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leanne_allan's review against another edition
1.0
Wow, was this book bad!
I've never cringed so much in my life. I thought it was supposed to be a horse's point of view, pretty sure it was a jealous 12 year old. How the hell would a horse know about texting or even understand the concept of death and murdering someone. The characters were annoying, whiny and super unrealistic. I did not enjoy this and regret wasting my time reading this monstrosity.
I've never cringed so much in my life. I thought it was supposed to be a horse's point of view, pretty sure it was a jealous 12 year old. How the hell would a horse know about texting or even understand the concept of death and murdering someone. The characters were annoying, whiny and super unrealistic. I did not enjoy this and regret wasting my time reading this monstrosity.
channingcoco's review against another edition
4.0
Oh my goodness. At first I was like wow this is a good book. Than in the middle I was like ehhhh. Than at the end I was crying my eyes out. This was an amazing book. At first I absolutely hated Red than I was like ok I love him. Such a love hate relationship with him. I fell in love with the characters and loved everything about the book!
teenage_reads's review against another edition
4.0
There has always been a tie to humans and horses, ever since humanity can remember. From a means of transport, to farm labour, we even rode them into battles during wars. According to history, therapeutic benefits of horses were recognized around the 1870’s in Europe. The goal of these residential equine therapy program is not about riding your horse, but taking care of it, forming an unbreakable bond between you and him, until maybe both of you get better. That was the motto of Good Fences, one that Merritt did not take too kindly too.
Merritt Wenner goes to an all-girls private school called Chace. Chace is somewhere she did not fit in well, as the girls were all about showing off their ponies, boys and parties. Merritt only escapes when she visited her grandmother and her horse named Nobel. When her grandmother died in a car accident, something inside Merritt snapped. It was when Merritt skipped her SATs exam and had an all-night bender, which made her parents say enough is enough. They shipped her off to Good Fences, an residential equine therapy program, so that she can “get better”, but also so that they can totally ignore her, as they prefect their marathon running. Good Fences make Merritt face some things she ran away from, take a path that was never open for her before, and discover who she truly is.
Red was a beast. A gorgeous, powerful, beast. He was bred the perfect race horse. What none of the breeders could have predicted was his attitude. Red would never let anyone ride him. If they do he would throw them off at the first jump, or his specialty: roll on top of the rider. When bored, he frees the other horses in the barn, and let them run amuck. Because of that he has to wear a muzzle at all times, except during feeding. Mr. deRothschild saw potential in Red, which when his previous owner wanted him killed on the spot, Mr. deRothschild bought Red for his daughter, who was attending his heavy funded theory program called Good Fences. His daughter, Beatrice, was horrid to anything and anyone around her. Nicknamed “The Bear” none of the other girls at Good Fence liked her or Red for that matter. Until Merritt showed up, being roommates with Beatrice, and given Red as her horse to take care off. ““So do you want to be friends now?” She asked quietly. And that was the thing. This has never happened to me before. I did want to be friends with this girl. I really did.” Soon Red and Merritt became a dynamic duo, as Merritt was the only one allowed to ride Red. Taking an interest, Mr. deRothschild shipped the two of them off to Florida, to get properly trained, as they were going to show as real riders. The only thing Merritt could not predict was the attachment of Red, who saw her as his and only his, and what he would do to keep it that way.
Cecily von Ziegesar is known for her one and true series: Gossip Girl. Thirteen books of the trials of Blair and Serena, it seemed as if Cecily could not write about anything else. But this book proves you all wrong. Cecily von Ziegesar took a normal story of a girl and her horse and twisted it into a dark horror story, but not really. See Merritt was a typical trouble girl: she had her issues and instead of facing them, she ran away and douse them in a bottle of alcohol. Her horrible friend (Beatrice) was no help to her cause, and the hansom boy gave her the on and off feelings (Carvin). You even got the Gossip Girl favorite line as in this book it states “You know Ann loves you. Xxoo” which is pretty close to the “You know you love me. Xoxo, Gossip Girl” line. Like really Cecily? You had to add that in there. The only reason why this story stand out is Red: beautiful but trouble Red. See the story had two points of views: Merritt and Red. How many books take you in the perspective of a horse, the answer not many. Red had some dark thought as his need for Merritt went from love, to obsession, as he hated anyone that took her away from him. His obsession with her was the driving point of the story as it was the sole factor that kept you reading, as Merritt herself was kind of dry, where Red made you want to keep reading. Love is the only thing keeping these two together, as Red will do anything to keep Merritt by his side, but Merritt has different plans, ones that do not include Red, something Red cannot face.
