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kirstenf's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Ableism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Grief, Ableism, Sexism, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Transphobia and Vomit
celestriakle's review
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
This book gets half a star for having good bones. I was so excited for this book: a queerplatonic throuple racing horses in a historical setting is a concept rich with material and interesting avenues to explore, and unfortunately, this book explores none of them. The author--an American--claims to have done much research, but it's anachronistic in jarring ways and does next to nothing with the setting. This book could have taken place anywhere in nearly any other pre-1950s decade and remained unchanged. (Worse, Norway was having a major historical event in 1904 that should have impacted these characters, but doesn't.) Characters are punished for having period-accurate morals. The main throuple rarely seems to even like each other, and all characters outside it are neglected, never receiving care or development.
In spite of promises that these are disabled characters who are more than their disability, characters are never allowed to grow beyond their disability and the book plays into terrible ableist tropes. In the most egregious case,one of the major characters acquires paralysis of the legs in the first third, and he spends the entire book afterward begging for death, believing himself a burden, and pushing away everyone who loves him. The pinnacle of his "acceptance" culminates in a near torturous scene where he summons superhuman strength out of nowhere and literally drags himself through a freezing, rushing river in winter to rescue someone while the entire cast watches. He never comes to accept help from others.
Finally, it is CRUCIAL to know that this author runs a farm animal sanctuary. This attitude towards animals colors the entire novel, leading to all sorts of peculiar choices. Every single major characters ends up a vegetarian by the end of the novel. One otherwise-sympathetic character is villainized as soon as he reveals he eats rabbit for dinner. (And there is no mention at all of these characters' attitudes toward fish, which likely would have been a major part of these characters' diets.)Asta becomes obsessed with a piglet she held for two minutes and the second half of the book centers on her pursuit of this piglet. In the end, you're left with the very uncomfortable impression that these characters care more for animals than each other or anyone else, as interpersonal relationships and physical health are neglected and abandoned for the sake of the assorted animals in the book. By the end, it feels very much more like an aesop about how cruel humans are to animals than anything else.
In spite of promises that these are disabled characters who are more than their disability, characters are never allowed to grow beyond their disability and the book plays into terrible ableist tropes. In the most egregious case,
Finally, it is CRUCIAL to know that this author runs a farm animal sanctuary. This attitude towards animals colors the entire novel, leading to all sorts of peculiar choices. Every single major characters ends up a vegetarian by the end of the novel. One otherwise-sympathetic character is villainized as soon as he reveals he eats rabbit for dinner. (And there is no mention at all of these characters' attitudes toward fish, which likely would have been a major part of these characters' diets.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Vomit, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Blood, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Outing
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Bullying, Death of parent, and Body shaming
Minor: Sexual content and Xenophobia
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