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A review by ashdawn
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This one was VERY over-hyped. I had heard so much about this book, and at least I can say it was well researched. The story of Lexington and of Jarrett was well thought out, creative, and brought attention to a side horse racing history that not many people talk about.
It meshes in what is considered to be a more "modern" training method of liberty training/positive reinforcement/relationship based training. Now, those methods are becoming more popular, but for the time period this is set it would have been revolutionary training. I feel like it works well for the story, even if I don't know how far back that would have been acceptable way of training, especially from a slave who would not have had a choice if his master wanted otherwise.
It really did not need to be told by six different points of view, especially with multiple being in each time period being discussed. It really hampered the ability to have really good depth to characters. With that many perspectives, it also brought a ton of rabbit trail stories in. Most of the perspectives did not add much, and I would have preferred to see a story more about Lexington and Jarrett as his trainer. Mostly Scott and Jarrett's perspectives, with maybe a prologue and epilogue from one of the more modern characters tying it all together, if it had multiple perspectives at all.
I've read other books by this author, and contrary to what everyone else seems to be saying, this is not one of my favorites by her.
It meshes in what is considered to be a more "modern" training method of liberty training/positive reinforcement/relationship based training. Now, those methods are becoming more popular, but for the time period this is set it would have been revolutionary training. I feel like it works well for the story, even if I don't know how far back that would have been acceptable way of training, especially from a slave who would not have had a choice if his master wanted otherwise.
It really did not need to be told by six different points of view, especially with multiple being in each time period being discussed. It really hampered the ability to have really good depth to characters. With that many perspectives, it also brought a ton of rabbit trail stories in. Most of the perspectives did not add much, and I would have preferred to see a story more about Lexington and Jarrett as his trainer. Mostly Scott and Jarrett's perspectives, with maybe a prologue and epilogue from one of the more modern characters tying it all together, if it had multiple perspectives at all.
I've read other books by this author, and contrary to what everyone else seems to be saying, this is not one of my favorites by her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality
Moderate: Racism and Slavery
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and War