Merritt Wenner goes to an all-girls private school called Chace. Chace is somewhere she did not fit in well, as the girls were all about showing off their ponies, boys and parties. Merritt only escapes when she visited her grandmother and her horse named Nobel. When her grandmother died in a car accident, something inside Merritt snapped. It was when Merritt skipped her SATs exam and had an all-night bender, which made her parents say enough is enough. They shipped her off to Good Fences, an residential equine therapy program, so that she can “get better”, but also so that they can totally ignore her, as they prefect their marathon running. Good Fences make Merritt face some things she ran away from, take a path that was never open for her before, and discover who she truly is.
Red was a beast. A gorgeous, powerful, beast. He was bred the perfect race horse. What none of the breeders could have predicted was his attitude. Red would never let anyone ride him. If they do he would throw them off at the first jump, or his specialty: roll on top of the rider. When bored, he frees the other horses in the barn, and let them run amuck. Because of that he has to wear a muzzle at all times, except during feeding. Mr. deRothschild saw potential in Red, which when his previous owner wanted him killed on the spot, Mr. deRothschild bought Red for his daughter, who was attending his heavy funded theory program called Good Fences. His daughter, Beatrice, was horrid to anything and anyone around her. Nicknamed “The Bear” none of the other girls at Good Fence liked her or Red for that matter. Until Merritt showed up, being roommates with Beatrice, and given Red as her horse to take care off. ““So do you want to be friends now?” She asked quietly. And that was the thing. This has never happened to me before. I did want to be friends with this girl. I really did.” Soon Red and Merritt became a dynamic duo, as Merritt was the only one allowed to ride Red. Taking an interest, Mr. deRothschild shipped the two of them off to Florida, to get properly trained, as they were going to show as real riders. The only thing Merritt could not predict was the attachment of Red, who saw her as his and only his, and what he would do to keep it that way.
Cecily von Ziegesar is known for her one and true series: Gossip Girl. Thirteen books of the trials of Blair and Serena, it seemed as if Cecily could not write about anything else. But this book proves you all wrong. Cecily von Ziegesar took a normal story of a girl and her horse and twisted it into a dark horror story, but not really. See Merritt was a typical trouble girl: she had her issues and instead of facing them, she ran away and douse them in a bottle of alcohol. Her horrible friend (Beatrice) was no help to her cause, and the hansom boy gave her the on and off feelings (Carvin). You even got the Gossip Girl favorite line as in this book it states “You know Ann loves you. Xxoo” which is pretty close to the “You know you love me. Xoxo, Gossip Girl” line. Like really Cecily? You had to add that in there. The only reason why this story stand out is Red: beautiful but trouble Red. See the story had two points of views: Merritt and Red. How many books take you in the perspective of a horse, the answer not many. Red had some dark thought as his need for Merritt went from love, to obsession, as he hated anyone that took her away from him. His obsession with her was the driving point of the story as it was the sole factor that kept you reading, as Merritt herself was kind of dry, where Red made you want to keep reading. Love is the only thing keeping these two together, as Red will do anything to keep Merritt by his side, but Merritt has different plans, ones that do not include Red, something Red cannot face.
audacity's review against another edition
2.0
It's been a long time since I picked up a book that focused on the intricate bond that most young girls want to have with a horse. I used to be obsessed with all things horse related and by virtue have never been disappointed by a book that focuses on something that I so badly crave. But I guess there's a first for everything.
