This book somewhat touched home. Not that I lived a tough life but I’ve seen it happening all around me from friends to family.

This book is about generations of trauma starting from natives forced into boarding schools. It describes how that trauma affected them which began their addictions. Every generation was built on past and present traumas.

They were losing their identities on how to be a native and what is a native. They were being adopted into white homes and did not know where they came from. Some were half white/half native and did not know what to identify as. I believe this to be a true struggle.

The last generation was affected the most by the opium epidemic. Orvil being shot at the pow wow (Read There, There for the back story).

Everyone in this story was going through their own trauma and were trying to cope with it on their own.

This book made me contemplate on the possible traumas my grandparents might’ve gone through going to boarding schools. It is now too late for me to ask those questions. Even so would they have been open to talking about it?

Tommy is a once in a lifetime writer . I didn't think anything could top " there there" but he outdid himself . This was such a gut wrenching and immersive read .
Thank you Netgalley for the eArc.

So was looking forward to book 2. Just knew it would be a culmination of everyone showing up at the pow wow and its aftermath. Didn’t expect a detailed “let me read you a story” approach to the past, a deeply depressing, extremely drawn out current, and a ho hum future. What a depressing book.

Breathtaking how Orange can put characters and situations together in these stories with multiple points of view and pull out so many emotions in readers. In this story, with connections to his first book [book:There There|36692478], we're introduced to several generations over a period of many years-- first in 1864 centered around the Fort Marion Prison Castle after the Sand Creek Massacre where two generations of Stars are focused and where the latter meets Opal and try to survive one day at a time.

Then there's 2018 with Opal's nephews reliving school shooting and drug addiction after an accident and in the same, but different kind of survival mode.

The commentary of Indigenous culture and the horrific abuses that have been enacted on them socially, politically, mentally, economically, and in every other way is highlighted in this deeply-felt fictionalized (but not) story.

It has similarities in style and vividness to [book:The Nickel Boys|42270835].

A fantastic follow-up to Orange's incredible debut THERE THERE. I loved the history of the book, spanning a generational Native American family from 1924 to the present. The book is profound, important, and timely. Orange is an incredible writer and we have so much more to look forward to from him.

In his new multigenerational saga, Orange explores epigenetic and generational trauma as they specifically impact a single family over five or six generations, it’s almost inconceivable how much he packs into just over 300 pages. A triumph.

Wandering Stars has garnered praise from many readers, but regrettably, I found myself among the dissenting voices. Serving as a prequel/sequel to Tommy Orange's earlier work, There, There, this novel came into my hands through an ARC exchange for an honest review. While my appreciation for There, There was lukewarm, my experience with Wandering Stars didn't fare any better.

The narrative of Wandering Stars traces the journey of a Native American family from 1924 to the present day. However, the storyline appears fragmented, offering only glimpses into each generation. With the passage of time spanning multiple generations, the inclusion of a family tree at the outset of the book became essential for tracking the narrative's timeline. Additionally, I couldn't help but notice the author's penchant for elongating sentences, seemingly testing the limits of their length.

This book expands the story of Jacquie Red Feather and her family, both before and after the shooting in There There. Orange’s writing is beautiful and poignant. However, I wish there had been better pacing and plot throughout the book, and the various points of view more distinct.

From the author of There, There. Well written but takes a minute to get used to the style. A young survivor of an Indian massacre is sent to prison and then a school to become white. His son is then sent to the same school decades later. Moving and hard to read.

Tommy Orange is a master at crafting generational stories. Whereas There, There revolved around one timeline in the Bay Area, Wandering Stars follows many generations of the same family leading up to the events at the end of There, There and how it effected a family. It's hard to say too much about Wandering Stars without giving much away. If you love generation stories, definitely pick up Wandering Stars. I'd make sure you've read There, There, not just because it's phenomenal, but to help lay the foundation for the second half of Wandering Stars.

Thank you to Knopf and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

I was thrilled to get an ARC of Wandering Stars. Orange's debut There There is one of my favorite books of the last few years and one that I've pressed into the hands of others. Wandering Stars continues the story of Orville and his family while also providing the story of their forebears. I wanted to love this book, and in many ways, I did. Tommy Orange creates fully dimensional characters that we might imagine as friends or people in our community while giving us an inside peak that helps us further understand their actions and our own. Wandering Stars displays this magnificent ability. However, in my estimation, it falls slightly short of the literary genius that is There There. It wasn't as tightly wound. Perhaps, the author only wanted to give us an update on these unforgettable character's lives, like we may see in a "where are they now" feature, and for that, I was grateful to reencounter them. After all, if you shoot for the moon and miss, you will still land among the stars, which is where this book exists.

This was my first Tommy Orange book. While 'Wandering Stars' does pick up after 'There, There' I had no problem reading this as a standalone novel. This book was a honest reflection of the long-lasting effects of displacement, trauma, and addiction experienced through the lives of two Native American families.

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange is simply amazing!
The book is funny and sad and poignant and just so so so well done.
The style of writing and the pacing make for a quick read, and I devoured it in one day.
This novel is needed. It is important. It needs to be read.

Thank You NetGalley and Knopf for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I have been wanting to read this story after visiting the Sand Creek Massacre site. This story is a beautifully written piece of historical fiction. With the current political division and trying to rewrite history, this is an extremely important story to tell. We can’t forget the dark history of oppression and genocide that the indigenous people have suffered.

