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A review by bookishjaja
Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen
4.0
Okay, overall I really enjoyed this book. I thought the plot was interesting, and the pacing was good. I was constantly itching to read just one more chapter.
However, there was something that annoyed the living the hell out of me, and it needs to be brought up. The MC, Annemarie, drives me up the wall. She is so selfish and foolish and immature and clueless and I just cannot, y'all. Absolutely cannot. It's to a point where it's just unbelievable.
Annemarie's approach to every single one of her problems make zero sense to me. None of it is realistic, and it irked me so much. I kept forgetting that this main character is nearly 40 years old. I thought I was reading about a teenager.
I read Water for Elephants and Ape House several years ago, and I loved those books. Sara Gruen did a wonderful job at those. I remember feeling like these books were so well-researched. Just very well done. But I feel like Riding Lessons really missed the mark here.
Now I'm sure these complaints seem kinda major, so 4 stars seems a little high. But like I said at the beginning, I did really like this book. I hope I'll be able to fit in Flying Changes soon. But I have to admit that my love for Sara Gruen's other books might have made me less critical here.
However, there was something that annoyed the living the hell out of me, and it needs to be brought up. The MC, Annemarie, drives me up the wall. She is so selfish and foolish and immature and clueless and I just cannot, y'all. Absolutely cannot. It's to a point where it's just unbelievable.
Spoiler
How do you eff up the entire operations of a stable that badly and do nothing to fix it? How do you find yourself with a husband who's leaving you and not respond AT LEAST to your lawyer as you're proceeding through a divorce? How do you go to someone's house to cook a complicated dinner knowing damn well certain you don't have a clue what you're doing? How do you not get in car and look endlessly for your runaway daughter? How do you discover a MASSIVE insurance fraud and feel like the best way to handle it is to dye a horse? HOW?!Annemarie's approach to every single one of her problems make zero sense to me. None of it is realistic, and it irked me so much. I kept forgetting that this main character is nearly 40 years old. I thought I was reading about a teenager.
I read Water for Elephants and Ape House several years ago, and I loved those books. Sara Gruen did a wonderful job at those. I remember feeling like these books were so well-researched. Just very well done. But I feel like Riding Lessons really missed the mark here.
Spoiler
The biggest thing for me was the microchip thing. Clearly, I mean it is so obvious y'all, clearly Hurrah is part of an insurance fraud. If I were to discover something like that, the last thing I would expect to happen is that the insurance company would come take the horse from me. And it would never cross my mind that I need to hide this horse from the proper authorities. If anything, I'd be getting on the phone with a lawyer and figuring out how to report this crime to the police. The explanation for the horse being taken (eventually) gets tied up a little at the end, but again, if it's that simple, I feel like the whole charade would not have happened like this in real life, so I really struggled to buy into this part of the story line.Now I'm sure these complaints seem kinda major, so 4 stars seems a little high. But like I said at the beginning, I did really like this book. I hope I'll be able to fit in Flying Changes soon. But I have to admit that my love for Sara Gruen's other books might have made me less critical here.