Summary:
Dark Horses is a story about a girl who get's thrown into a equine therapy program after suffering the loss of her Grandma and her horse Noble. There she runs into a girl Beatrice who seems to be more problematic than the rest, starting fires and eventually getting kicked out, which results in our MC Merritt to get paired up with Beatrice's horse Red. Now Red is a handful, refusing to let people ride him, letting out other horses from their pens, just causing mischief in general. Of course, he has his own horror story of a past but you figure out about that rather quick so I won't go into detail. The two are introduced and after a (very) brief bumpy start the magic begins and their wonderful bond snaps in place. This leads Red's owner, whose also Beatrice's Father, to sponsor them to participate in shows all across the country. Now, it practically just rains down blue ribbons.
Despite my sass, all of this impossible fluff is A-OKAY with me. It's cute and charming and just what the horse lover in me adores. Sure, the fact that Red references Classic Rock all the time is a bit off putting at first (and made the "critical reader" inside of me cringe) but I could even over look that for the sake of romanticising the whole idea of having a horse. My issues arise with pretty much everything that happens outside of their bond. And the ending. Dear God I cannot stand how the book ends.
It'll take too long to thoroughly type out all of my issues with Dark Horse so I'm just going to list them:
-It uses mental illness as a foundation to the story but doesn't truly resolve any of the characters problems, plus the way it was so halfheartedly addressed left a sour taste in my mouth.
-In the blurb it hints that there could be a LGBQ romance, or at the very least the main character is bisexual but that's completely 100% misleading.
- Psychological thriller? More like a weird hodgepodge of inattentive parents trope x randomly thrown in hot guy because we need a love interest even if it isn't really believable x a jealous horse.
-Going off of that Carvin, you know, the hot guy? Completely redundant. His character is weak, we know next to nothing about him, he's bland and their relationship is dumb. There were multiple times when he spoke that I rolled my eyes so hard that my head hurt.
-Ann... just what was her purpose? Like honestly, if you take out Ann the story wouldn't have changed. Plus that whole song stuff reminded me vaguely of [book:Audrey, Wait!|1627267] only worse.
-Her parents. And the fact that they travel half the world in the three months or so that their daughter is away. Apparently they have "reasons" but those aren't really explained except for the last chapter where an info bomb is dropped as a lazy way to excuse her Dad's inconsistent behaviour.
-The fact that they tried to sell this as a "update" of [book:Black Beauty|3685]. Another misleading statement. The only thing that it has in common with it is that there is a horse in it. Nothing Else. I mean literally nothing.
So there you have it. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're extremely into horses and need a fix of equine x girl magical bonds but even then I swear there's better books out there. Try [book:Sundancer|1585431]. I promise you the horse won't reference classic rock, there's still inattentive parents, and the main character still has mental health problems but they're all handled a lot better than in this story.
Summary:
Dark Horses is a story about a girl who get's thrown into a equine therapy program after suffering the loss of her Grandma and her horse Noble. There she runs into a girl Beatrice who seems to be more problematic than the rest, starting fires and eventually getting kicked out, which results in our MC Merritt to get paired up with Beatrice's horse Red. Now Red is a handful, refusing to let people ride him, letting out other horses from their pens, just causing mischief in general. Of course, he has his own horror story of a past but you figure out about that rather quick so I won't go into detail. The two are introduced and after a (very) brief bumpy start the magic begins and their wonderful bond snaps in place. This leads Red's owner, whose also Beatrice's Father, to sponsor them to participate in shows all across the country. Now, it practically just rains down blue ribbons.
Despite my sass, all of this impossible fluff is A-OKAY with me. It's cute and charming and just what the horse lover in me adores. Sure, the fact that Red references Classic Rock all the time is a bit off putting at first (and made the "critical reader" inside of me cringe) but I could even over look that for the sake of romanticising the whole idea of having a horse. My issues arise with pretty much everything that happens outside of their bond. And the ending. Dear God I cannot stand how the book ends.
It'll take too long to thoroughly type out all of my issues with Dark Horse so I'm just going to list them:
-It uses mental illness as a foundation to the story but doesn't truly resolve any of the characters problems, plus the way it was so halfheartedly addressed left a sour taste in my mouth.
