Well-written and affecting, and ultimately a challenging read about trauma, addiction, and the native american experience. Constant character jumping left development wanting and less interesting as a narrative structure.

This novel is gorgeously written. It tells a powerful and moving story about this nations history. I'm better for having read it. I do wish that the description made it clearer that one needs to read There, There before diving in to this one.

I read about 75 pages, but decided to move on to another book at that time. I loved Orange’s first book, and was sad that I felt unable to full engage in this story. I think it may have been a “right book at the wrong time” situation. The writing was good, but my attention kept wandering. I hope to pick it up again at a later time!

Tommy Orange is a master. As soon as I finished There, There I couldn't wait for the next book. No sophomore slump here. This is perfection. Heartbreaking perfection

Thanks to the publisher for access to this fantastic follow-up to There There. This book explores the origins of that book and picks up in the second half where There There left off. I found the first part of the book a bit slow but loved the second half.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 because it deserves it.

This follow up to There There delivered in all the ways I wanted it to. The end of There There left things feeling unfinished and unresolved, by design I suspect. The first half of Wandering Stars brings us back for a multigenerational look at how we got to the Big Oakland Powwow in There There. The second half of Wandering Stars picks up where There There left off, following several of our characters in the aftermath of the Big Oakland Powwow.

The aftermath was not pretty, and this was a difficult and emotional read just like There There. We see generations of a family struggling with addiction, PTSD, feelings of not belonging, just to name a few. While the road to get there is brutal, it’s important and leads us to what I felt was a satisfying end.

Tommy Orange’s writing style feels unique in that it shifts from a traditional storytelling to moments of more poetic prose and then sometimes streams of consciousness that I had to go back and read multiple times to fully digest what the character was thinking and feeling. This book will make you feel for and with these characters, and that’s what makes it important. These are characters and stories that will stick with you.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage & Anchor for the advanced reader electronic copy of this book.

This is a multi-generational story of a family dealing with historical and generational trauma about what is has and does mean to be Native American in American society.

Was there ever any doubt that this would be great? Can't wait to pick up a physical copy and reread and savor again.

A mutli-generational view of an Indigenous family, with particular focus on the youngest generation. Examines addiction, violence and generational trauma with heartbreaking beauty. My review could never do Tommy Orange's words justice.

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.

The Sand Creek Massacre, the Carlisle Indian School, the Alcatraz Takeover and the Oakland Powow shooting are the legacy of the Native American family in this novel, a family whose members were introduced in Tommy Orange’s debut novel. Focusing on three young brothers, Orvil, Loother and Lony, we see their lack of knowledge of their roots and culture and their struggles to discover who they are and their place in society. Lack of motivation for school and the allure of drugs haunt their lives and make it seem impossible to dream and succeed. It is a sad story, but as their ancestors’ stories are revealed, if they don’t fully appreciate the role these men and women played in tribal history, the reader certainly does, along with the plight of the indigenous and the skilled storytelling of the author.

I loved There There and was so excited to read Orange’s new release. But, the first 3rd of this book was really tough for me to get through. It’s kind of a fragmented retelling of the generations before we catch up to Orvil in 2018. Orange is a poetic writer but this part of the book just didn’t click for me.

It started to pick up when we get to the current timeline and pick up where There There left off. Some chapters were definitely stronger than others. I loved reading about Orvil and Sean’s friendship. And of course, Orange does a masterful job at showcasing the trials and tribulations of the Native population, building on the obstacles they’ve had to overcome and the obstacles they face today. There were so many beautiful, highlight-able passages.

I agree with some other reviewers than Wandering Stars seems like a bit of an in between novel for Orange. It wasn’t as captivating as his debut, but I know he can write something amazing in the future.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Tommy Orange is such a talented writer, and There There is one of my favorite books, I remember how blown away I was with the story and the ending, Unfortunately, this sequel did not measure up for me. It felt repetitive and slow, and it just did not have the excitement and power as There There. Although I remember the storyline, it probably did not help that I did not remember much about the characters in There There. I ended up reading half of this book and skimming the remainder,

Thank you very much to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. Thank you Knopf for my free ARC of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange — available Feb 27!

