liralen's review against another edition
4.0
Nice. There isn't enough of this sort of YA fiction: the sort where the characters are allowed to be—and, critically, stay—imperfect and messy, with happy-enough endings.
Juby treads lightly here, bringing in a swirling cast of characters to enrich Alex and Cleo's worlds. There are so many tipping points, when either Cleo or Alex (or any of the people around them) could take a different path, for better or for worse. There's a sense of possibility throughout—possible good endings but also possible bad endings—but mostly I just love the way Cleo and Alex offset each other. Alex is steady, solid; he's learnt to put himself in the background and keep his nose to the grindstone. Cleo is spoilt, irresponsible; she hasn't yet met a situation that her parents' money can't extract her from. But they each see something in the other that leaves room for growth for them as individuals and as friends.
I'd had this on my to-read list for ages because it technically takes part partially in a boarding school, but that's a very very minor part of things—much more interesting are Alex coming into his own and Cleo finding a tether on earth.
Juby treads lightly here, bringing in a swirling cast of characters to enrich Alex and Cleo's worlds. There are so many tipping points, when either Cleo or Alex (or any of the people around them) could take a different path, for better or for worse. There's a sense of possibility throughout—possible good endings but also possible bad endings—but mostly I just love the way Cleo and Alex offset each other. Alex is steady, solid; he's learnt to put himself in the background and keep his nose to the grindstone. Cleo is spoilt, irresponsible; she hasn't yet met a situation that her parents' money can't extract her from. But they each see something in the other that leaves room for growth for them as individuals and as friends.
I'd had this on my to-read list for ages because it technically takes part partially in a boarding school, but that's a very very minor part of things—much more interesting are Alex coming into his own and Cleo finding a tether on earth.
stenaros's review against another edition
3.0
Alternating narrator novel about a boy who loves horses (specifically dressage) and a wealthy girl who like plastic horses more than the real thing.
heatherinjapan's review against another edition
Why do so many of the books I've been trying to pick up from my back list include young girls being groomed by older men 😑 if the book is centered on the girl healing and dealing with it I'll read it, but not when it's glamorized and glossed over 😑
quietjenn's review against another edition
2.0
unfortunately, this is a dual-protagonist book, wherein one of them is way more interesting than the other. meaning, if this book were only about alex, the coming-of-age-and-coming-out cowboy in question, it would maybe have been aces. alas, it also focuses on cleo, the cliched, one-dimensional, spoiled, selfish, rich girl whom he takes dressage lessons with. she's seriously one of the most poorly developed and unappealing characters i've read in a long while, which it pains me to say because juby seems pretty awesome.
entamewitchlulu's review
1.0
DNF at near chapter 5, I don't remember, I can't be bothered to care.
I don't know if this is maybe somehow just a ebook version problem, but I feel like I'm reading the first draft of this book and I cannot push myself through it. I have no idea how I read the same book as some of these reviewers because this is one of The Most boring books I have read in ages.
At its core, this is supposed to be the story of a strange friendship blooming between Alex, a closeted gay kid who's crazy about horses, and Cleo, a spoiled rich girl sent off to riding school just to get her out of her parents' hair. In its actual execution, however, it falls horribly, horribly flat.
The book starts off by explaining to you Alex's entire history. I feel like I'm being told an anecdotal story by a friend at a dinner party rather than reading a book, because the exposition is so dragging and long and impossible to pay attention to. In fact, EVERYTHING in this book is exposition. Character reactions and feelings are glossed over in a paragraph explaining that "they felt bad" rather than actually showing me the emotional response.
None of the characters are distinct. Characters show up out of nowhere and blend together horribly. For some reason, it changes from third-person to a sudden first-person POV when switching between Alex's and Cleo's chapters. Alex's sexual orientation felt slapped on just for added story issues for him, and he didn't feel real, at all. Cleo essentially gets groomed by an older man in the first chapter and this is apparently framed not as something awful, but as her being stupid and spoiled and willful (she's thirteen??? this wasn't her fault??).
