Reviews - War Horse | The StoryGraph

901 reviews for:

War Horse

Michael Morpurgo

4.0 AVERAGE

bryn_18's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous hopeful inspiring medium-paced

mveatch6's review against another edition

5.0

I saw the movie a few years ago, and was super sad. Also, I thought it was kind of cheesy? But I decided to read the book anyway, and I'm glad I did. It's really good! Not cheesy at all (animal protagonists do tend to work better in books than in films), slightly less soul-crushing than the movie (only slightly-the fate of the other horses weighs heavily on me), and overall a good way to introduce something as horrible as WWI to kids.

julyett's review against another edition

4.0

Well, how should I start? This is book with so many emotions! There are a lot of amazing friendships between animals and people. I love parts, when are Joey, Albert, Emilie, Topthorn, captain Nicholls or Friedrich together. Yeah, it's book about war, but I think there are more happy and so great moments. Everything sad or painful is pushed into the backround, and just nice feelings shine.

Michael is really good writer. There weren't boring descriptions, only 160 pages of action. Every minute something emotive was being there. Joey's sickness, Topthorn's, captain Nicholl's and Friedrich's death or smiling Emilie. Well, I don't cried, because only really, really, really special stories make me cry [I don't say this isn't special; yes, it is], but sometimes I was close to tears. They didn't come, but I was shocked with end. I just can't imagine Berty's happiness, when Joey was again his, only his.

War Horse is one of most emotional book. It made me smiled, it made me laughed and it made me shocked. I think this is the best description of this story that I can do. I just love it. :3

lydonreads's review against another edition

3.0

I've been reading this and leading a mixed group of afterschool kids in reading/engaging with this book. Though I may not have read this otherwise, I ended up liking this book, and I'm surprised how much the kids (from 3rd graders up to 6th graders) are enjoying it. Not sure if I've ever read a book written from an animal's perspective since I read Cujo back in the 5th grade, but luckily, this tale from the point of view of Joey the Horse ends up being positive, even while it hints at some of the horrors of war.

jacciconn's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional informative inspiring 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: No

crotchpossum's review against another edition

3.5

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Loved Private Peaceful, and Warhorse was the one that was always recommended to me because of that. I feel like there was a lot of fanfare when the stageshow and movie came out. But it didn't speak to me as much as I thought it would.