A review by wordssearched
There There by Tommy Orange

4.0

This book about the interrelated lives of a group of Native Americans in and around the Oakland area is a beautiful, searing read. It takes a while for all the threads to come together so for at least the first half of the book, it feels more like a disparate collection of character sketches than a novel. Once the plot starts moving toward its inevitable, devastating end, though, it's impossible to put down. There's a lot to challenge the reader about how these characters all see themselves, how Natives see themselves, the power of story, perspective and the collecting of stories for their own sake. It's a good, but not perfect first novel from an author I am excited to read more from.