jrob30's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
paperbacksupremacy's review against another edition
4.0
4.2 stars. This author does a really good job of switching between different character POVs. In a couple of the books I've read recently, the authors that do this are unable to make each character interesting so you end up getting really bored while reading to get back to the character you like. I wish some of the characters were explored more and that it was more clear when events were taking place, BUT that did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying the book.
burghblakebooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ratcowe's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book was a journey. I could hardly put it down and enjoyed the writing and imagery. With so many different perspectives I found myself a little lost at times but still immersed. Currently sobbing after finishing it.
portmope's review against another edition
5.0
At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about the interjecting essays on the history and impacts of colonization but then I read a bunch of your dumbass reviews on this website and realized that even with the author spelling it out for you y’all still can’t grasp how the ending and the entire novel is a reflection of the cultural genocide perpetrated against Indigenous peoples…
amlagunas's review against another edition
3.0
Great story telling, but I feel like I needed more closure and wishing there was more about the characters ( maybe more time spent on fewer characters). Then again, i could see the loose ends being a way of saying that the Native American story is not finished, not history, but still ongoing and unresolved.
600bars's review against another edition
3.0
the craziest thing just happened....due to quarentine an old housemate group chat is more active than ever, and when I opened my computer to write this review I got a message saying "I just started reading there there has anyone else read it?" and turns out 1 person already had, I had finished it lITERALLY 30 second before, and the 4th person in the chat had also just started it!!! what a crazy coincidence!!!
That being said I have to say how I felt before I am infected with other people's opinions. I really wanted to love this book but didn't really. There were some things I thought were really strong but it fell short in other ways. I enjoy the format, both with the character switching and the chekov-gun-you-know-the-tragic-ending-is-coming-and-have-to-hurtle-toward-it, but I think the book would have been better with less character's perspectives and more fleshing out of the characters we get to meet. They were hard to distinguish, and changing the tense/changing if it was in 1st 2nd or 3rd person did not do enough to give them different voices.
I really liked the long lost family plot and was disappointed that it barely got resolved. Some characters seemed to only exist to die at the end, like Edwin's mom's boyfriend. I feel like at least 4 could have been eliminated, not necessarily from the whole plot but from having their own chapters. Some characters seemed to be there only to point out some aspect of identity, such as Dene's discomfort with being mixed, but then calvin is also half white and Blue was adopted by white people. I feel like I'm missing some that also had that aspect in their lives, of struggling with the concept of authenticity and disconnection from their culture. Not saying that it only needed to occur one time, make a point, and then leave, I'm sortof saying the opposite. I felt like there were more fleshed out characters that also had that aspect and then some like Dene seemed to ONLY exist to make that point.
In the first part of the book there were lots of redundant sentences, which seemed purposeful given the frequency and the title being literally a repeated word. "Indian head. there was an indian head, the head of an indian, the drawing of the head of a headdresed long haired Indian depicted, drawn.." is the first sentence of the whole book. I stopped noticing it after a while, and it's very possible my own attention was just wandering, but the first third of the book seemed to have more specific choices going on in the writing that sorta petered out midway thru.
Though I had some problems with getting attached to the characters and the story itself, I did really like the overall concept and the things it had to say about identity and tradition. I've not read many urban Native stories, and I loved the part on page 11 about how "an Urban Indian belongs to the city, and cities belong to the earth". I like the idea of incorporating past and present traditions toward the future. I love that Orvil learned to dance on Youtube. I think about this all the time, being separated from my own identities due to circumstances out of my control and feeling fraudulent in my attempts to connect with them. I love that Orange shows how these connections are no less valid.
This was also a love letter to Oakland, a place I have never been, and my experience reading this would probably have been totally different if it were a place I knew intimately/ever at all.
One thing I was curious about (I swear I am not just saying this bc I am mexican) was the relationship between the latinx and native communties/those communities differing relationship to indigeneity. I ask this because some characters did have Mexican names or were mixed with Mexican, which is why I was waiting for the book to explore that a little. I follow a lot of pan indigenous decolonial accounts and then I follow some that really separate north and south indigenous groups due to their very different experiences, so I wondered what the book would have to say about that given the book has mentions of the groups mixing.
