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bookishjaja's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, overall I really enjoyed this book. I thought the plot was interesting, and the pacing was good. I was constantly itching to read just one more chapter.
However, there was something that annoyed the living the hell out of me, and it needs to be brought up. The MC, Annemarie, drives me up the wall. She is so selfish and foolish and immature and clueless and I just cannot, y'all. Absolutely cannot. It's to a point where it's just unbelievable.
Annemarie's approach to every single one of her problems make zero sense to me. None of it is realistic, and it irked me so much. I kept forgetting that this main character is nearly 40 years old. I thought I was reading about a teenager.
I read Water for Elephants and Ape House several years ago, and I loved those books. Sara Gruen did a wonderful job at those. I remember feeling like these books were so well-researched. Just very well done. But I feel like Riding Lessons really missed the mark here.
Now I'm sure these complaints seem kinda major, so 4 stars seems a little high. But like I said at the beginning, I did really like this book. I hope I'll be able to fit in Flying Changes soon. But I have to admit that my love for Sara Gruen's other books might have made me less critical here.
However, there was something that annoyed the living the hell out of me, and it needs to be brought up. The MC, Annemarie, drives me up the wall. She is so selfish and foolish and immature and clueless and I just cannot, y'all. Absolutely cannot. It's to a point where it's just unbelievable.
Spoiler
How do you eff up the entire operations of a stable that badly and do nothing to fix it? How do you find yourself with a husband who's leaving you and not respond AT LEAST to your lawyer as you're proceeding through a divorce? How do you go to someone's house to cook a complicated dinner knowing damn well certain you don't have a clue what you're doing? How do you not get in car and look endlessly for your runaway daughter? How do you discover a MASSIVE insurance fraud and feel like the best way to handle it is to dye a horse? HOW?!Annemarie's approach to every single one of her problems make zero sense to me. None of it is realistic, and it irked me so much. I kept forgetting that this main character is nearly 40 years old. I thought I was reading about a teenager.
I read Water for Elephants and Ape House several years ago, and I loved those books. Sara Gruen did a wonderful job at those. I remember feeling like these books were so well-researched. Just very well done. But I feel like Riding Lessons really missed the mark here.
Spoiler
The biggest thing for me was the microchip thing. Clearly, I mean it is so obvious y'all, clearly Hurrah is part of an insurance fraud. If I were to discover something like that, the last thing I would expect to happen is that the insurance company would come take the horse from me. And it would never cross my mind that I need to hide this horse from the proper authorities. If anything, I'd be getting on the phone with a lawyer and figuring out how to report this crime to the police. The explanation for the horse being taken (eventually) gets tied up a little at the end, but again, if it's that simple, I feel like the whole charade would not have happened like this in real life, so I really struggled to buy into this part of the story line.Now I'm sure these complaints seem kinda major, so 4 stars seems a little high. But like I said at the beginning, I did really like this book. I hope I'll be able to fit in Flying Changes soon. But I have to admit that my love for Sara Gruen's other books might have made me less critical here.
mibookobsession's review against another edition
3.0
Overall this book was good, but the main character, Annemarie, was selfish, spoiled, and self-indulgent. I just couldn't feel any sympathy for her when she had so much for herself already. She just manages to let everything in her life fall apart with her obsession with one horse and then it magically all becomes right by the end of the book.
dimarpat49's review against another edition
1.0
After listening to The Paying Guests, which would merit *maybe* 3 stars, I can only think “Riding Lessons” must have been an early outing for Gruen, because it’s terrible. The two women in the first books had some serious flaws, but this Annemarie is pretty despicable. Not every character has to be Mother Teresa, but a main character should have some growth or development, no?
Perhaps the audiobook did the book a disservice as the main character’s pissed off, frantic voice sometimes replaced by whining, poor-me pleading set my teeth on edge.
PS. I loved Water for Elephants, also in audiobook format.
Perhaps the audiobook did the book a disservice as the main character’s pissed off, frantic voice sometimes replaced by whining, poor-me pleading set my teeth on edge.
PS. I loved Water for Elephants, also in audiobook format.
aerenrich's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoy this book. I read it a while ago, but feel like I was able to connect to the characters and the story in a different way now that I am older.
bookishlybecca's review against another edition
4.0
Second Read-through: May 2019
Ugh! I forgot how much I love reading books about horses! This one made me want to go riding (or even just be around horses) sooooo bad! I'm super glad I decided to randomly re-read this book, especially as it's been years since I first read it. ^_^
Thoughts:
Ugh! I forgot how much I love reading books about horses! This one made me want to go riding (or even just be around horses) sooooo bad! I'm super glad I decided to randomly re-read this book, especially as it's been years since I first read it. ^_^
Thoughts:
- Annemarie, our rather prickly main character, got on my nerves a fair bit during certain plot points, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading her thoughts on things and seeing her journey throughout this book. There's a (rather realistic) reason for her being so inept in most social situations, and it was honestly kinda lovely seeing her delve into her past experiences and finally start to come to terms with them and why she now is the way she is.
