Wandering Stars is a historical/literary fiction novel that follows a family of characters through time. I was excited to read another book by Tommy Orange and was not aware that this novel would continue story lines from There There (which I read and loved). This novel is VERY heavy as it explores the treatment of Native Americans in the U.S. across time. The novel follows various characters in different eras and touches on historical occurrences like the Sand Creek Massacre and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, as well as broader topics of addiction, mental health, shootings, and more.

I really enjoyed this novel. I always love when a book has an interconnected storyline. Wandering Stars does this particularly well. As you move from character to character, you see how one story leads to another and how one character's life directly impacts the lives of those who come after them. You read from various points of view, but they are all very distinct. I would have liked to spend more time with the characters in the earlier time periods. The novel moves through these sort of quickly and spends a lot of time with the characters featured in There There. This was not that much of an issue for me, but I think it did make the overall timeline of the book seem off. The second half of the book evaluates the current state of the U.S.'s treatment of Native Americans and of the state of America in general. The prose of Wandering Stars is really great. I felt that each character really had their own distinct voice. I highlighted SO many passages because the writing was so beautiful and profound.

I would highly recommend Wandering Stars!

This haunting novel, "Wandering Stars" by Tommy Orange, was sad and interesting. A tale of generations of Native Americans, their ancestors and lost children, suffering from dysfunction in family units, emotional/psychological hurt, insecurity, crime, as well as substance abuse and addiction. Was upsetting, and eye-opening. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

I fell in love with Tommy Orange’s writing after reading “There, There” and was excited to receive an advanced reader copy of “Wandering Stars”. Wandering Stars is a prequel and a sequel to “There, There”. The writing is still hauntingly beautiful but with a really tough subject matter. My life is richer reading these words as it gave a perspective I would not otherwise have had. Thank you to NetGalley and to Knopf for the advanced reader copy.

I LOVED the first half of this book, focused on the Native ancestors and bloodline. I thought it was rich with history and poetic in its telling.

But the second half really slowed for me. This is when I should have been excited to be reunited with some characters from ‘There There’ but it just felt very sad— with not a lot of reward for that sadness. I was bummed because I feel like there is a lot to talk about with addiction and Natives but I don’t know, I had a hard time connecting with the way it was done here.

After reading "There, There," I was interested to read this one as well. Many of the same characters appear in this novel as well. Still touching on the opioid crisis, this book felt a lot heavier to me than the previous book. It's a tough read but necessary for the times we live in and I feel that it helped me have insight into why so many people choose this road to go down. Addiction isn't a choice, I know. Overcoming trauma is not easy.

Orange’s writing is so unique. It took me a minute to settle into it. His words are meant for savoring and they take time to digest, especially since the content is heavy and complex. He writes about generational trauma, addiction, rage, despair, hope, as well as the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania founded in 1879. He covers so much history that has been left out of our history books, but the truth about Native populations can never be erased. Wandering Stars is told through multiple time periods, generations and POVs and I thought it was very effective.

Wandering Stars is both a prequel and sequel to There There. I read both back to back, which made the whole experience that much more magical. I highly recommend both books. You will be forever changed.

Orange has created a story that is both shattering and wondrous. It is a powerful and moving narrative.
Many thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book even though it isn't a genre I normally would read. I felt for the characters and felt like I was there. I would recommend this book to all my family and friends.

After the relentless pace and intricacy of There There, Tommy Orange’s first novel, Wandering Stars is quite a shift. There There takes place over only a handful of days but involves a far-flung cast of characters; Wandering Stars covers more than a century of time but focuses on one family line.

Wandering Stars introduces the reader to the ancestors of Jacquie Red Feather and Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield, two of the main characters in There There. Orange fills in details hinted at in his earlier work, explaining how the family came to live in Oakland after decades of mistreatment by both the U.S. government and the local communities in which they lived. Again and again, the family fractures, its members gripped by addiction and pain. As in There There, Orange tells the story from a variety of perspectives and in a range of writing styles, from first to second to third person, and it’s not always easy to follow the leaps in time or piece together a full account of events.

It’s absolutely key that one read There There before Wandering Stars, because otherwise the entire second half of the book won’t make sense. This half picks up after the Big Oakland Powwow shooting that ended There There. Orvil Red Feather has survived his physical wounds, but the psychological and emotional scars run much deeper and will require many years to fade. The story of Orvil’s descent into addiction and the anguish it causes his family is, like so much of what Orange writes, quite difficult to read. There’s hope at the end of Wandering Stars, but it’s hard-won.

Because I read Wandering Stars immediately after finishing There There, it’s impossible for me not to compare the two, and ultimately I found the expanded timeline and slower pace of Wandering Stars somewhat lacking after the rush of There There. In both books, though, Orange powerfully conveys to non-Native American readers the struggles that Indian communities face and the continued resonance of centuries of injustices done to them.

The theme of this book appealed to me, but the execution wasn’t for me. I don’t like the author’s writing style, and I wasn’t crazy about his first book either so I probably won’t try him again. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Tommy Orange is a wonder. We are so lucky to have him working in literature. I teach There There in my Native Literature class as a book circle option for my higher-level thinkers, and I can't wait to bring in copies of Wandering Stars as well. This novel opens up the wonders and heartbreaks of history to a whole new audience.

My sincerest apologies for the lateness of this review. Life got crazy and I low-key forgot about my ARCs. I greatly appreciate this opportunity to review this book and read it.

