There There

Written well but depressing. A perspective into what it means to be an urban Native American in the present day, something I didn’t know anything about.

ok i just reread almost all of this because the first time through i kept getting confused. there’s no central narrator and i kept getting different characters mixed up, which made the story’s emphasis on identity hard to absorb. this time through i tried to really remember each person’s background (i have a lot of trouble with mixed pov when i’m reading) and i think i got more out of it. the writing itself is nice so rereading it wasn’t a chore at all. still don’t feel like i Get It though… and it’s gotten so many glowing reviews i feel like that’s my fault and not the book’s

It took me a while to return to this book but after the first few chapters, everything started to make sense. Not all 12 characters are fully developed but the ones that had more chapters were really interesting to read. I especially like the three brothers of Loother, Lony, and Orvil. I like how everyone is connected in someway leading up to the pow wow. I also like how Tommy Orange wrote himself into the book as Dene Oxendene, also wanting to tell Native stories through an unfiltered lens. 5/5 recommend to anyone who wants to read more about Native experiences.

Depressing but good

A collection of indigenous stories about 12 people who are unknowingly connected in that they’re all about to collide at an upcoming powwow event. Incredible and poignant, this was an amazing book that brings to light part of America’s atrocious past and how it still impacts native Americans generations later. Full of historical details and personal traumas. This is not an uplifting story, but the best historical fiction works aren’t cookie cutter happily ever afters. Book #68 in 2024