And don't get me started on the actual horse parts, because this reads more like the narrator has a huge hard on for dressage, completely overloading me with factoids and specifics that just does NOT make any sense to me, OR read as interesting. And this is coming from someone who very much did have a horse hard-on phase and still adores them.
I tried to make a promise to finish everything I started and this isn't even that long of a book, but I just can't. The problems are hugely overriding any possible enjoyment I could have gotten out of this, and I can't see myself learning anything new from the writing.
I don't know if this is maybe somehow just a ebook version problem, but I feel like I'm reading the first draft of this book and I cannot push myself through it. I have no idea how I read the same book as some of these reviewers because this is one of The Most boring books I have read in ages.
At its core, this is supposed to be the story of a strange friendship blooming between Alex, a closeted gay kid who's crazy about horses, and Cleo, a spoiled rich girl sent off to riding school just to get her out of her parents' hair. In its actual execution, however, it falls horribly, horribly flat.
The book starts off by explaining to you Alex's entire history. I feel like I'm being told an anecdotal story by a friend at a dinner party rather than reading a book, because the exposition is so dragging and long and impossible to pay attention to. In fact, EVERYTHING in this book is exposition. Character reactions and feelings are glossed over in a paragraph explaining that "they felt bad" rather than actually showing me the emotional response.
None of the characters are distinct. Characters show up out of nowhere and blend together horribly. For some reason, it changes from third-person to a sudden first-person POV when switching between Alex's and Cleo's chapters. Alex's sexual orientation felt slapped on just for added story issues for him, and he didn't feel real, at all. Cleo essentially gets groomed by an older man in the first chapter and this is apparently framed not as something awful, but as her being stupid and spoiled and willful (she's thirteen??? this wasn't her fault??).
And don't get me started on the actual horse parts, because this reads more like the narrator has a huge hard on for dressage, completely overloading me with factoids and specifics that just does NOT make any sense to me, OR read as interesting. And this is coming from someone who very much did have a horse hard-on phase and still adores them.
I tried to make a promise to finish everything I started and this isn't even that long of a book, but I just can't. The problems are hugely overriding any possible enjoyment I could have gotten out of this, and I can't see myself learning anything new from the writing.
ailicoyote's review
1.0
I thought this was going to be another cute teenage romance with horses, as so many teen/pre-teen book are. Until about chapter four, when the main character (a teen boy) starts lusting after his male friend. I honestly did not expect to be so completely grossed out.
kristid's review
3.0
Alex has always loved horses. When Alex was six, he had a horse named Del Magnifico le Noir, except it wasn’t exactly a horse, but more of a bicycle that Alex pretended was a horse, he had reins and everything! Alex also falls in love with the riding style of dressage at an early age. He never thought in a million years that his father would win him a horse playing poker. From there on out is was Turnip and Alex. Alex loved riding Turnip and winning shows riding western style, but his true love was still with dressage.
Cleo loves horses too. She collects them, the plastic kind. She has no desire to ride a horse, but her mother throws her into it. Never being around or on a horse really limits your riding abilities. So Cleo really just falls into dressage, because there is no way she is going to jump a horse. Cleo attends a private boarding school and when she complains about her lacking coach her mom finds her a new one, much to Cleo disdain.
And then they meet, Cleo and Alex at their dressage lessons. Alex is a talented rider and very hardworking, and Cleo is rebellious, selfish, and lazy. The story alternates between Cleo and Alex’s stories and struggles. Cleo struggles with her past mistakes and tries to rise above them. Alex struggles with his hidden sexuality and acceptance by his father.
Another Kind of Cowboy is enjoyable and refreshing! My grandparents used to raise Palomino horses, in turn, I’ve always been a horse fan. So, I couldn’t wait to read this book. But it is about so much more than horses. The story itself is well written and the characters are likable. Another Kind of Cowboy is a contemporary story that deals gracefully and humorously with issues of teen pressures and sexuality. This was my first read of Susan Juby, but I think I will have to look into reading more books by this author! I absolutely recommend this book!
