Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - White Horse

This book was such an unexpected surprise. Justice is served! Kari James’s mother disappeared when she was just two days old. Now in her thirties, she becomes determined to uncover the mystery of what happened to her mother. There are a lot of messy friendships in this book that come with a lot of heartbreak… but in the end, those heartbreaks simply lead to growth. This was an entertaining read complete with some Indigenous lore. It wasn’t too scary, and I think I would market this as being ‘thriller’ rather than ‘horror.’ I would recommend this Book of the Month selection.

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apworden's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny sad tense 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

3.75

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sylvestra's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.75

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ericarobyn's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

White Horse by Erika T. Wurth is a tale of secrets that refuse to stay buried…

Kari is an urban indigenous woman that wears black ripped jeans and band t-shirts, loves listening to metal, and always has a horror book on hand. Kari grew up filled with hatred toward her mother as she believed her mother had left her when she was just two days old. Filling the empty space with drugs and alcohol, Kari’s life isn’t on a great trajectory. But when her cousin brings her an old bracelet that has been in the family for a very long time, all of Kari’s core beliefs are shaken and it forces her on a new path.

Suddenly haunted by visions and the ghost of her mother, a fire is ignited in Kari. From there, it’s a rocky journey to find answers. Along the way, she’s forced to face her inner demons.

A slow-burn of a novel, this story takes it’s time winding around each of the story elements just like a car traveling up the Colorado mountain roadways. The paranormal focus was light, but it was sprinkled in just enough to keep catching me off guard!

I will admit, there were times I wanted to scream at Kari for how shortsighted and selfish she was being. She was totally wrapped up in her own things, and couldn’t see two inches in front of her to realize how her actions were affecting others. Of course, that lack of support for others finally explodes, leaving her adrift to solve her problems on her own. I was so excited that she had finally learned to think of others rather than wallowing in her own self-pity and grief. After that turning point, I couldn’t put the book down!

One quick element that I wanted to comment on before moving on is that while I’m not from the area, I have visited! On a work trip, I made it a point to visit the Tattered Cover. I was so excited to see a mention of being in Tattered Cover in one of Kari’s dreams, and then to see her visit the location as well! That is such a cool bookstore. If you’re ever in the area, make sure to stop by!

My Favorite Passages from White Horse

Daddy was brittle. His mind was like a boat lost at sea. Sometimes it came close to the shore, only to push back. I didn’t want to make it so it never made anchor again.

There was something sad and small and yet, almost otherworldly about Idaho Springs, like there were secrets in the cold, rocky ground that might spring up at any time. And take you down with them into the dark.

God, that tapping like a skeletal hand on a mirror.

Though I loved everything by King, I’d always found this particular book to be spellbinding. I remembered finding it in the library one day, after wandering the shelves, my fingers brushing the spines, trying to convince myself to check something more realistic out, something more patently educational, and failing and moving, like I was haunted, toward the horror aisle. For some reason, I hadn’t seen this book before, and finding it, a King I’d never read, felt like uncovering a magic key, one with infinite potential. One that opened doors that acted as portals to other worlds.

I feel strong by the end of that year, I am healed. But I don’t realize that healing requires scars, and I am still rough beneath them, I still have pain locked behind that ropy skin. And there is weakness there, there is vulnerability, a thing I have always been terrified of.

My Final Thoughts on White Horse

I highly recommend this story to fans of slow-burning tales that make you switch back and forth between loving and hating the main character, before settling in on how you feel about them right at the end.

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symabee's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.5

I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit disappointed in this one. Maybe my hopes were too high after reading the premise, but it just fell flat for me.

There were things I did like about the book. The horror and supernatural elements were cool, I enjoyed learning about Native culture and mythology, how it addresses addiction and trauma, and the fact that it shed light on the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women.

Now for the things I didn't like.

It all felt very disorganized and had a lot of subplots thrown in that distracted from the story. At times, this felt more like a love letter to Denver, Colorado than a horror/thriller. So much time was spent describing local businesses, their decor and signage, and how they had changed over the years. Lots of talk about gentrification and yuppies taking over the area. I understand a certain level of this is needed to set the scene for the story, but this just felt rambling at times. A large portion of this book is also spent on the main character's cousin, who is in an abusive marriage. The cousin is basically just emotional support for the main character, so I'm not sure why we needed to know so much about her marriage.
There are also many references to Stephen King, David Mustaine, Bud Light beer, and reading old paperback novels in random places like noisy bars. After a while, it started giving "I'm not like other girls" vibes.

I loved the idea of this book, and it had some great qualities, but the execution was very lackluster, unfortunately.

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tysbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.0

This started off creepy and I was engrossed in the story, but by the end I was left feeling just okay about it. We follow Kari, an indigenous woman, that works at the White Horse bar. Kari is approached one day by her cousin Debby with a bracelet that belonged to her mother and Kari is suddenly haunted by her mother's ghost. We follow her as she slowly learns what happened to her mother to cause her to disappear and abandon her at two years old. Kari also discovers all of the other family secrets she was not aware her mother's family was hiding.

I enjoyed learning about the culture and the folklore in this book. Also the first half of the story was really strong with Kari being visited by the ghost of her mother and her learning about her mother's activism within the community. We then see the trauma this family has gone through, how it has been passed down and how Kari is still dealing with it but having a hard time admitting it to herself. At times I found this book to be repetitive with the horror elements, it seemed like towards the end of the book sort it sort of lost its steam. The character of Kari seemed like she read a bit younger than 35 years old. We continuously heard about how much she just loved her favorite band and how she just wanted another cigarette, but at a point it became annoying. This book does touch on some heavier themes such as drug and alcohol abuse, domestic abuse, child abuse and gun violence. Even though this didn't completely win me over, I would still recommend.

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