Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange is a beautifully and brutally written novel about Native Americans that was an emotionally challenging read for me. I did not read his Pulitzer nominated book, There There. I enjoy books with a historical slant and part one takes place in 1928. The forced attendance at residential schools was honestly horribly abusive to the children and their families. Part two is set in 2018 and follows the ruined lives of a group of friends, young Native Americans, whose lives are headed for grim and hopeless futures. There is no rainbow and certainly no pot of gold.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Knoff for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.
3 stars – Pub.Date: February 27, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc, I'm providing an honest review of my own accord <3

"The word family will never feel the same as it once did, or maybe it never quite fit. Like we need new words for what we become, how much we change, how we wear words and names out, especially when your heart breaks about going from being a kid to being an adult because you have to, because the world isn't made for kids."

At first, I was nervous about this falling into the same issues I encountered when reading There, There, and though I think others may feel differently, I really enjoyed this follow up and think TO's writing has only improved (who am I, I'm a peasant, but I adored his prose and I personally appreciate a bit of heavy-handedness so whatever!) and drew me in even more with this sequel.

The narratives that pulled me in the most were those of Sean Price, an adoptee living in Oakland with his white family, and Orvil Red Feather, who we revisit in the aftermath of his school shooting, and he meets Sean via the world wide internet! I was so intrigued by Sean's journey of discovering his ethnicity through 23andMe, and learning he was part indigenous (but unfortunately does not know which tribe), part Black, and part white. He grew up with a white family, and once he finds out his background, he begins to question and challenge so much about his family and society as a whole.

I think the reason that narrative stood out to me was because of my own bias, since I live in the SF Bay Area and the following the narrative of someone in 2018 in Oakland felt familiar to read about. Though there are a multiple people we follow in this book, I didn't feel it was too hard to follow because we had met some of them in There, There, and I had a better handle on the family tree this time around.

Overall, the underlying themes of addiction, colonization, and familial generational trauma were clearly a bit grim, but ultimately it was powerful (in quiet, validating sort of way for me) and provided direct and tough commentary.

I had such high hopes for Tommy Orange's second book, Wandering Stars., It is beautifully written and the story is absorbing, but only through the first third of the book. It then deteriorates noticeably. Readers of his first book, There there, will recognize and be grateful - at least for a while - for the continuation of the story started in the previous work. for others, though, interest will soon wane. Orange has such promise, such potential. I hope to see them realized in his next work.

Gorgeous at the sentence level, but meandering, slow, and somewhat underwhelming ending made it a forgettable read overall.

Wandering Stars serves as both a precursor and a follow-up to Orange's acclaimed 2018 debut, There There. The novel unfolds as two distinct pieces of fiction, delving into the theme of addiction across generations in a Cheyenne family that survived the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and endured re-education in early 20th-century government schools. The second half of the novel focuses on the protagonists of There, There. The story picks up after Orvil Red Feather’s shooting at a powwow and his own struggle with addiction. While Orange's undeniable talent shines through, with a storyline that has immeasurable potential, the actual delivery lacks a clear direction and focus. Orange bounces around from character to character and it is difficult to follow. The writing reads like a conscious stream of thought with glimmers of profound insight and beauty. Unfortunately, those glimmers are few and far between.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

This is a hard book to read - written beautifully and dealing with multiple generations of Native Americans. I struggled with the disjointed storytelling from so many points of view and wanted the book to delve deeper into some of them with less on others.

The substance abuse wasn't really dealt with other than it just seemed to be a fact of life. I think this was a missed opportunity.

The prose was well done and descriptive. The characters were easily identifiable with. The various points of view were sometimes difficult to follow. All told, this is a book I can recommend.

I was given this book by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I give the book 3.5 stars. I wàs really excited to read this book. I did not read There There but I heard about the hype. I knew that Tommy Orange had won a Pulitzer prize for it. I really like fiction and reading about struggles and diverse characters.

It took me a long time to read this book. I thought I was going through a reading slump. I started and finished some other books after I started this book. It was hard for me to get into the book.

I found the book difficult to read. The chapters were various sizes. A lot of the sentences were run on sentences. It was strange to me that such a well known author didn't write well.

