A review by babewithabookandabeer
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

challenging emotional 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

Thank you Knopf and Netgalley for my copy of WANDERING STARS by Tommy Orange, out 2/27/24!

I loved Tommy Orange’s Pultizer Prize-finalist novel THERE THERE and so when I got an email from Netgalley to autodownload his follow-up novel, I’ve never sent a request so fast!!! Orange extends his constellation of narratives into the past and the future, tracing the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through three generations of an Indigenous family.

The beginning of the novel takes place in Colorado with a young survivor of the massacre by the name of Star. He is forced to learn English and practice Christianity at an industrial school dedicated to the erasure of Native history, culture and identity. The next generation follows Charles, Star’s son, who is brutalized by a prison guard and meets Opal Viola. They dream of a future away from the violencde that follows their bloodlines.

In the future of 2018, we meet Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield who is barely holding her family together after a shooting that nearly took the life of her nephew Orvil. This section details opioid addiction, gun violence, depression, racism, self-harm, PTSD and struggling with identity, belonging and loneliness. 

This book is rage-indusing, heartbreaking, devastating and will leave you feeling lost. The writing is gorgeous and mindbending, and a glorious collec tion of the devastating indictment of America’s war on its own people. This book is both a prequel and a sequel to THERE THERE so I would definitely start with that novel before digging into this one. I love that Orange is writing about the depths of addiction when it comes to modern Indigenous life because it is a very under-talked about topic.

Thank you Tommy Orange for writing this superb novel. I hope to see it reviewed, discussed and awarded many flowers.