A review by bookishlybecca
Flying Changes by Sara Gruen

4.0

Second Read-through: May 2019
I ended up liking this one more than its predecessor, but it was a bit hit-and-miss for a while there. ;/ Still, all the horse/animal vibes contained within this duology will never not make me super happy. ^_^

Thoughts:

1. Annemarie became increasingly neurotic and rather insufferable in this book, and I found myself feeling significantly more frustrated with her than I was in Riding Lessons (particularly in the middle section of this novel). She frequently acted irrationally and made bad, overdramatic decisions based solely on her emotions and insecurities, and it just didn't seem to me as though she had truly learned from her past mistakes or was trying to grow and become a better person. Thankfully however, by the end of the book, she did finally realize that she needed to change her way of both thinking and acting
   (and that she needed professional help in order to properly do so). She fully accepted her past and came to peace with it, and was even brave enough to admit to herself that she had some understandable but serious mental-health related issues that had been with her, untreated, since her riding accident all those years before. It was very satisfying and heart-warming to see this realization finally come to fruition, and I'm glad we got to witness the start of her healing process as well. The last chapter in the book was definitely one of my favourites, out of both books, just for how it subtly yet touchingly showed that Annemarie was, at long last, on her road to recovery.
2. Annemarie's relationships with some of the other characters in this book ended up becoming quite complex and convoluted, which I both liked and didn't like. The only interactions I truly enjoyed and appreciated were the ones Annemarie had with her mother. I adore how much their relationship has grown since they've been back in each others' lives, and it truly warmed my heart to see how close they've become again. I loved all of the conversations they had too. Ursula was not only someone for Annemarie to lean on and get advice from in this book, but also someone to cheer her up and make her smile/laugh. Ursula was definitely my favourite character in this duology, and she had some particularly good lines and scenes in this latter book. Annemarie's relationships with Eva and Dan, however, were a complete, overdramatic mess much of the time, and though I'm quite satisfied with where they ended up by the end of the book, I definitely didn't like "the journey" it took to get them there.
3. The writing felt stronger to me in this book, in comparison to the previous one. The dialogue worked a lot better and everything just flowed more smoothly too. I still loved all of the descriptions, but I wish we'd had more introspective sections from Annemarie, like in Riding Lessons.
4. The plot was one of my main hangups in this book. It reeeeally struggled in the middle section and the couple of small subplots that were introduced
   (Fricassee and Freddie)
   just felt pointless and overly bothersome to me. I did really enjoy the beginning and ending of the book though
   (particularly Maisie's foaling, Eva's horse show, and everything to do with Jeremy)
   , to the point where they made up for the annoying middle, I think. ;)
5. The ending was, again, a tad bit rushed, but I adored the last chapter and am extremely satisfied with how everything came together. It was nice to see where the family and their stable ended up, particularly knowing they were likely, this time, on the path to ultimate happiness. <3