Anyway overall I did like this book and I am exited to read future projects from Tommy Orange bc this is his first book so I can forgive some of the problems I had, and I curse goodreads yet again for their lack of a sliding scale
That being said I have to say how I felt before I am infected with other people's opinions. I really wanted to love this book but didn't really. There were some things I thought were really strong but it fell short in other ways. I enjoy the format, both with the character switching and the chekov-gun-you-know-the-tragic-ending-is-coming-and-have-to-hurtle-toward-it, but I think the book would have been better with less character's perspectives and more fleshing out of the characters we get to meet. They were hard to distinguish, and changing the tense/changing if it was in 1st 2nd or 3rd person did not do enough to give them different voices.
I really liked the long lost family plot and was disappointed that it barely got resolved. Some characters seemed to only exist to die at the end, like Edwin's mom's boyfriend. I feel like at least 4 could have been eliminated, not necessarily from the whole plot but from having their own chapters. Some characters seemed to be there only to point out some aspect of identity, such as Dene's discomfort with being mixed, but then calvin is also half white and Blue was adopted by white people. I feel like I'm missing some that also had that aspect in their lives, of struggling with the concept of authenticity and disconnection from their culture. Not saying that it only needed to occur one time, make a point, and then leave, I'm sortof saying the opposite. I felt like there were more fleshed out characters that also had that aspect and then some like Dene seemed to ONLY exist to make that point.
In the first part of the book there were lots of redundant sentences, which seemed purposeful given the frequency and the title being literally a repeated word. "Indian head. there was an indian head, the head of an indian, the drawing of the head of a headdresed long haired Indian depicted, drawn.." is the first sentence of the whole book. I stopped noticing it after a while, and it's very possible my own attention was just wandering, but the first third of the book seemed to have more specific choices going on in the writing that sorta petered out midway thru.
Though I had some problems with getting attached to the characters and the story itself, I did really like the overall concept and the things it had to say about identity and tradition. I've not read many urban Native stories, and I loved the part on page 11 about how "an Urban Indian belongs to the city, and cities belong to the earth". I like the idea of incorporating past and present traditions toward the future. I love that Orvil learned to dance on Youtube. I think about this all the time, being separated from my own identities due to circumstances out of my control and feeling fraudulent in my attempts to connect with them. I love that Orange shows how these connections are no less valid.
This was also a love letter to Oakland, a place I have never been, and my experience reading this would probably have been totally different if it were a place I knew intimately/ever at all.
One thing I was curious about (I swear I am not just saying this bc I am mexican) was the relationship between the latinx and native communties/those communities differing relationship to indigeneity. I ask this because some characters did have Mexican names or were mixed with Mexican, which is why I was waiting for the book to explore that a little. I follow a lot of pan indigenous decolonial accounts and then I follow some that really separate north and south indigenous groups due to their very different experiences, so I wondered what the book would have to say about that given the book has mentions of the groups mixing.
Anyway overall I did like this book and I am exited to read future projects from Tommy Orange bc this is his first book so I can forgive some of the problems I had, and I curse goodreads yet again for their lack of a sliding scale
blackteaandsunrisepansies's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Haunting. Very difficult to put down.
Stylistically one of the best novels I’ve ever read. Often I find I dislike authors use of multiple POVs, and it feels like whiplash one chapter to the next. But this novel is a major exception. The author can really draw you into multiple characters’ POVs, and I found the changes in tense throughout the novel brilliantly done. It was never choppy, and somehow the narrative was fast-paced while the plot moved along slowly and quietly in the background.
Would recommend to all.
Stylistically one of the best novels I’ve ever read. Often I find I dislike authors use of multiple POVs, and it feels like whiplash one chapter to the next. But this novel is a major exception. The author can really draw you into multiple characters’ POVs, and I found the changes in tense throughout the novel brilliantly done. It was never choppy, and somehow the narrative was fast-paced while the plot moved along slowly and quietly in the background.
Would recommend to all.