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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
My siblings and I are big trivia fans + competitive, so despite being older than the desired audience of Black Beauty, I read this in order to learn more for the literature category during our trivia nights. Though I have always had a soft spot for animals, I didn't know much about the care for horses beforehand and I was surprised at how much I learned about their wellbeing. I must say this was a very easy read for being first published in 1877 and I would have probably given it a higher rating had I been a child aka the intended audience, but it was nothing overly special to me.
(This review was originally posted in Habitica’s Book Lust guild!)
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sweet and fun, more adult novels should be from animal povs. Horses <3
Absolutely my favorite book of all time, hands down. This was the novel that really spurred (haha) my love of reading as a little girl.
Such a heartfelt story about a horse and how his life fairs with different owners.
I really loved this, and Black Beauty will likely always come to mind when I see any horse from now on.
I really loved this, and Black Beauty will likely always come to mind when I see any horse from now on.
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Struggled to enjoy it at the start as I don't usually read books written in this time period but as I began to continue reading, I loved the idea of a story from an animals perspective and how the book draws awareness to animal cruelty.
Gabriel says he "sort of" likes the book. He wants good things to happen to Beauty and gets irritated when someone does something bad to him I promised him good things will happen to Beauty in the end so he's looking forward to seeing how it happens.
I admire the impact this book had and continues to have on the topic of animal cruelty, but I find the story itself rather preachy and far too repetitive. Sewell spends the entire book emphasizing a point she already successfully makes in the first half, and the story has little to no genuine or interesting plot because of this. The ending is also a bit unsatisfying, but I appreciate how Black Beauty essentially regains his identity after reuniting with Joe Green and being called by his first name after such a long time. I love full circle moments, and Sewell wrote this beautifully. I wish I could have better things to say about this book overall, but perhaps I would have liked it more had I read it first as a child.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated