Wandering Stars is certainly an appropriate name for this book, as the plot meandered and was difficult to pin down. This is a sequel of sorts to Tommy Orange's debut, There There, following the family of Orvil, Luther, and Lony, and their Grandmothers after the shooting at the Pow wow in Oakland, which happened in There There. It begins by tracing their ancestry and the lives of their great-great grandparents, including the survival of their ancestors from the Sand Creek Massacre, and escape from the Carlisle Indian School.

Those first 100ish pages are told from varying points of view, but also varying writing styles, and overall it meandered and felt almost aimless. This held true as the book delved more into the lives of Orvil, Luther, and Lony for the last 2/3rd of the book. At times I lost track of what exactly was happening and had a hard time maintaining interest in reading and finishing this book, which is a shame, because I do think the underlying premise is an important one. The overall execution of the writing detracted from my ability to read and enjoy this book.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

Wow, I loved this book. I flew through it because I was so deeply engrossed in following this family through their history and how they developed and changed over time. Although I agree with some of the other reviews that the book was, at times, a bit hard to follow, I was so enthralled in the character development and the way Orange would drop major details about each of their lives in the prose that, it didn't stop me from devouring it. The family lineage was helpful at the beginning and I used it throughout the book when I would get lost. Definitely going to recommend this one to everyone I know.

I so enjoyed Tommy Orange's voice in There There that when I heard he had a new book coming out, I rushed to read it. This new work is in some was a continuation of his first novel in that some of the characters reappear and it addresses the aftermath of the dramatic event that concluded it, but you don't have to have read it recently or at all to appreciate it. This book is even more sweeping in its scope of the story of a family and the heartbreaking story of how the white man sought to wipe out the Indigenous peoples, by destroying their identity when they couldn't entirely do it physically. That notion of destroying the native from the inside has reverberations throughout the novel, as all the characters struggle in some way with what it means to be Indigenous and how to connect to their ancestors. How much of one's identity is in one's ancestry? Do you need to be raised within a community to still identify as a member of it? The voices in this book are beautiful and distinctive, with the echoes of the past reverberating in the present.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in return for an honest review. This book will be published February 27, 2024.

Wandering Stars is another impressive, informative, and challenging addition to the world of indigenous American literature. Like his first novel There There, it follows many interconnected stories that span decades, but I felt the stories here were not as cohesive, nor told an overall story as clearly as his debut. At times I felt the language is a bit overly formal for my taste, but that may be a personal preference issue and not about his writing style. The book is not a quick read, and at times even feels like work, but the result is rewarding. Some of the historical context begins to sound almost nonfiction-y and out-of-place, but I also recognize that it may be essential background for readers not familiar with Native history.

I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley and want to thank the publisher and author for an opportunity to read and review this book. This book is a follow up to Tommy Orange’s debut, essentially a prequel taking us through the lineage and history of his beloved TT characters. It’s hard to say I enjoy a book so deeply rooted in dark and violent real history but Tommy Orange’s writing is beautiful and his character building is immaculate. I would love to continue to read about these characters and cannot wait to see what Tommy Orange works on next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf publishing for the ARC of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange in exchange for an honest review.

I read There, There last October and was deeply drawn into all the characters on the way to the powwow -- I remember when I got to the shooting part being absolutely terrified through Orange's prose. There, There left me feeling the same way as Louise Erdich's Round House ending -- absolutely beautifully written about the terror and reality of life.

In Wandering Stars we get to revisit Orville and Jacquie and Opal and Lony and Loother and see the aftermath of the powwow, and the history of their family. We see how the family has survived and endured over more than a century and how the freedom and the history of native tribes in the US has grown and contracted in a myriad of ways both painful and hopeful. You don't need to have read There, There to read Wandering Stars, but it definitely gives you a lot more background - and to a point I was relieved to know the outcome of Jacquie carrying Orville to her car/the hospital.

