isabellarobinson7's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 3.5 stars
I have been a horse girl for a very long time. It doesn't come from nowhere though. I have two crazy relatives who are involved with horses. My grandfather, at a considerable age, infamously broke his rib after being thrown off a feisty mare (that no one could ride, and he was warned about this) and my great uncle lives in the middle of Australia amongst the bucking broncos that he rides like a cowboy. Fortunately once I got older I eventually got proper lessons (instead of just "hold on!") and I still ride every week now (covid willing of course). All that is to say that I know the story of Black Beauty quite well but had never read it until now. But now that I mention it, I think there was a movie from the 90's that I watched as a kid... yes, just looked it up; it had pre-Boromir Sean Bean. So I movie-before-book-ed, oops. But classics don't really count, do they (except LotR, and I stand by that).
Ok, what was I even saying? Oh yeah, Black Beauty. (Now you get a sense of what it is like to have a conversion with me.) I don't know what else there is to say anyway. Horse gets born, horse gets sold, something about a bridge (I remember that from the movie), mean people, nice people, horse gets sold again, horse goes on adventure, horse comes home. The end. Cool.
I have been a horse girl for a very long time. It doesn't come from nowhere though. I have two crazy relatives who are involved with horses. My grandfather, at a considerable age, infamously broke his rib after being thrown off a feisty mare (that no one could ride, and he was warned about this) and my great uncle lives in the middle of Australia amongst the bucking broncos that he rides like a cowboy. Fortunately once I got older I eventually got proper lessons (instead of just "hold on!") and I still ride every week now (covid willing of course). All that is to say that I know the story of Black Beauty quite well but had never read it until now. But now that I mention it, I think there was a movie from the 90's that I watched as a kid... yes, just looked it up; it had pre-Boromir Sean Bean. So I movie-before-book-ed, oops. But classics don't really count, do they (except LotR, and I stand by that).
Ok, what was I even saying? Oh yeah, Black Beauty. (Now you get a sense of what it is like to have a conversion with me.) I don't know what else there is to say anyway. Horse gets born, horse gets sold, something about a bridge (I remember that from the movie), mean people, nice people, horse gets sold again, horse goes on adventure, horse comes home. The end. Cool.
erinj254's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like I should rate this one higher because it's a classic and because Sewell wrote it with the intention of shedding light on the poor treatment of horses. It is not meant to be a happy story. I thought this Usborne version would be fairly kid friendly, but not one good thing happens in this entire book. I read it out loud to my 7-year-old and thank goodness she isn't overly sensitive. It had me tearing up, especially at the end. The language is kind of difficult as well, especially for children, but I think she probably tuned out a lot. The pictures are beautiful and it is the first "hefty" chapter book she has been interested in reading so that's a win!
ankhsi's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
all4liv's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
bethany_jane_'s review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
jinnywithaj's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
kathryn14's review against another edition
3.0
It was more tolerable than I expected and even made me have some pangs of pity for horses. That is all.
bldinmt's review against another edition
3.0
Re-visiting this story as an adult I can see how it influenced my tender heart and love of animals as a youth. Humans are capable of such amazing kindness and such unfathomable cruelty. I always wanted to be one of the good ones.
ashley_lh's review against another edition
5.0
When i read this book i could feel the pain and happiness of black beauty!!
Great book!
Great book!
yasminsalah's review against another edition
3.0
It seems to me similar in all events that happened and that made it boring