The book had a lot of characters. I felt attached to some. It seemed that the story would revolve around one character and then another. The characters didn't always mesh with the other ones.

I liked the themes of the book. Sometimes the book just didn't flow well for me. It would be in the past and then the present. It would be a story. Then it was more a commentary on society.

I have heard so much about this author. I want to see what others have seen and written about. I actually want to read the authors first book. I would read future books from the author. Maybe

There There was a book that got me back into reading, so you can imagine how excited I was to read Orange’s sophomore novel, Wandering Stars. As I expected, the writing was wonderful, crackling with life and humor and sorrow, distinct in voice and style.

The first third, the more historical fiction aspect to this novel, was a full 5 stars from me. I loved how the characters connected (and chronologically! Thank you!) and how distinct their voices felt while keeping a familial thread throughout. The themes here of historical trauma and resilience, of surviving and passing down stories, were so clear and well crafted. It is very impressive that this is both a prequel and a sequel at once, but I mostly think it should have just been the former. While I did enjoy coming back to these characters, adding a sequel to what felt like a wholly complete novel is perhaps too much of a good thing, a wonderful story to return to but also treading a lot of the same ground we have already covered. It didn’t feel fresh, I was unfairly comparing it to the 1st novel, and I found the wrap up at the end (“where are they now??”) to be a bit neat.

On the whole, there is so much to love here and I leave this knowing Tommy Orange is an instant-buy author, hoping more people will find and love his work. The first part worked much more for me, but I can’t say no to a compelling character-driven novel!

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for the eARC!

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (Southern Cheyenne of Oklahoma) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My first personal read of 2024, and the bar is now set pretty high for the rest of the year. I do think it was helpful to have already read There, There, but I’m not sure it’s necessary.

The first half fed the historical fiction-loving part of me–I absolutely inhaled it. Being born and raised on a rural, northern rez, going to college in the Bay Area was my first introduction to the complexity of urban Native communities. The first question Natives living there asked was where I am from and who are my people. It’s good to know, but in this story it does more than just satisfy a fleeting curiosity. For me, it provides a depth, understanding, and fullness to the rest of the story.

The second half was what I needed after reading There, There all those years ago. It wasn’t a closure, but maybe a balm for the heart ache.

This one publishes later this month, Feb. 27, but is available for pre-order now.

Enjoy this one, let it heal you a little.

Tokšá aké, book friends 📚☕️

Pidámaya Tommy Orange for sharing this gift of a story, and Knopf and NetGalley for an eArc.

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange is a poignant exploration of the enduring trauma faced by Native American families, spanning from the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 to the present day. The novel's lyrical prose and impactful historical segments, especially those centered on Cheyenne warrior Star, create a captivating narrative. However, the extensive array of characters introduced in the latter half dilutes individual connections. The novel serves as a testament to the resilience of the Bear Shield-Red Feather family and delves into the dark history of the United States, emphasizing the ongoing impact of genocide on Native American communities. While challenging, the book is crucial for understanding history, highlighting the legacy of colonialism, and addressing the struggle for cultural identity. Tommy Orange's skillful storytelling navigates multi-generational complexities, making Wandering Stars an essential contribution to the understanding of Native American history and a poignant reminder of the enduring impact of brutality on communities.

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange is a beautifully written book covering an important topic. Told in an historical fiction style, Orange plays out the heart-wrenching tales of three points in indigenous people’s history. I was both sad and enraged at the atrocities and touched by the strength of characters. This isn’t an easy to read book and I tend to prefer a more linear and plot-driven novel, but it is an important and much neglected topic.

Another wonderfully-written, tough-to-read book from Tommy Orange. "Wandering Stars" is a companion novel to "There There", and I do recommend reading that first, but it's not a requirement. This book spans from the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado to the aftermath of the shooting in "There There", and once again gives an eye-opening look at the modern Indigenous experience and the effect through the generations of having your culture forcibly stripped away. This is a story of family, belonging, and identity, and it's an important read. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for a digital review copy.