Only about 1/3 of the book is spent in the past, and I was a bit worried about the rest of the book knowing it was going to talk about the aftermath of a mass shooting and its effects on young people -- something far too many of us can identify with in 2023. Orange writes about Orville and his family with such care in the face of such a horrendous event. Orville's battle with addiction is heartbreaking when you compare him to There. There and now -- but it is Lony who truly broke my heart. Having had a family tragedy with some level of similarity and seeing ways family members are still trapped in the aftermath, I fully identified with his search for something, anything to make things better and to be seen. The family's return to Alcatraz is one of the most poignant chapters of the book. The ending of the story is one that again addresses the reality of life - that some times we continue on and never fully heal from our tragedies, and that we all interpret and react to the hardest parts of life in very different ways.

Orange has once again written a phenomenal book where he both lyrically tells facts about native culture and its place in the United States (and the hypocrisy and terribleness of that history with white settlers transcending over time), while also reminding us of who we all are as humans.

Firstly, Tommy Orange is a beautiful writer.
The stories that made up the beginning of this book were sad and sweet and tragic and hopeful.
I loved it.
Now, the second part of the book, I felt a bit like a fish out of water. I didn’t read There There and I feel like that was a mistake. I would almost like to go back and fix my mistake when I have more time.
I don’t think you have to read There There to enjoy this, but I was lost for a while and trying to figure out these characters I didn’t know.
All in all this was a hard book to read, but also important.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Wandering Stars is Tommy Orange’s follow up to the highly acclaimed There, There and it lived up to my expectations based off of the first book. Was thoroughly impressed with how Orange brought in the history of the family and then brought us to their present story and found myself highly invested in the family and their survival and recovery.

I enjoyed this book. The author immerses you within the lives of generations of a Native American family. You watch as the horror and trauma continue to affect each generation, and it is heart wrenching.

The Author builds the story in such a way, you feel immersed in it.

This was my first book by this author, but definitely not my last.

DNF at 43%

Tommy Orange’s writing is gorgeous. It just did not hold my attention in this book due to the many characters and time jumps.

The many characters and time jumps were too confusing for me. It also made it hard for me to care for and understand the plot.
I did not feel attached to any characters and therefore that made it hard to continue reading.

I wish that at the top of every chapter we could have a note on who the chapter is about. I also think a family tree of some sorts in the beginning would be nice to flip back to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

"Stories do more than comfort. They take you away and bring you back better made."

While I wish I would've reread THERE, THERE before reading this follow-up, the characters are so unforgettable, I was quick to remember everyone. Tommy Orange is such a spellbinding writer. I loved this novel.

Thank you Knopf and Netgalley for my copy of WANDERING STARS by Tommy Orange, out 2/27/24!

I loved Tommy Orange’s Pultizer Prize-finalist novel THERE THERE and so when I got an email from Netgalley to autodownload his follow-up novel, I’ve never sent a request so fast!!! Orange extends his constellation of narratives into the past and the future, tracing the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through three generations of an Indigenous family.

The beginning of the novel takes place in Colorado with a young survivor of the massacre by the name of Star. He is forced to learn English and practice Christianity at an industrial school dedicated to the erasure of Native history, culture and identity. The next generation follows Charles, Star’s son, who is brutalized by a prison guard and meets Opal Viola. They dream of a future away from the violencde that follows their bloodlines.

In the future of 2018, we meet Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield who is barely holding her family together after a shooting that nearly took the life of her nephew Orvil. This section details opioid addiction, gun violence, depression, racism, self-harm, PTSD and struggling with identity, belonging and loneliness.

This book is rage-indusing, heartbreaking, devastating and will leave you feeling lost. The writing is gorgeous and mindbending, and a glorious collec tion of the devastating indictment of America’s war on its own people. This book is both a prequel and a sequel to THERE THERE so I would definitely start with that novel before digging into this one. I love that Orange is writing about the depths of addiction when it comes to modern Indigenous life because it is a very under-talked about topic.

Thank you Tommy Orange for writing this superb novel. I hope to see it reviewed, discussed and awarded many flowers.

I was very eager to read the latest Tommy Orange book. He writes beautifully about an indigenous family through the generations. However, the many characters and the time jumps made it a bit confusing for me. Some characters and their storylines grabbed me, but a few did not hold my interest. I give 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange in exchange for an honest review.

