A review by pangnaolin
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

goodness. what a beautiful book. i truly have no words good enough to describe my feelings toward this piece. tommy orange, how you hurt me! truly (probably) my favorite author. his way with words is incredible and leaves me speechless with my heart aching each time. the way he navigates 'dialogue' for characters that communicate through more physical cues is incredible, and the way he moves smoothly between older and modern language & culture is just astonishing

i didn't think i'd like this book as much as there, there-- and i probably didn't in the sense that it's effect on me was less strong since it didn't get to catch me by surprise this time, now aware of the intensity of orange's writing-- but goodness, it really did impress me. the characters are beautiful and capture your heart, and the sense we get of their relationships with one another is so deep in a way i haven't encountered in any other book

i don't want to give you mush of the story, because i think it's worth going into relatively blind, but wow do i recommend it. one of my favorite books, for sure; i could easily point out my favorite moments to you from memory