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strawberrypeachy's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't know what to expect from this story. I knew it was about a horses life and abuse, but that was about it. But, Oh My! No wonder why this is a classic! This was beautiful, heartbreaking, and truthful. Bittersweet. I did kind of rush through it because i was trying to meet my Goodreads goal, and i sort of regret that. I hope to read this again when i am not so rushed. I don't have any favorite quotes, not because there wasn't any, oh my there were plenty i would have loved to bookmark, but i listened to this on Audiobook at 1.5/1.75 speed.
If you love/like classic books (Like Little Women) and animal stories, you should read this!
If you love/like classic books (Like Little Women) and animal stories, you should read this!
lurath's review against another edition
5.0
An old favorite - and classic that should not be missed by anyone.
susanwingate's review against another edition
5.0
This happens to be one of my favorite books in the whole wide world! Maybe even the universe!
obsidian_blue's review against another edition
5.0
I read this as part of Dead Writers Society Literary Birthday Challenge for 2016. I don't know what else to say about this book was that I found it to be sad and uplifting in parts.
Told in the first person, we have a young horse named Black Beauty describing his life and constantly changing homes throughout the years during the late 1800s in England.
Black Beauty was great as a narrator to his own life story and those of other animals he met. I loved so many of the other characters we meet like Ginger and Merrylegs.
I loved the fact that the other animals could "talk" to each other and relating their own stories to each other about what good men they had met and what cruel men they had met shaped them. Even though Black Beauty in the end more than anyone I think would have been justified in giving up, he still did what he could to be a "good" horse.
I was very disheartened to think upon what fates befell Ginger and Merrylegs and was really angry at the owners in this story who just kept selling horses to people with what I thought was very little thought made to what would happen to them afterwards.
For me, what made this story so fascinating was that I had no idea at all about things going on regarding horses in Victorian times. Reading about how men and women in high society wanted their horses craned very high in order to make them look more fashionable made me ill. I seriously had no idea this was even a thing. I guess I just thought people just put saddles and had reigns around horses and that was it.
The writing was really good. For someone with no idea about technical terms or anything else regarding horses, groomers, etc. this book was not too technical. I also really liked the flow of the book and thought the pace was pitch perfect from beginning to end.
The setting of England during this times also brings in discussions about the working class and looks more deeply at men who were cab drivers, groomers, farmers, squires, etc.
The ending made me very happy and actually tear up a bit.
Told in the first person, we have a young horse named Black Beauty describing his life and constantly changing homes throughout the years during the late 1800s in England.
Black Beauty was great as a narrator to his own life story and those of other animals he met. I loved so many of the other characters we meet like Ginger and Merrylegs.
I loved the fact that the other animals could "talk" to each other and relating their own stories to each other about what good men they had met and what cruel men they had met shaped them. Even though Black Beauty in the end more than anyone I think would have been justified in giving up, he still did what he could to be a "good" horse.
I was very disheartened to think upon what fates befell Ginger and Merrylegs and was really angry at the owners in this story who just kept selling horses to people with what I thought was very little thought made to what would happen to them afterwards.
For me, what made this story so fascinating was that I had no idea at all about things going on regarding horses in Victorian times. Reading about how men and women in high society wanted their horses craned very high in order to make them look more fashionable made me ill. I seriously had no idea this was even a thing. I guess I just thought people just put saddles and had reigns around horses and that was it.
The writing was really good. For someone with no idea about technical terms or anything else regarding horses, groomers, etc. this book was not too technical. I also really liked the flow of the book and thought the pace was pitch perfect from beginning to end.
The setting of England during this times also brings in discussions about the working class and looks more deeply at men who were cab drivers, groomers, farmers, squires, etc.
The ending made me very happy and actually tear up a bit.
kittyray18's review against another edition
5.0
No wonder this book and movie had a strangle hold over me as a child. It's a great lesson in empathy and kindness to all living creatures.
treemenke's review against another edition
5.0
So glad I finally read this - loved it and wasn’t as heartbreaking as I was preparing myself for! Relieved it had a happy ending ❤️
britwhimsy's review against another edition
3.0
This is a classic and I love horses, so naturally, I like it. :-)
sarahbc93_'s review against another edition
4.0
It’s always slightly jarring when you realise you’ve been reading a book from the point of view of a horse, but at the end of the day, it is a beautiful story. It’s beautifully written, and there are passages where it is very emotional.
The story follows the life of one particular horse; Black Beauty and his journey between different masters and the life that he had with each of them. It details the work that he did, the environment that he lived in and the treatment that he received.
There are a lot of descriptions of the good and kind masters that he had, as well as of the mean and cruel masters. They always seem to come one after the other, so it feels a bit like a see-saw between good and bad.
You can definitely see Sewell’s love for horses and her desire to seem them treated humanely in this book. Any description of the treatment that the horses receive, even if it’s a good treatment, always has the negative flip side that it could be a whole lot worse for them. Sewell seems to be suggesting that the horses know enough about their surroundings and the work to know that they deserve better treatment, and I can’t think of a better way to get the character to emotionally connect with the reader than that.
The story follows the life of one particular horse; Black Beauty and his journey between different masters and the life that he had with each of them. It details the work that he did, the environment that he lived in and the treatment that he received.
There are a lot of descriptions of the good and kind masters that he had, as well as of the mean and cruel masters. They always seem to come one after the other, so it feels a bit like a see-saw between good and bad.
You can definitely see Sewell’s love for horses and her desire to seem them treated humanely in this book. Any description of the treatment that the horses receive, even if it’s a good treatment, always has the negative flip side that it could be a whole lot worse for them. Sewell seems to be suggesting that the horses know enough about their surroundings and the work to know that they deserve better treatment, and I can’t think of a better way to get the character to emotionally connect with the reader than that.
phoenix_is_gross's review against another edition
3.0
I remember reading this over and over again as a little girl. It is such a sweet story.