A review by probably_reading_right_now
Dark Horse by A.L. Brooks

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There were two major plot points in this story: The romance and the storyline between Sadie and her mother I felt extremely different about each of them. 

This book has a major pet peeve of mine, both in media and real life, where the queer person is just expected to be patient, and understanding with the homophobic family in their life. In books, like in real life, there will always be homophobes and unfortunately sometimes that someone is related to you, but how that’s often handled is that the responsibility for reconciliation, and understanding is placed on the queer person. Death or illness is often leveraged for sympathy which makes it even worse in my opinion. It’s a tired plot line that needs to be put to rest. If this book were just that, or majority that plot line between Sadie and her mom I would have only rated it 1 or 2 stars if I didn’t DNF it first. If I had been reading this book, and not listening to it on audiobook I may still have DNF’d it to be honest. 

The second major storyline was between Sadie and Holly which is the one that kept me listening. It was better done, better written, more enjoyable in my opinion. I would have rated this book 4+ stars if the book was just that storyline. 

I combined my ratings for both and bumped it up to 3 stars because I felt that was more in line with what the book overall deserved.