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A review by lila_still_reads
Hoofbeats of Danger by Holly Hughes
I loved this book as a little kid. As a young adult revisiting it- meh.
I also had less fun with it than I could have because in the intervening years, I’ve had a traumatic experience involving poisoned horses. That’s not on the book. The nonsensical, fast wrap up of the mystery, on the other hand, is. Thjs could have been a cool, closed room mystery for young readers- all the suspects are at the station, how will Annie solve the case?- instead, we don’t even know the name of the culprit, let alone his motivation, until a random, one paragraph character hands it to Annie. Literally this character only exists for this purpose. It felt lazy- kids deserve better constructed mysteries!!
The horse girl bonding was well done. That’s definitely why I liked it- I don’t think a kid who loved horse could get through this book without wanting to be a pony express rider.
It makes me want to revisit Riding Freedom, another pony express book I loved as a kid.
In short- only read if you’re eight and love horses. Not one I’d seek out for kids unless they’re completionists or super into horses and historical fiction.
I also had less fun with it than I could have because in the intervening years, I’ve had a traumatic experience involving poisoned horses. That’s not on the book. The nonsensical, fast wrap up of the mystery, on the other hand, is. Thjs could have been a cool, closed room mystery for young readers- all the suspects are at the station, how will Annie solve the case?- instead, we don’t even know the name of the culprit, let alone his motivation, until a random, one paragraph character hands it to Annie. Literally this character only exists for this purpose. It felt lazy- kids deserve better constructed mysteries!!
The horse girl bonding was well done. That’s definitely why I liked it- I don’t think a kid who loved horse could get through this book without wanting to be a pony express rider.
It makes me want to revisit Riding Freedom, another pony express book I loved as a kid.
In short- only read if you’re eight and love horses. Not one I’d seek out for kids unless they’re completionists or super into horses and historical fiction.