-In the blurb it hints that there could be a LGBQ romance, or at the very least the main character is bisexual but that's completely 100% misleading.
Spoiler
Beatrice kisses her and Merritt rejects her, there's nothing there on her end so don't be fooled- Psychological thriller? More like a weird hodgepodge of inattentive parents trope x randomly thrown in hot guy because we need a love interest even if it isn't really believable x a jealous horse.
-Going off of that Carvin, you know, the hot guy? Completely redundant. His character is weak, we know next to nothing about him, he's bland and their relationship is dumb. There were multiple times when he spoke that I rolled my eyes so hard that my head hurt.
-Ann... just what was her purpose? Like honestly, if you take out Ann the story wouldn't have changed. Plus that whole song stuff reminded me vaguely of [book:Audrey, Wait!|1627267] only worse.
-Her parents. And the fact that they travel half the world in the three months or so that their daughter is away. Apparently they have "reasons" but those aren't really explained except for the last chapter where an info bomb is dropped as a lazy way to excuse her Dad's inconsistent behaviour.
-The fact that they tried to sell this as a "update" of [book:Black Beauty|3685]. Another misleading statement. The only thing that it has in common with it is that there is a horse in it. Nothing Else. I mean literally nothing.
So there you have it. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're extremely into horses and need a fix of equine x girl magical bonds but even then I swear there's better books out there. Try [book:Sundancer|1585431]. I promise you the horse won't reference classic rock, there's still inattentive parents, and the main character still has mental health problems but they're all handled a lot better than in this story.
fiercefully's review against another edition
everything is fun and games until deadly no homo
cpliego's review against another edition
3.0
Dark Horses is slow-paced for a thriller, and not much exciting or deadly I guess, really happens. The characters aren't exactly likable, and while I enjoyed the POV's it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. It is another predictable read, which a rushed ending that left me feeling unsatisfied.
gingersnap_thing's review against another edition
2.0
I went into this with hope, as I usually enjoy any book that features a horse point of view.
But I couldn't get over the main character. She was just too annoying for me. Probably came from her wretched parents who I swear were just included to cause more anything feelings while reading.
Also, the end of the book........ Definitely not what I was thinking.
But I couldn't get over the main character. She was just too annoying for me. Probably came from her wretched parents who I swear were just included to cause more anything feelings while reading.
Also, the end of the book........ Definitely not what I was thinking.
alexalovesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
If you're into a Black Beauty/Gossip Girl sort of mix, this novel may well be your cup of tea. I found it compelling enough to keep turning pages, even though I wasn't overly fond of either Merritt or Red.
theawkwardbookw's review against another edition
3.0
Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCferU-BCL2dlFjWdD0rS75Q/videos
*I received this book as part of Booktube Tours in exchange for my honest review*
VIDEO REVIEW TO COME SEPT 30th:
Dark Horses is told from two perspectives, Merritt a self destructive teenaged girl and an ex race horse named Red. After the death of her grandmother and horse, Merritt walks out in the middle of her SAT test after a night of drinking. Her parents opt to send her to Good Fences, an equestrian based rehab facility, where she meets Red. Red belongs to the owner's daughter Beatrice who also attends Good Fences. Red has been unable to bond with anyone and hasn't allowed anyone to ride him for years, until he meets Merritt. Their bond quickly catches the attention of Beatrice's owner, a very wealthy business man who decides to fund Merritt and Red to compete in horse races around the United States. Merritt develops a friendship with Beatrice and also a possible love interest in her competition, a rider named Carvin. Red does not take lightly to Merritt's new found friendships, anyone who comes between himself and Merritt poses a threat and he will stop at nothing to keep the two of them together forever.