Wandering Stars is a story about the addictions that play a huge part of the Native American culture. It's essentially the story of three Native American brothers and how they battled their addictions after losing their mom, and growing up with their grandmothers.

I had not read There, There, and so I was a little lost reading the first part of the book. I almost abandoned Wandering Stars because the introduction to the story, which is about a family of Native Americans through their history, just didn't capture my attention. But when the story came back to the present, I was intrigued by how the Native American deal with their addictions.

Wandering Stars is a hard book to read, for many reasons. The grammar is creative, and sometimes it's a little confusing. And being the mom of a son who lost his life to drugs made the story feel uncomfortable - a little too close to home. But, bottom line, Tommy Orange is an incredibly gift writer. And this book is unique and different from anything that I have ever read.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Wandering Stars.

As one of the many readers who has anxiously awaited Tommy Orange’s next book, I was thrilled to receive a NetGalley preview copy. Orange writes beautifully. However, I didn’t connect with this one. I really enjoyed the first third, but the remainder of the book left me a bit bored if I am honest. I will be interested in others’ reviews to see if it was just me.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the eARC.

First off, I'm not a fan of comparison reviews, but I will need to make the exception here. I loved There, There-Tommy Orange's debut novel. Wandering Stars is both a prequel and sequel and its pretty amazing. The book follows the same resilient characters in search of connection to land, history and each other. The message is fairly straight forward---Find your people.

I don't think it makes much difference as to reading one book before the other; both books are definitely worth your time.

This was another bombshell book by this author. Some of the story was a continuance, but could be read alone as well. Very well written, and plotted. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I’m perplexed on how to review Wandering Stars. On one hand, this book was beautifully written and poetic and captivating. On the other hand, I was left confused by the amount of characters and generational time jumps. I also wish there was more. I wanted more chapters of a few of the characters in the first half.

I’m unsure if reading Orange’s first novel There There is necessary to reading this novel. It did not seem to affect my reading at all but I do think I’d have a broader understanding of Orvil’s story if I had.

Orange tends to write lonnnnnng sentences. I can’t decide how I feel about it. That definitely was a struggle for me when trying to keep storylines and people straight.

Learning about Native history was jarring and eye opening. I found myself crying and rereading passages to really understand the atrocities they endured.

Overall I think this is an important novel to read. Although it is shorter at under 300 pages, it does take time to read. This was not a quick read for me, but I’m happy I read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read and honestly review Wandering Stars.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for this digital ARC of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.

I'd struggled a little with 'There There,' not sure why but it took me several attempts to get into it and finish. If I'd known that 'Wandering Stars' featured many of the same characters I might not have requested it but I'm so glad I did.

This is a very powerful book. We're whisked through several generations of an indigenous family - stretching from the 1860s through to pretty much the present day when we re-encounter the family from 'There There' and others. It's a journey of intergenerational trauma, institutional violence and abuse, stolen culture, racism, anger, rediscovery, identity and lack thereof, a thread of addiction and addictive behavior which is a really tough read.

We spend most of our time with the present day Red Feather family -'grandmother,' aunt, brothers - and their efforts to maintain a life against that backdrop of trauma, addiction, and racism.

The ending was not the one I was expecting but it was one I welcomed very much.

So powerful. I'm going back to reread 'There There.'

I have waiting for the follow up of There, There to finally be written! Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange is a must read for everyone. The book goes back a bit in the family tree of Opal Bear Sheild and Jacquie Red Feather and how they ended up in Oakland. The book then picks up where There, There ended. After Orvile is shot at the Pow Wow and the family trying to put all of the pieces back together again. I don't want to give anything away however, Wandering Stars was worth the wait. I do feel like there may be another book in the works that follow the next generations of the Red Feather family. This book gave a realistic view of the struggles with substance abuse and how it not only affects the person who is addicted but the whole family. The Red Feather brothers want to be there for each other but have their own demons that they need to fight in order to survive.