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.

I struggled with all the characters introduced at the beginning of the novel, but once I had a grasp of who was who, this book did not disappoint. Wandering Stars is another amazing story by Tommy Orange. He's an author that I am looking forward to seeing more from.
Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

3 stars. The first half of this novel reminded me much of Homegoing; it follows several generations of descendants of a survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 in a way that felt like reading through history, in a good way. The second half skips ahead to the aftermath of the shooting that occurs in the author's first novel, There There, which I have not read and did not know was a direct precursor to this one. If I had, I probably would not have picked up Wandering Stars (first, at least) - although the second half still retains Tommy Orange's poetic prose, which, as someone who has been criticized for run-on sentences quite often in my writing myself, I genuinely enjoyed, I think I lacked critical context (both informational and emotional) for the story to resonate with me as much it perhaps intended to. Wandering Stars felt, in some way, like two different books, which were not quite tied together well enough to make the novel a coherent reading experience for me. (But for what it's worth, it has made me really want to read There There.)

Multi-generational saga about a Cheyanne family from the Sand Creek massacre to current day. The struggles they have faced and moments of joy as well.
Such an amazing story. Full of ups and downs which will tug at your heart.
The only reason this didn’t get a 5 from me is because there were so many characters in the first half of the book it was kind of confusing. A strong 4.5 for sure.

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I loved THERE, THERE by Tommy Orange so I was really excited about his second novel. I didn’t realize the sequel would be so connected to the first book, and it’s been a while since I read it (had to jog my memory). WANDERING STARS tells the story of characters before and after THERE, THERE with a strong thru line of addiction.

Some vignettes of the family line are just a couple of chapters while others are longer sections. We see with each generation the lingering loss from colonialism and assimilation but also recovery, with some surprising ways that characters learn about their family and ancestors.

I think I liked the first book more bc it was one of my first contemporary Indig books so it holds a special place for me. But def recommend the sequel esp if you read the first book.

I enjoyed There, There but I loved Wandering Stars from the first sentence to the every last. Orange picked me up and immersed me in the lives of Indigenous Americans... it was at times overflowing with joy, at times the most painful thing ever... and all the "feels" in-between. I laughed and I cried and I just could not stop. The story of the Star family is not one I will soon forget.

My only hope is that Orange continues to write... he is brilliant and masterful! I highly recommend this must read book!

I would like to thank Netgalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the advanced copy of this book. It will be published February 27, 2024.