Reviews with content warning for Blood - White Horse

This one would be a great choice for a book club read. The main character, although I am not indigenous, Kari has a relatable personality for anyone who has experienced deep trauma... and honestly that hooked me. Through the book her experiences unfold one by one-like the peeling of an onion. I wanted to keep reading and couldn't put it down. It's not a 5 star because I felt a few holes in the plot, but this is so worth reading.

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rachaelwho's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This was mostly extremely tedious Mary Sue, reddit-quality nonsense, except a few surprise pockets like

the unexpectedly excellent description of her crystal high with the blue lights

. For that, I was prepared to give it a two. And then

the author decided that the solution to Debbie having an abusive husband who controlled and isolated her, was for Debbie to simply demand that Kari and Jack literally just get along from now on.

I hesitate to even give it a single star for that. Actually, y'know what? I won't. The writing sucked and that plotline was offensive and dangerous. Fuck this book right into the sun. This author owes me 9.5 hours.

Edited to add: apparently the author is possibly a white woman presenting herself as indigenous, which would honestly make *so* much sense. This book felt so generically, vaguely native, with a few con picuous references to "pretendians," "generokees," and "great great grandma Cherokee princesses." But I thought it was just like how badly the author wanted us to know Kari was sooooo metal and sooo badass and hot and not like other girls. Ugh! Could've saved myself some time if I'd looked into her. Seriously, skip this trash fire.

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ktdakotareads's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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mary_stormageddon's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

Too much telling, not enough showing. I had a hard time disappearing into this story. But I loved a lot of aspects of it. It was sad. And I learned a lot.

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Reckless, detached, scathing.

Our MC is a recovering addict trying to manage adulting while caring for a parent with a brain injury and dealing with their anger and grief over their mother going missing when they were just a baby.

🇺🇸 Set in Denver and Idaho Springs, Colorado, USA

🐺🐕Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags:
🤨 Kari was such a frustrating character. I think she was supposed to be rough-around-the-edges, assertive, take-no-bull, but all I was getting was a 30-something going on 13 trying to convince others she's non-conformist, and super edgy. She is offended by EVERYTHING and so obtuse and stubborn. She wants (demands) answers but doesn't listen to what anyone says or rolls her eyes at their perspectives then whines about no one helping her.

🙄 I don't mind unlikeable/annoying narrators but so much of the story was wrapped up in Kari's repetitive angsty, martyr complex monologues and dialogues. If someone advised her to use the bridge because the path is flooded, she would use the path and complain for pages about how everyone is out to get her because she almost drowned (even if all that really happened was her feet got wet). Okay, that doesn't literally happen in the story, but it's an example of what to expect throughout and it comes at the expense of the character and plot development. For about the first third of the novel it's also ALL we get.

😐 The writing style was almost point form or something. I had to keep rereading sentences, it didn't flow well. That's fine for a good story but...it wasn't a good story (or rather was, but was told poorly). For example, Kari would be observing that there are multiple men in a room and then note that "he lit a cigarette and said _____"...with no defining of WHICH man in the room did it.

😴 Tell vs show imbalanced. We get lots of telling of how invested Kari is in solving what happened to her mother, but the actions don't back anything up. We get lots of show (often plopped in the middle of action or clues) about how she's doing things, like how she lights a cigarette, how she moves, arranges her face, gazes etc.

🫠 Not a horror. The horror is a B-plot at best, more like C-plot. I define horror as anything that could be horrific, including IRL happenings, but it's barely touched on even though so much could have been done to give voice to the indigenous experience and perspective of grief, trauma, and family.

🫥 Zero world building. She walk into a building. Is it a house? trailer? apartment? store? We know a LOT about the door she knocked on but nothing else. Real-life location name-dropping too. Sometimes we get a description but most of the time we are told lists of places she is visiting in these towns with nothing more, as if all us non-Colorado readers somehow know like, "yeah that place IS gnarly!"

😬 I can't speak at all to the accuracy or authenticity of the Indigenous rep in this book. Compared to other novels I've read, I thought this read as what non-indigenous people imagine the native experience to be. Lots of repetitive "what tribe are you?" but no progression beyond. Even if this was supposed to be a cathartic read for some, it felt off. It read more like 23-and-me + identifying other indigenous people because they say spiritual stuff or are one with nature. A lot of the characters were giving "Indian princess syndrome" where they romanticized white people but mentioned their "nativeness" when useful for getting away with things. I hope that makes sense, it's hard for me to know and I may be missing something really deep, cathartic, or symbolic. Would love to hear more from a variety of Indigenous readers and background for how they felt about this story and what it has to say.

Mood Reading Match Up:

Character-based narrative about values, outlooks, opinions, and actions of a main character
Off-the-rails self-sabotage and who-to-trust drama
Murder victim paranormal/spiritual dream scenes, hallucinations, and seeing the past through their eyes
Gritty, noir style stories

Content Heads-Up: Alcohol and drug use (intentional, self-medicating, partying, overdose, addiction). Brain injury disability. Parental abandonment (missing). Indigenous experience in US (not sure about accuracy, realism, commentary, or health). Sexual content (consenting, intoxicated). Controlling spouse. Blood.

Format: Hardcover

Content Warnings

savvylit's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

White Horse is a character-driven literary thriller that combines Urban Native culture with an exploration of family trauma. In order to cease the hauntings, Kari must discover more about her mother's cryptic past. Not only that, but her mother's side of the family is indigenous. As Kari unravels the mysteries of her mother's ghost, she learns more about her ancestors and her Native identity.

Kari and her cousin Debby are both incredibly well-developed, complex characters. White Horse is so easy to get invested in - and not just because of the ghosts. (Though the ghosts are definitely intriguing and scary). Overall, the reason it's easy to get invested in this book is because the characters are loveable and empathetic. One of my biggest pet peeves in books in general is when characters are shallow and inaccessible; Kari & Debby are the opposite of that. I can't wait to read more of Wurth's work!

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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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laura_keoski's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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