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rlwertheimer's review against another edition
4.0
This really only started to work for me in the last quarter when it all came together.
ewhaverkamp's review against another edition
5.0
This was not a 5-star book at the beginning. It took a while to in into it, but then I was hooked. Fantastic ending. I keep thinking of this book! I am going to reread the ending again just because I can!
*Reread it finally and loved it even more!
*Reread it finally and loved it even more!
beckywaz's review against another edition
3.0
I just didn't love this one... Started well, but I found the meat of the story slow and even a bit boring. I hung in there and enjoyed the way it wrapped up. Overall, just average.
ljcarey011's review against another edition
2.0
This book feels like the middle-grade book equivalent of Oscar bait. What I mean by that is that it feels like somebody went "what does a classic, best-selling, award-winning children's book sound like?" and then forgot this is the 21st century. In the end, trying to write like a "classic" resulted in something that felt more phony than heartfelt. Frankly, I, an adult who loves books about the supernatural and horses, was bored out of my skull. I'm not clear on how a kid would get through this book as it waffles about, never quite wades into adventure until the very end, and paces along so glacially that I repeatedly checked to be sure I wasn't missing something. The language was stilted and neither "pretty" nor "interesting."
On top of that, the book creates a dozen loose ends and rather than skillfully weaving answers in throughout the book, it info dumps everything on you at the very end, such that it feels like a chronic improv game of "And then..." I kid you not, we get call backs to every little mystery/event in the last paragraph.
Then, the "pony" of the title. We get repeatedly told that the pony is magic, but the pony never actually seems all that magical. It would have just been a bog standard pony if we hadn't repeatedly been told it was magic. In the end, the pony is a part of a plan that helps the good guys, but the pony is more a passive participant, not the one calling the shots in its rescue mission. But, sure. The pony is "magic." Let's be real, the mere presence of a pony will be enough for the horse crazy young readers, but it really was extremely underdeveloped, like much of the story.
In general, a book that pulls all the strings far too obviously, such that the book feels ingenuous in addition to be boring. Not one I'd pick up for your kid.
On top of that, the book creates a dozen loose ends and rather than skillfully weaving answers in throughout the book, it info dumps everything on you at the very end, such that it feels like a chronic improv game of "And then..." I kid you not, we get call backs to every little mystery/event in the last paragraph.
Then, the "pony" of the title. We get repeatedly told that the pony is magic, but the pony never actually seems all that magical. It would have just been a bog standard pony if we hadn't repeatedly been told it was magic. In the end, the pony is a part of a plan that helps the good guys, but the pony is more a passive participant, not the one calling the shots in its rescue mission. But, sure. The pony is "magic." Let's be real, the mere presence of a pony will be enough for the horse crazy young readers, but it really was extremely underdeveloped, like much of the story.
In general, a book that pulls all the strings far too obviously, such that the book feels ingenuous in addition to be boring. Not one I'd pick up for your kid.
aimeenicole_k's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars. I know it took me too long to finish this and that doesn't seem like a "five star feeling" but once I finally started today at page 60-something where I had left off and forgotten because I've been in a slump (which is why my reading update said I was further along), I just couldn't stop. I loved this book.
amandarayebirdwellmurphy's review against another edition
5.0
WHAT?!!? This book is enchanting. Delightful. My favorite middle grade of the year for sure.
katielovesbooks134's review against another edition
2.0
Libby audio. Just didn’t care for it. And not nearly as good as Wonder.
rlaferney's review against another edition
4.0
Pony by R. J. Palacio is a middle grade magical realist adventure Western that takes place in 1860, just before the Civil War, in a Western rural town called Boneville. Silas Bird, a sensitive and brave twelve-year-old boy, embarks on a journey to find his father, Martin Bird, who has been taken in the night by a group of outlaws. Silas’s father is a Scottish immigrant bootmaker known for his brilliance—he’s a man of physics and a talented, experimental photographer and inventor of his time. Silas sets out on a whim to find his pa, and all he has with him are his teenage ghost best friend/guardian, Mittenwool; a violin that used to belong to his mother; and an Arabian, bald-faced pony the outlaws left behind.
Pony is an poetic, atmospheric journey - one full of memorable scenes and great characters. This book is unique in that it is hard to pin down its genre. It's not quite historical fiction nor would I call it a straight fantasy or western or ghost story. It's a genre bending work of middle grade fiction that could also sit on the shelf beside the adult classics of True Grit and Peace like a River. Pony is a tender, harrowing, sad, and beautiful and hope book about the bonds of love and it's one I look forward to revisiting to savor it's language and the journey once more.
“Even when they didn’t remember their own names, they always remembered who they loved. That, I’ve learned, is what we cling to forever. Love. It transcends, leads, it follows . . . a journey without end.”
—R. J. Palacio, Pony
Pony is an poetic, atmospheric journey - one full of memorable scenes and great characters. This book is unique in that it is hard to pin down its genre. It's not quite historical fiction nor would I call it a straight fantasy or western or ghost story. It's a genre bending work of middle grade fiction that could also sit on the shelf beside the adult classics of True Grit and Peace like a River. Pony is a tender, harrowing, sad, and beautiful and hope book about the bonds of love and it's one I look forward to revisiting to savor it's language and the journey once more.
“Even when they didn’t remember their own names, they always remembered who they loved. That, I’ve learned, is what we cling to forever. Love. It transcends, leads, it follows . . . a journey without end.”
—R. J. Palacio, Pony
cadoca's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5