Thank you to Alfred A Knopf publisher for an advanced copy of this book. I recently read Tommy Oranges other book in preparation for this book. I dont think that you would have to read the previous book there was a little connection but it focused on generations of families. There was also mention of covid not much but I think the reader should be aware. This book was sad and focused on native Americans.

Both a sequel and a prequel to his excellent book There There, Wandering Stars is yet another outstanding Tommy Orange book. It's about family, inheritance, addiction, how we decide to move through the world, how some are forced through the world, and all sorts of great big themes, but you're never beat over the head with over-cooked descriptions of character and place. Basically, I'll be interested in reading anything he wants to write.

Tommy Orange's prose will always get me. He can get away with throwing in an essay at the start of a novel or mixing fact and fiction to let me know what he really thinks.

Not as propulsive as the firecracker that was There There, but still as gorgeous and heartbreaking. The first third takes us through the family history of the Star-Red Feather surviving massacres, abuse, erasure, and addictions. The rest brings us to the aftermath of the pow wow in There There. Generational trauma, loss, poverty, mass shootings, these will continually grind you down. What does it mean to survive? Can we go beyond simply surviving and thrive?
Every character goes through it in this novel, but thankfully this isn't just a bleak book about adversity and addiction. There is hope, resiliency, and love. Every character is allowed to break down, wander, and come back - though not necessarily to exactly what they left or want.

While I loved this book, I found the first part stronger than the second. There were moments where the contemporary section meandered a bit too much and I'm not sure what happened with some of the subplots. This is a much slower read than There There, but a gorgeous way to bookend that novel.

Tommy Orange brilliantly writes to reach the souls of people. He puts you in the stories with the characters to feel everything they feel.
He sets Wandering Stars up with a historical narrative looking into the ancestral timeline of the Red Feather family—Victor Bear Shield and Charles Star experience massacres and Christianizing. While natives are persecuted and their history taken away, it affects future generations. Fast forward to the modern day, the Red Feathers have seen their share of trauma and family strife. Tommy Orange wants us to see the effects of addiction throughout the years and how one family deals with their pain. Orvil, one of the main characters in Orange's previous book, was shot at a powwow in the Oakland Coliseum. His recovery included pain pills, which he started to enjoy and became addicted to. At the same time, Orvil experiences his post-recovery, and his brothers and great-aunts are navigating their trauma and pain.
Orange touches on every aspect of life's questions about who we are, where we came from, and what we would have been if the bad things hadn't happened to us.
Experience this novel as an uncovering of acceptance and the idea that we are more than what has happened to us. We can start again; we can begin a new story.

There, There left a lot of questions in the aftermath of the shooting. I had high hopes Wandering Stars would pick up right where Tommy Orange left off. Instead, he took a historical look at the history of trauma in tribal communities. Seeing the aftermath of the shooting through Orvil and the three brother’s view was an interesting approach that left the reader confused as to whose story is being told.

A sort of sequel to There There that starts with the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and continues through the traumatic aftermath of Orvil Red Feather's shooting. The last half is a close and excruciating look at addiction.

This is a really complicated book to review, honestly. It's a novel, that sometimes reads like a nonfiction - and, unfortunately, is likely based on a lot of real experiences. It has an almost mythical quality at times; Orange seamlessly blends real events with potentially imagined or dreamed or symbolic events in a way that emphasizes that, real or not, they are all equally important parts of the lived experience. This book is, above all, a complex look at collective and intergenerational trauma.

All this said, the stream of consciousness writing style wore me down at times. I haven't read There, There, but was really excited about this release based on the description. Based on similar struggles with a few other texts, I'm assuming it's a cultural approach to storytelling that is just different from what I'm accustomed to. I had to take a break about half way through, which is a rarity. Still, I'm glad I stuck it out and I think this is an important and valuable read. I also found myself highlighting passages constantly while reading; some beautiful, some that just punch you right in the gut.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC. Wandering Stars publishes February 27th.

This book absolutely broke me, but this is an important, beautifully written book that is not to be missed. One caveat for me personally is that it had been awhile since I had read 'There, There,' and I wish I had re-read the previous book before diving into this one. Still, it is evident that this book was written from the heart and rendered with the upmost care.