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A review by questingnotcoasting
There There by Tommy Orange
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a heavy and poignant read. There are twelve POV characters, all Native Americans living in Oakland, California, whose stories begin to overlap about halfway through. I felt some characters were developed more than others but I became quickly interested in most of their lives. They're all dealing with difficult situations, including alcoholism, grief and gun violence and I felt for them all. I found it impressive how Orange dealt with complicated, important themes like otherness, displacement and cultural history by capturing a wide range of experiences. I love reading multiple perspectives which interconnect and I was looking forward to seeing how all the storylines met but ultimately I wanted a bit more from the ending. However I've seen lots of glowing reviews so I think it was more a matter of my own expectations than the book itself.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Genocide, and Grief