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A review by brewdy_reader
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
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.
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.
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