A review by spudsimple
Horse by Geraldine Brooks

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I loved Year of Wonder and with all the hype around this book was so excited to read it.  Unfortunately, it just didn't hit the same way for me for a couple of reasons.  First, I really wasn't enthralled with the subject matter.  This solidified that I am not a horse girl and never will be and I could honestly care less about horses and horse culture.  With that, the book started off super slow for me and it just felt tedious to get through at points.  My other main critique is that the weaving in of race relations in the United States, specifically the exploitation of black men through slavery to today, felt clunky and ill conceptualized.  It was very clear that a white woman wrote those characters and there was a marked difference in the teasing out of characters such as Jess and those of Jarrett and Theo.  
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