Read this if you:
🪶 want to learn more about Indigenous experiences
👩‍👩‍👦‍👦 enjoy books with multiple character perspectives
🏞️ currently reside on stolen land (spoiler alert, you likely do)

Starting with the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, we follow Star and his wandering family line (see what I did there?) through time to the present day, which is right after the events detailed in Tommy Orange's first novel, There There. We see life inside a prison castle, an industrial school, and the more nebulous "prisons" of poverty, identity, and generational trauma.

It physically pains me that I didn't fall head over heels for this book, though maybe that's partly because I had sky-high expectations for it after loving There There. While I really enjoyed the perspectives of Victoria, Opal, and Jacquie, I was left a little flat when reading Orvil, Lony, and the several other male characters in this book. Regardless, I found it a worthwhile read because Tommy's prose and style is so unique, and his concepts come across in such an impactful way. I certainly still recommend it, though There There will always have a foremost place in my heart.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This multigenerational tale begins with the story of Jude Star, a survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 who was sent to the Fort Marion Prison Castle. Star’s son was forced to attend one of the schools organized in the US to separate Native Americans from their heritage and where they were the victims of inhumane treatment. The narrative continues on with further relatives and acquaintances. Those who have read Orange’s Pulitzer Prize nominated There There will already be familiar with one of the characters.

Beautifully written and recounted through multiple POVs, there is important history here as well as the bonds of family, heritage, and identity, the devastation of loss, the ravages of addiction.

This book and Orange’s writing style won’t be for everyone, but it is a very worthwhile read. In these days of politicians attempting to rewrite, ignore, or ban history, works such as this that preserve the reality of the treatment of our native population and the legacy of that treatment are incredibly valuable.

3.5, rounded down. Like <i>The Godfather, Part 2</i>, <i>Wandering Stars</i> is both a prequel and a sequel to Orange's much-garlanded 2018 debut [book:There There|36692478].

While Orange is undeniably talented, this is a 5-star historical prelude to a 3-star contemporary realist novel. <i>Wandering Stars</i> is really two discrete pieces of fiction that develop the same theme of addiction amongst many generations of the same native Cheyenne family, who have survived the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre by the U.S. Army, re-education in government schools in the early 20th century.

Orange affectingly chronicles their gradual and forcible process of being severed off from their culture, heritage, and sense of individual and collective identity. Their family bonds fray and crack under the strain of addiction, and their children suffer from abandonment, as earlier generations turn to alcohol to fill the ensuing void, and their contemporary descendants are hooked on prescription opiates.

The first part of the novel is breathtaking, consisting of a powerful Greek-chorus prelude, followed by short and powerful chapters chronicling the trauma and adaptation of a Native father and son. Jude Star, a massacre survivor is deported to a military prison-school in Fort Marion, Florida, and his son Charles endures and escapes from a regimented childhood in the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Both institutions are run by the brutal and domineering <a href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Henry_Pratt>Richard Henry Pratt</a>, who becomes a fictionalized character that allows Orange to probe the consciousness of white racism.

The remaining two-thirds of the novel revisit the protagonists of <i>There There</i> in a working-class neighborhood of Oakland, after Orvil Red Feather, a distant descendant of the family, has been shot at a powwow.

The structure here is much looser and baggier, and Orange is content to let the reader hang out and observe characters for which he has great empathy: Orvil's long-suffering and saintly almost-grandmother Opal, and his video-game-addicted brothers Lony and Loother. But the focus drifts and drifts, encompassing the occupation of Alcatraz in 1969 and the tech-boom gentrification of the Bay Area. The political monologues he gives his characters are preachy and a little too on-the-nose.

