth the read if you're in a good safe headspace to cope with the many triggers.

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

This is my first by Tommy Orange, and based on reviews from other readers, I do wish I had read There, There first, as it would likely have helped orient me within the family and the timeline. This is an unflinching look at the multigenerational trauma experienced by Indigenous families who survived European colonization and genocide. Wandering Stars picks up in the wake up the Sand Creek Massacre and then explores each following generation in episodic, character-driven chapters that jump between third, second and first-person. At about the halfway point, we jump ahead to 2018 and our story begins to circle two primary characters - both Indigenous high-school boys living in Oakland with their complicated families and nascent addictions to painkillers. There is a throughline in school trauma across generations - from the violent imprisonment and forced assimilation of boarding schools like Carlisle to today's schools rocked by gun violence and inequity. 

This read was ultimately not for me. It didn't stand alone easily, and I felt I was missing too much of There, There to really understand these big character jumps (requesting this ARC when I hadn't read There, There is ENTIRELY on me - I truly thought this would stand alone). I also don't love overwrought prose - sentences that are routinely paragraph-length run-ons remind me why I don't read as much lit fiction anymore. These are my own preferences, though, and I would still say this is an important and propulsive read that will likely be appreciated by those who loved There, There. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual assault, and War

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

ecn's review against another edition

4.5

So so good, excellent mesh of prequel and sequel, and an absolute KNOCK out ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

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

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

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

There There was a book that got me back into reading, so you can imagine how excited I was to read Orange’s sophomore novel, Wandering Stars. As I expected, the writing was wonderful, crackling with life and humor and sorrow, distinct in voice and style. 

The first third, the more historical fiction aspect to this novel, was a full 5 stars from me. I loved how the characters connected (and chronologically! Thank you!) and how distinct their voices felt while keeping a familial thread throughout. The themes here of historical trauma and resilience, of surviving and passing down stories, were so clear and well crafted. It is very impressive that this is both a prequel and a sequel at once, but I mostly think it should have just been the former. While I did enjoy coming back to these characters, adding a sequel to what felt like a wholly complete novel is perhaps too much of a good thing, a wonderful story to return to but also treading a lot of the same ground we have already covered. It didn’t feel fresh, I was unfairly comparing it to the 1st novel, and I found the wrap up at the end (“where are they now??”) to be a bit neat.

On the whole, there is so much to love here and I leave this knowing Tommy Orange is an instant-buy author, hoping more people will find and love his work. The first part worked much more for me, but I can’t say no to a compelling character-driven novel!

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for the eARC!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Genocide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Mass/school shootings

brewdy_reader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense 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

4.75

𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘍𝘪𝘤 • 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 • 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 • ⁣𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺
𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 • 𝘗𝘶𝘣 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦 27 𝘍𝘦𝘣 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚋 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚊 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝."

At the end of There There, the story felt incomplete, raw, unfinished, unresolved, without closure. You could argue that that was the point. 

However, for those who wanted more, you will find that here. Both going backwards in time multi generations and forward in time from the Big Oakland Powwow, blending historical and contemporary fiction into one book, we trace the families and lives of characters from There There from past into present day.

Wandering Stars highlights the impacts of addiction, grief, loneliness, & belonging. The writing style flows between poetic prose to stream of consciousness as we jump POVs between minds of characters numbing their pain via toxic coping mechanisms as one bad event leads to one bad decision to another and another to where there seems no way out but deeper into the abyss. 

If I had a complaint, it would be the sheer volume of characters, which to effectively track requires family tree diagramming with arrows and cross references. There were many memorable moments. I must have highlighted over half of the book. 

This one will stay with me for a long time, so I am rounding my rating up from 4.5 to 5. 

✨ Releases Feb 27 ✨

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage & Anchor for allowing me to review this book. All opinions are my own. 

TW: Addiction, Drug Use/Abuse, Self Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Alcoholism, Racism, Rape, Abuse, Genocide, Trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Gun violence and Mass/school shootings

skudiklier's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

It's hard to overstate how excited I was for this book; There There has been one of my favorites ever since I read it, and I've been checking for news of its sequel for so long now. When I found out I could read it on Netgalley it was the highlight of my week.

That said, this didn't disappoint at all. I will admit it took me a bit to get into it, given how different the first third or so is from There There. But I trusted Tommy Orange and his process, and I found the entirety of the book engaging, even if it took me longer to read the beginning.

I read the last two thirds of this book all in one day, and basically couldn't put it down. I love the way it balances hard depressing real-world shit with love and hope for the future. The characters here go through so much, and at times it can be really hard to read, but I don't think it should have been written any other way. It's a great sequel and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Thank you to Knopf and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury

graphic: child abduction, drug overdose, generational trauma moderate: Native boarding schools