A review by bookishlybecca
Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen

4.0

Second Read-through: May 2019
Ugh! I forgot how much I love reading books about horses! This one made me want to go riding (or even just be around horses) sooooo bad! I'm super glad I decided to randomly re-read this book, especially as it's been years since I first read it. ^_^

Thoughts:

1. Annemarie, our rather prickly main character, got on my nerves a fair bit during certain plot points, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading her thoughts on things and seeing her journey throughout this book. There's a (rather realistic) reason for her being so inept in most social situations, and it was honestly kinda lovely seeing her delve into her past experiences and finally start to come to terms with them and why she now is the way she is.
2. The secondary characters in this book weren't amazing or particularly stand out to me in any way, but I did enjoy Dan and Annemarie's mother as characters. I liked their personalities and various interactions with Annemarie. Eva was... a very typical teenager, so I suppose she's supposed to be seen as an irresponsible brat most of the time? ;/ And I feel kinda bad for Roger and Jean-Claude, as they were basically only there for conflict purposes with Annemarie and to make her relationship with Dan more complicated...
3. The writing was quite good! I LOVED the descriptions, especially of anything horse-related (to the point where I'd have to stop reading and just take a minute to picture everything myself). The dialogue could have been better at times, but there were a few funny/witty lines here and there. My favourite sections to read were when Annemarie was being introspective and recalling her past. It was interesting learning more about her this way and very satisfying when she came to healthy conclusions about herself too. Oh, and Harriet, Annemarie's adorable dachshund - any scene with her in it I immediately liked 5x as much. ;P 
4. I enjoyed the plot, overall. It did get to be a bit hairy and overdramatic at times, but I was fairly invested in the story throughout and I liked the various adult aspects of life that we got to see as well. It was also interesting being reminded of what things used to be like in the very early 2000s - dial-up Internet, very few cellphones, public smoking, different cultural and societal viewpoints, etc. This book's plot wouldn't have been possible currently, particularly with how far technology has come in the last 15+ years.
5. The ending was a relatively satisfying one, for me. I enjoyed how everything got wrapped up, plot-wise - although it did feel a tad bit rushed to me, and I would have liked to have seen a bit more "behind-the-scenes" on a few plot points.