Reviews

Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan

blulady's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

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

3.0

gmganderson's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

an_finsceal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

3.75

This is the first time for me I have read a book with this structure: short paragraphs and chapters, interview-style. I have always loved horses and I enjoyed getting an insight into the world of training and tending to horses as a career. A quick read with lots of depth.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence and Rape

bookshopbree's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This book is one of those ones you eat up in one sitting. A book that you can't stop thinking about, but can't really explain why. Maybe it's the simplicity of the text or the loping gait of the prose. Each chapter felt like race: a start, a finish; quick and sharp, but meaningful. Whatever it was, this tiny novel left an impact on me and I really enjoyed it. As a horse person, this book is full of familiar sensations, but the scenery was wholly new to me, as I don't know much about the jockey/racing scene. Kick the Latch provided a glimpse behind the curtain as the reader follows the narrator on an interview style journey of her life on the track. This was such a unique style of writing to me, being a fictionalized story based on interviews with an actual person.

b_isa_reading's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

dsugai's review against another edition

4.25

A perfect & quick read.  Immerses you in the horse racing world in stunning vignettes. 

“You're around some really prominent people and some are just as common as old shoes.”

“You live at the track, your life is full. You don't have time to go shopping at the mall. You lose touch with the outside. 

Things change. You don't hear about world news unless something major happens, because you're in your own world and you have enough news.”

itspeachie's review

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual content and Rape

emmavardy2's review against another edition

adventurous informative slow-paced

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

3.0

Story of Sonia, her life working with horses on the race track. Many insights into the world of horse racing.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and Suicide

terese_utan_h's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

chillcox15's review

5.0

Actually astounding, the way that Kick The Latch is able to capture the scope of someone's life from such a small ledge. The narrator's memories of a raw life on the horse-racing circuit are so potent and livewire, and Scanlan is able to perfectly balance detail with succinctness.