What made <i>There There</i> such a tense and immersive reading experience is the way that Orange ratcheted up the tension in a Tarantino-esque way until an explosion of violence. But the second part of <i>Wandering Starts</i> just sputters out, with a subplot about a wealthy White dad running a pill factory in the basement of his house up in the Oakland Hills, and Orvil becoming a dealer and user.

<i>Thanks to Knopf and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.</i>

This is a very heavy book - both from the perspective of the subject and the writing. I struggled with it a bit though. No doubt the author is very talented and deserves all the praise they get but the subject was probably too heartbreaking for me.

I didn't realize that it was a sequel so that took away some of the joy in reading.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Historical Fiction + Literary Fiction

"Wandering Stars" is a book that examines the complicated history and traumatic experiences of Native American families in the United States of America. It is a multi-generational work that spans centuries and is rich in content. The novel begins with the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 and continues up to the present day, weaving together the stories of many different characters who struggle with the repercussions of colonialism, forced assimilation, and intergenerational trauma.

At the beginning of the book, there is a terrifying event called the Sand Creek Massacre. Star, a Cheyenne warrior, is present during this event and witnesses the brutal slaughter of his people. He escapes and is imprisoned at Fort Marion, where he encounters Richard Henry Pratt, an evangelical prison guard obsessed with "civilizing" Native American people.

From that point on, we follow all of the various characters and the difficulties, challenges, and obstacles that they encounter throughout the various eras. Until now, I was completely unaware that this was a part of a series. Since I have not read "There, There," I am unsure how my evaluation of this book would have been affected if I had read that book. This writing is so lyrical and has such a beautiful quality. No matter how much I praise the author’s prose, I don't think it would do him justice.

I could tell I was going to adore this book the moment I started it. The historical portions in the first half, though, are the most interesting and impactful, in my opinion. I simply would have preferred it if the story had narrowed its focus to that period and introduced fewer characters so that I could relate to them better. I think that would have made it a five-star book for me.

There is more to Wandering Stars than just a story about adversity. Additionally, it is a demonstration of the unwavering fortitude, resiliency, and love that serve as the glue that holds the Bear Shield-Red Feather family together. The author begins this book by delving deeply into the dark history of the United States of America, specifically, the genocide that was committed against the Indians, or what we now refer to as Native Americans, and how this genocide continues to have an impact on the generations that have survived it. Not only does this matter greatly from a historical perspective, but it is also relevant to the present day because genocide is occurring elsewhere under the guise of "war" and everyone is obliviously watching as if it were a fascinating circus.

The fact that this book explores topics that some people may find unsettling and problematic makes it an extremely important piece of literature. It is necessary, however, to tell stories such as that, and we must continue to remind people of the past for them to comprehend how they should behave in the present and the future. It is imperative that everyone is aware of topics such as the legacy of colonialism and the ongoing impact it has had on Indigenous communities. Moreover, the book delves deeply into the significance of cultural identity and the difficulties of recovering it following centuries of suppression.

This is not a book to be read for entertainment purposes, but rather to understand history and empathize with the people who have endured and continue to endure great hardship and suffering.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

A difficult read as the US government's treatment of American Indians is laid out in the way
the characters in the book have been affected .Children were take away from their parents,
sent to school and abused is heart wrenching, as is the effort to erase any trace of their native
language, culture and heritage.
#Wandering Stars #NetGalley

I almost didn't take this book. I made the mistake of reading There There as an audiobook. And that book is very difficult to follow on audio. I did like it, however, so I decided to give the sequel a try. And I am glad that I did because the sequel is possibly better.

In the sequel to There There, we have the same family of characters, mostly dealing with the aftermath of what happened in the first book (maybe you do need to read that first, but I'm not entirely convinced). The major theme of the book is addiction and how people deal with it, not just as active participants, but how it affects your loved ones. And it is all told from the perspective of a group of people dealing with identity and generational trauma. It sounds heavy, and maybe it is, but the way the author has written the characters, it is not nearly as dark as it sounds.

I definitely recommend this one. And also read the first book, but definitely do the print version.