- The secondary characters in this book weren't amazing or particularly stand out to me in any way, but I did enjoy Dan and Annemarie's mother as characters. I liked their personalities and various interactions with Annemarie. Eva was... a very typical teenager, so I suppose she's supposed to be seen as an irresponsible brat most of the time? ;/ And I feel kinda bad for Roger and Jean-Claude, as they were basically only there for conflict purposes with Annemarie and to make her relationship with Dan more complicated...
- The writing was quite good! I LOVED the descriptions, especially of anything horse-related (to the point where I'd have to stop reading and just take a minute to picture everything myself). The dialogue could have been better at times, but there were a few funny/witty lines here and there. My favourite sections to read were when Annemarie was being introspective and recalling her past. It was interesting learning more about her this way and very satisfying when she came to healthy conclusions about herself too. Oh, and Harriet, Annemarie's adorable dachshund - any scene with her in it I immediately liked 5x as much. ;P
- I enjoyed the plot, overall. It did get to be a bit hairy and overdramatic at times, but I was fairly invested in the story throughout and I liked the various adult aspects of life that we got to see as well. It was also interesting being reminded of what things used to be like in the very early 2000s - dial-up Internet, very few cellphones, public smoking, different cultural and societal viewpoints, etc. This book's plot wouldn't have been possible currently, particularly with how far technology has come in the last 15+ years.
- The ending was a relatively satisfying one, for me. I enjoyed how everything got wrapped up, plot-wise - although it did feel a tad bit rushed to me, and I would have liked to have seen a bit more "behind-the-scenes" on a few plot points.
tiff_reads_'s review against another edition
2.0
I can honestly say that the animal characters were more compelling than the humans in this story line. It's what convinced me to finish the novel.
alittlebookish's review against another edition
4.0
I got this book because I absolutely adored Water for Elephants. It's not that I was disappointed with this book because I wasn't but I didn't find that it had the same pizazz as Gruen's bestseller. I never grew up around horses but I had a friend in high school who had a horse at a barn and went with her a few times to watch her ride. I myself have never rode a horse but when I watch people it looks exhilarating. I found myself really involved in this book and wanting the characters to get along. I have to say I found the main character to be frustrating. I could just see her making all kinds of mistakes with her daughter (I myself am 27 with no children so what do I know) and with her parents and I just wanted to shake her sometimes. I almost felt like while I could sympathize with the main character's sadness for not being as close with her daughter and parents, I could sympathize more with her daughter and mother. I would not know how to communicate with a woman like that. In the end I really wanted to know what else was going to happen. So... to feed my book addiction I went out and bought the next book in the series. Stay tuned for that review. I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.
chidseaotters's review against another edition
1.0
This was pretty bad. The main character was completely insufferable. Lazy, selfish, unbelievably incompetent and SO annoying. The worst part is, she wasn't even supposed to be an unsympathic narrater. I think I was actually supposed to feel bad for her! Uh, no thanks, she's a histrionic moron who I am shocked is able to even tie her own shoes in the morning.
Also, the plot bordered on the ridiculous. I'm sorry, but within the course of a day, you got laid off, your husband left you for a younger woman, your daughter flunked out of school, AND you find out your estranged father has ALS? Because that's believable. I might have let that go if not for the fact that later on, you have another extremely unlikely day of shit- your daughter runs away from home, you fight and break up with your boyfriend, your dad kills himself w/ the help of your mom, AND you run around perpetrating insurance fraud in order to save your dead horse's presumed-dead brother?? All in the same day? Ok, sure.
OY. Should have trusted the reviews on this one.
Also, the plot bordered on the ridiculous. I'm sorry, but within the course of a day, you got laid off, your husband left you for a younger woman, your daughter flunked out of school, AND you find out your estranged father has ALS? Because that's believable. I might have let that go if not for the fact that later on, you have another extremely unlikely day of shit- your daughter runs away from home, you fight and break up with your boyfriend, your dad kills himself w/ the help of your mom, AND you run around perpetrating insurance fraud in order to save your dead horse's presumed-dead brother?? All in the same day? Ok, sure.
OY. Should have trusted the reviews on this one.
javathebookjunkie's review against another edition
4.0
I love the bits of humor the author weaves in and the fact that it is about horses from an adult's point of view (I read too many YA horse books). However, the protagonist got on my nerves with all her whining about not being able to do anything right. Well...yeah, because you're selfish! Of course, that is the whole point of the book. Still, it was irritating which is why I gave it 4 stars.