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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
Wow. I have chills after reading this. This story was dark but empowering. The protagonist was so strong. I can’t imagine the people who go through similar things and the strength they find along the way. I couldn’t put this book down. It’s a page turner for everyone.
I read this book last year, and honestly, I'm thinking of rereading it. This book was well written with very touchy topics and, of course, horses.
The book follows Roan Montgomery, who on the outside seems to have a perfect life with perfect horses and a perfect father for a couch. Unfortunately, her father is two different men in public and especially in private. Roan's life is a nightmare at home where her father constantly abuses her, and what's worst is that her mother could care less.
I absolutely loved this book, despite its touchy material. The storyline was great, and it took me longer than expected because lots of times, I felt for Roan and was really scared for her and what would come her way.
MY RATING: (five stars)
The book follows Roan Montgomery, who on the outside seems to have a perfect life with perfect horses and a perfect father for a couch. Unfortunately, her father is two different men in public and especially in private. Roan's life is a nightmare at home where her father constantly abuses her, and what's worst is that her mother could care less.
I absolutely loved this book, despite its touchy material. The storyline was great, and it took me longer than expected because lots of times, I felt for Roan and was really scared for her and what would come her way.
MY RATING: (five stars)
****Trigger warning this book deals with physical and sexual abuse as well as some trauma to animals.
This was a great book but a heavy read. I finished a month ago, but I had to take a moment before writing a review because it just hit me so emotionally. This story will have your mind reeling and your heart aching for Roan the main character. Roan is a 15 year old girl who is a competitive equestrian following in the footsteps of her famous Olympian father Monty and the legacy of her Olympian grandfather as well. Roan loves her horses and riding is the only solace she has living with her alcoholic, distant mother, and her abusive father. Ronan’s father is hard on her and accepts nothing but the best out of Roan. Monty portrays himself as a loving, caring father who wants to do all he can to help his daughter succeed however behind closed doors he is an abusive tyrant who wants complete control over Roan’s life. Roan gets noticed by the popular “bad boy” Will in class one day and a relationship starts budding. Roan has to keep her relationship with Will a secret from her father, as she knows he will not accept or approve of it. Roan is caught in the middle learning about first love, training for competitions and trying to gain control of her life from her father.
Thank you @scoutpress and @simonandschuster for this ARC
This was a great book but a heavy read. I finished a month ago, but I had to take a moment before writing a review because it just hit me so emotionally. This story will have your mind reeling and your heart aching for Roan the main character. Roan is a 15 year old girl who is a competitive equestrian following in the footsteps of her famous Olympian father Monty and the legacy of her Olympian grandfather as well. Roan loves her horses and riding is the only solace she has living with her alcoholic, distant mother, and her abusive father. Ronan’s father is hard on her and accepts nothing but the best out of Roan. Monty portrays himself as a loving, caring father who wants to do all he can to help his daughter succeed however behind closed doors he is an abusive tyrant who wants complete control over Roan’s life. Roan gets noticed by the popular “bad boy” Will in class one day and a relationship starts budding. Roan has to keep her relationship with Will a secret from her father, as she knows he will not accept or approve of it. Roan is caught in the middle learning about first love, training for competitions and trying to gain control of her life from her father.
Thank you @scoutpress and @simonandschuster for this ARC
challenging
dark
The debut novel of Mihalic follows the story of a would-be 16 ambitious equestrian, Roan Montgomery, who only knew how to ride horses, come out victorious, be her daddy’s ‘good girl’ and keep quiet about the things her father does to her until she fell in love with Will Howard from lit class.
The journey of Roan setting herself free from her father’s abusive cage was not as promising as I expected it to be. The message this book conveys is troubling. At least to me. I am a sucker for psychological fiction but this one I regret reading.
What I liked about this book are its richly detailed storytelling, writing style which for god’s sake I didn’t find mundane and good thing the author maintained the meticulousness till the end.
Now let’s dive into the unpopular opinion zone.
The plot and the characters are disturbing. Roan endures abuse caused by her father almost daily and she keeps her mouth shut about it. And the narration style made it even worse as if the author was telling us how we should feel after coming across her misery every single time. The meticulous details about her every single emotion sounded very artificial. Nothing left for us, readers, to imagine. This kinda let me down.
But then our Roan becomes rebellious. When? When she falls for a boy. Dear author, did you really have to give this a YA U-turn?
If I am to sum up what this books says, it is something like this : If you are ambitious and depend on your father, you should be resilient and stay silent about how much of a violent and abuser your father is to you. You should definitely not speak up even when you have the chance at some hospital when some social worker shows up. And later when the water goes over your head you can make the biggest mistake of your life by trying to kill your abuser or something like that.
The message this book conveys is the most troubling one.
I know it is hard most of the time to speak up regarding stuffs like this so most of us grow on it while other family members sleep on our misery and that’s the reason I wanted this book to be different, to set a milestone but unfortunately this one failed me. This will make a good Netflix show though.
The journey of Roan setting herself free from her father’s abusive cage was not as promising as I expected it to be. The message this book conveys is troubling. At least to me. I am a sucker for psychological fiction but this one I regret reading.
What I liked about this book are its richly detailed storytelling, writing style which for god’s sake I didn’t find mundane and good thing the author maintained the meticulousness till the end.
Now let’s dive into the unpopular opinion zone.
The plot and the characters are disturbing. Roan endures abuse caused by her father almost daily and she keeps her mouth shut about it. And the narration style made it even worse as if the author was telling us how we should feel after coming across her misery every single time. The meticulous details about her every single emotion sounded very artificial. Nothing left for us, readers, to imagine. This kinda let me down.
But then our Roan becomes rebellious. When? When she falls for a boy. Dear author, did you really have to give this a YA U-turn?
If I am to sum up what this books says, it is something like this : If you are ambitious and depend on your father, you should be resilient and stay silent about how much of a violent and abuser your father is to you. You should definitely not speak up even when you have the chance at some hospital when some social worker shows up. And later when the water goes over your head you can make the biggest mistake of your life by trying to kill your abuser or something like that.
The message this book conveys is the most troubling one.
I know it is hard most of the time to speak up regarding stuffs like this so most of us grow on it while other family members sleep on our misery and that’s the reason I wanted this book to be different, to set a milestone but unfortunately this one failed me. This will make a good Netflix show though.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you @scoutpressbooks for the ARC! Dark Horses will be available on 2/16. Swipe for synopsis & content warnings.
Take the daddy issues of "My Precious Darling" but remove the gratuitous torture-porn, and add the complicated, disturbing "complicity" of "My Dark Vanessa." This was a compelling, dark read.