-- THE REVIEW --

I think that Tommy Orange has a great grasp of writing books with multiple voices and multiple perspectives, and a lot of moving parts within his novels in general. The issue I had with There There is that I felt that it wasn't focused enough for me, that it felt like I was bouncing around between so many POVs and plotlines, all intersecting at once and all flying around that I had a hard time keeping track of everyone and all of the plots.

I think Wandering Stars is much more focused and concise than There There, whilst still having the polyphonic techniques he used in There There. But still there's something about his writing style, which can sometimes veer into essayistic indictments of the United States and the way America treated Native Americans, that sometimes makes me feel as if I'm watching a very personal, very emotionally raw, documentary. But it's still a documentary. I think that Orange just doesn't drill deep enough into the minds of his characters for me to feel that emotionally attached to them. Even an OG character like Opal Viola who was in There There doesn't pack that deep of a punch for me because I never really knew her from There There and I still don't really know her all that well after reading two books in which she's a major character.

I think Orange's writing and voice is important to American fiction. I just think his craft needs to be honed a bit better and become a bit tighter to make him one of my favs.

Thanks endlessly, endlessly, to Knopf for this ARC. I really appreciate this opportunity. Thank you endlessly!

Wandering Stars was an incredible read, another win from Tommy Orange. I recently re-read There, There, and that helped me understand this book better. I am not sure that a reader would get everything out of Wandering Stars without reading There, There. This novel was much more of a deep dive character study. I loved the various perspectives, and the motifs that appeared repeatedly throughout different characters' stories. It was insightful, vulnerable, and realistic.

This book is so powerful and devastating... but also left me feeling okay at the end which I really wasn't expecting. After leaving off from There There, I was dreading another ending that would break my heart. And it almost went there... it flirted with the reader a bit at the end and it kept me engaged in a way I may not have been if I wasn't have a reaction to the ending of There There.

I think I liked this novel better than There There because I felt like I got to know the characters so much more. There is still a massive cast, but going back in time and bringing us through the generations of this family really helped add context to their stories as well as bring you back to the characters without doing a complete recap of the last book.

I think this story should be read widely and I would recommend it to anyone interested in literary fiction or historical fiction.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC.

I’ve had Tommy Orange on my to read list, and Wandering Stars did not disappoint in the slightest. I really enjoyed the voice and the journey through the characters across the decades, traced from one to the next, leaving the potential impact on the next clear.

Will definitely recommend this title to others.

Spanning across 2 POVs and 150 years, Wandering Stars is poetic in it's sorrow. It delves into the incredible culture of our Indigenous families.

A complex story of many characters, most of whom have difficulties related to their heritage of being Native Americans. The author has a lot to say, and most paths are quite dark. There are generations of people in complicated family situations, drugs, alcohol, and other struggles. I appreciate Netgalley allowing me to read this book.

Wandering Stars is more than a novel and more than the prequel/sequel to "There There." It is a clear and vital rendering of America's efforts to settle the land by erasing the culture and removing the resources, of Native Americans. Tommy Orange's work, in about 315 pages is gripping, tragic and tells the stories we should all know. The beauty and eloquence of his writing is in the voices of the characters themselves. They are now unforgettable for me. Wandering Stars moved me emotionally and increased my understanding and knowledge. Thanks to Netgalley for the digital copy of this book. I am grateful.
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I had such mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I really loved the cultural aspect that is beautifully written, but the plot was super choppy.

Since this book jumped around so much, I think it lost some of the impact that it could of had in really driving home how horrible the Native American people including kids were treated over many many years. I know that it was showing decendants of the massacre, but a straight line approach could have shown that too.

This book made me think on many cultural aspects and appreciate a look at the history though a clearer lens.

Thank you to Knopf and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

I loved "There There" and was excited to see that Tommy Orange was continuing Orvil's story in "Wandering Stars," since Orvil, his brothers Loother and Lony, and his grandmothers Opal and Jacquie were my favorite storyline from the earlier book. But Orange doesn't pick up right where he left off in "There There"; instead, he thrusts readers into the story of Orvil's great-great-great grandfather, Jude Star, in the midst of his escape from the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864. We follow Jude through his capture by the US Army, his removal to a prison camp in Florida and then back to Oklahoma, where he marries and has a son, Charles Star, who picks up the narrative with his own story of being sent to the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Charles Star fathers a daughter, Victoria Bear Shield, who continues the family's story with her own life as mother to two small girls, Jacquie Red Feather and Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield--Orvil's grandmothers.

Having introduced this genealogical and historical context to the story and brought the narrative up to date with the events of "There There" in this opening section of "Wandering Stars," Orange then jumps forward in Part 2 of the book, entitled "Aftermath," to 2018, as Orvil is recovering from being shot at the end of the previous book. I found this longest section of the book a tough read--as it should be--as Orvil deals with the addiction issues that have plagued his family for generations, this time as a result of dependence on the pain medication given to him following the shooting. Orange shows readers how this addiction impacts every member of the family through their own perspectives; their stories are plainly but heartbreakingly told and there's a sense of real and devastating loss of the innocent Orvil of "There There." By Part 3 of the book, "Futures," there's a bit of redemption and hope, but Orange isn't really in the business of writing a feel-good book and "Wandering Stars" is all the more effective for Orange's refusal to write a conventional happy ending. And while that may have impacted my pleasure in reading the book, it definitely increased my admiration for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Borzoi/Alfred A. Knopf for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.