I would recommend reading There There first as it was a bit difficult to follow.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

This was a fascinating read about family, racism, native history and drug abuse/addiction. I learned a lot about cultural history and current drug issues. The majority of the story takes place in current day Oakland so it was also interesting reading about that place. There is quite a bit of YA content which I usually don’t enjoy but this was relevant. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This accessible multigenerational family story of members of the Cheyenne tribe is well written and intriguing. I appreciate the insight on the experience of indigenous peoples through discrimination and other hardships. However, the story lost me around the 50% mark. It’s likely that I just need a break to process and consider before moving on. For now, I’m setting it aside, and logging it under “to be finished” when the time is right. 3⭐️

What a fantastic follow up to Orange’s first book. To say the last book left off on a cliffhanger is an understatement, and while this sequel wasn’t the story I thought I’d be getting, I loved where it went. I won’t say much for spoilers sake, but there’s a lot to like here. There are past timelines to give more context to the current day situation, there’s beautiful, real, and raw writing, and there’s complex storylines. The journey that these characters take throughout this book was hard to read at times, but I so appreciated how layered things were, how deep we got with certain stories, and how it brought in a generational aspect. It was an honest portrayal of what many people go through, and it gave me a lot to think about.

Tommy Orange's words often stop me in my tracks. He is a master of evocative sentences, paragraphs, and pages. And for that, I loved his new release, Wandering Stars. Orange's books are word artistry. Plots, though, are more elusive in his writing. There is structure, but it is ephemeral and involves many intersecting people and events. His characters are some of the most genuine people I've encountered in literature. Broken but healing.

If you love words, if you are looking for a book where the words will take you deep into another's universe, you should give this book a read. Tommy Orange is probably not your author if you want a linear story with a clear-cut plot.

The first part of this book details the multigenerational past of Orvil's family (Orval was a shooting victim from There There). The second half of the book deals with Orvil and his extended family. It goes deep into drug abuse and other mental health crises - it is dark reading at times.

This would be a good pick for a book club with many discussion topics.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for a review.

Like The Godfather II, Orange’s second novel takes place both before and after the powwow shooting that came at the end of There There. I labored through the first third of the novel that traces Orvil Red Feather’s ancestry but was riveted by the remainder which focuses in on Orvila nd his family in the present day.

Starting with the 1865 Sand Creek massacre, the first section traces the many atrocities committed on the Cheyenne and Arapaho Star and Shield families. Written in a dense, often elliptical prose, with each character stepping forward to detail the barbarism with which they were treated: enforced enrollment into the brutal Carlisle Indian School, children taken by white families, and indentured servitude. This section ends with the Indian occupation of Alcatraz.

The remainder of the novel is looser and less opaque. The chapters loop between Orvil and his brothers, Loother and Lony, and their grandmother, Jacqui, and great aunt, Opal, moving fluidly between first and third person narration, and starting at the point of Orvil recovering from being shot at the Oakland powwow. Defining trauma as “a bad thing doesn’t stop happening to you just because it stops happening to you,” the family is shown dealing with the damages of the more distant past as well as their immediate suffering. The outcome for the boys is addiction, dropping out of school, and leaving the family behind.

The final section, Futures, is more optimistic and hopeful. By creating a bulwark against the past Jacqui and Opal offer an alternative to the patterns of (self) destruction and give the boys an opportunity to start afresh.

This feels like a necessary novel if not one that I actually enjoyed that much. Tbh, books that are described as “lyrical” are not usually my thing but I’m glad I read this and I found, in writing this review, that I actually got quite a lot more from it than it felt like at the time.

Thanks to Knopf and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Wandering Stars returns to the characters first introduced in There There, going back in time to the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 and following the family into present-day Oakland as they struggle through the ongoing consequences of native erasure and genocide. The story is split into two parts: Before and Aftermath. I found the transition between the two parts a bit muddled, feeling that Part One was rushed at the end. I could easily see Wandering Stars split into two separate books. Although Orange's newest novel doesn't always follow a linear path, he brings the story together through multiple points of view, zooming in on the intimate thoughts and details of each character's personal story, and through recurring themes that show up intergenerationally.

This is a powerful and brutally honest narrative, bringing into clear focus atrocities such as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, led by American Army captain Richard Pratt, who ran the school with the belief that one must “Kill the Indian to save the man." I found myself appalled at how much native history we were never taught in school. The abuse of adults and children (who were forcibly removed from their homes) at these institutions had disastrous consequences for thousands of families, and much of Wandering Stars shares this reality through Orange's portrayal of the Red Feather family.

Wandering Stars is evocatively written and I was fully immersed, hopeful on every page that Orvil and his brothers would find some healing and learn to lean on each other through the many difficulties they face. Orvil's youngest brother best articulates the painful process of healing between family members when he writes, "Healing is holy and if you have the chance to not have to carry something alone, with people you love, it should be honored, the opportunity, it should be honored, and you all got selfish about it, you got scared it was gonna be bigger than our love and then it was." Reading Wandering Stars is a journey through the worst of humanity while holding onto hope that healing is still possible, and I am so thankful I had the opportunity to read it.