The book was extremely easy to read, fast paced and fun to read. I really enjoyed the changing POV between Merritt and Red. I loved Red's point of view, he was such a jerk and I was laughing at most of the things he thought about. I still don't know how I feel about Merritt... at times I found her very bland and boring but other times I really liked her as a character. The insta-love between Carvin and Merritt was a bit of a bummer to me, although it took awhile for their relationship to actually develop, the initial onset came way to quickly in my opinion. You could really tell that the author has an extensive knowledge about horses and equestrian lifestyle based off of the vocabulary she uses and her writing in general on the topic. The writing did occasionally go off on tangents that I didn't find relevant to the plot development, it was still an enjoyable read! I did feel like the plot was a bit too far-fetched and convenient at times though. I also found the ending to be unresolved, I really want to know what happens next with Merritt and Carvin! Overall, I enjoyed the story!
*I received this book as part of Booktube Tours in exchange for my honest review*
VIDEO REVIEW TO COME SEPT 30th:
Dark Horses is told from two perspectives, Merritt a self destructive teenaged girl and an ex race horse named Red. After the death of her grandmother and horse, Merritt walks out in the middle of her SAT test after a night of drinking. Her parents opt to send her to Good Fences, an equestrian based rehab facility, where she meets Red. Red belongs to the owner's daughter Beatrice who also attends Good Fences. Red has been unable to bond with anyone and hasn't allowed anyone to ride him for years, until he meets Merritt. Their bond quickly catches the attention of Beatrice's owner, a very wealthy business man who decides to fund Merritt and Red to compete in horse races around the United States. Merritt develops a friendship with Beatrice and also a possible love interest in her competition, a rider named Carvin. Red does not take lightly to Merritt's new found friendships, anyone who comes between himself and Merritt poses a threat and he will stop at nothing to keep the two of them together forever.
The book was extremely easy to read, fast paced and fun to read. I really enjoyed the changing POV between Merritt and Red. I loved Red's point of view, he was such a jerk and I was laughing at most of the things he thought about. I still don't know how I feel about Merritt... at times I found her very bland and boring but other times I really liked her as a character. The insta-love between Carvin and Merritt was a bit of a bummer to me, although it took awhile for their relationship to actually develop, the initial onset came way to quickly in my opinion. You could really tell that the author has an extensive knowledge about horses and equestrian lifestyle based off of the vocabulary she uses and her writing in general on the topic. The writing did occasionally go off on tangents that I didn't find relevant to the plot development, it was still an enjoyable read! I did feel like the plot was a bit too far-fetched and convenient at times though. I also found the ending to be unresolved, I really want to know what happens next with Merritt and Carvin! Overall, I enjoyed the story!
justkeyreads's review against another edition
3.0
Here's my video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YJWPvsXVIY
The Why: Like people, animals have an attachment, something that's untouchable to others. It was written in a way that you could clearly distinguish the bond between Merritt and Red.
Characters:
Merritt self destructed after her grandmother died and is sent to a equestrian therapy program. There she learns everyone is paired up with a rescue horse and she has the grand privilege of riding him. Merritt needed to heal and with the help of Red she did. Riding horses was something she avoided, because of her grandmother, but a great bond grew between her and Red.
Merritt didn't realize how strong of an attachment Red had to her. He wouldn't cooperate with no one else other than Merritt. This really showcases the deep bond that animals have with people. I just didn't realize Cecily would take the personality of this horse that way and On was pleasantly surprised.
Final Thoughts:
It was an enjoyable book that helped me learn about more the bond between riders and their horses. Overall, this was a beautiful book.
The Why: Like people, animals have an attachment, something that's untouchable to others. It was written in a way that you could clearly distinguish the bond between Merritt and Red.
Characters:
Merritt self destructed after her grandmother died and is sent to a equestrian therapy program. There she learns everyone is paired up with a rescue horse and she has the grand privilege of riding him. Merritt needed to heal and with the help of Red she did. Riding horses was something she avoided, because of her grandmother, but a great bond grew between her and Red.
Merritt didn't realize how strong of an attachment Red had to her. He wouldn't cooperate with no one else other than Merritt. This really showcases the deep bond that animals have with people. I just didn't realize Cecily would take the personality of this horse that way and On was pleasantly surprised.
Final Thoughts:
It was an enjoyable book that helped me learn about more the bond between riders and their horses. Overall, this was a beautiful book.