Cleo loves horses too. She collects them, the plastic kind. She has no desire to ride a horse, but her mother throws her into it. Never being around or on a horse really limits your riding abilities. So Cleo really just falls into dressage, because there is no way she is going to jump a horse. Cleo attends a private boarding school and when she complains about her lacking coach her mom finds her a new one, much to Cleo disdain.
And then they meet, Cleo and Alex at their dressage lessons. Alex is a talented rider and very hardworking, and Cleo is rebellious, selfish, and lazy. The story alternates between Cleo and Alex’s stories and struggles. Cleo struggles with her past mistakes and tries to rise above them. Alex struggles with his hidden sexuality and acceptance by his father.
Another Kind of Cowboy is enjoyable and refreshing! My grandparents used to raise Palomino horses, in turn, I’ve always been a horse fan. So, I couldn’t wait to read this book. But it is about so much more than horses. The story itself is well written and the characters are likable. Another Kind of Cowboy is a contemporary story that deals gracefully and humorously with issues of teen pressures and sexuality. This was my first read of Susan Juby, but I think I will have to look into reading more books by this author! I absolutely recommend this book!
onclout99's review
5.0
Drassage is cool, Alex is adorable, Cleo is unreal (but in a totally awesome way), and this book made my week so much better.
bookishly_faith's review
2.0
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars
I thought this book was decent. The author touches on some of the problems that teens deal with today: coming out, over-drinking, absent parents, and people who don't seem to care about anything. Juby tells the story of Alex, a guy who is gay but hasn't come out to anyone and Cleo, a rich chick who hangs around with the wrong crowd. The author writes about their problems while focusing on the sport of dressage, which brings the 2 characters together taking Dressage lessons together. Throughout the story, the characters become friends and begin to become better people.
The author effectively writes about realistic Canadian teenagers in this novel. She manages to create characters that teens can relate to in some way. There is the naive rich girl, Cleo, who seems to do the wrong thing and has parents who are never there(Let me just admit, I did want to slap Cleo in the face at times). There is the gay guy, Alex, who has made himself a social outcast because he is ashamed of himself and his family. While I found both of the characters realistic, nothing about them made me love them. I couldn't even find myself really relating to them a lot because the characters were about the polar opposite of me personality and life wise. However, I'm sure a lot of readers could relate because the author writes about these problems that do affect other teens, just not me.
This book is all about horses, as you can probably tell from the title. I've never been one to read about horses. When I was younger, I tried to but I honestly gave up after a while because I would get bored (I'm a fantasy lover so contemporary fiction is not my cup of tea). So this book was a bit hard to get through when it came to the horse terms used in the novel. When the characters were at a competition, they would describe what they were doing and I'd totally zone out and end up skimming the paragraph. So, if you're a horse fanatic, you might understand all the terms and really appreciate this novel. But the good thing about the book is that there wasn't too much of the horse terminology to read about. Yes, there was a bit of it but there wasn't too much that I gave up on the book.
The plot was a little iffy for me. It's something I couldn't identify in the story. Sometimes in other books, the characters will come out and say it throughout the novel but this was not the case. I seriously can't think of it, I'm completely stumped on that. But the plot wasn't really what made me like the book. This book didn't have any real "OMG!" factor, no cliff hangers or real suspense for me (thanks fantasy books, you have desensitized me!). I just found the pace was a good speed and it was interesting to watch the characters grow out of their shells, open their eyes and see the world and life in a different way.
I also found the ending really rushed. I was at the last maybe 30 pages and BOOM, four events happen at once. I seriously think the author just threw in those events to make the last pages not seem boring. Additionally the ending leaves a lot to the imagination (which I despise because my mind comes up with the weirdest things...). Honestly, don't throw those happenings in and leave the reader with no idea what happened afterwards.
So, as you can see this book wasn't my favourite but it was an interesting read. Maybe you will like it better than I did because you love horses, connect to the characters or like the story.
Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars
I thought this book was decent. The author touches on some of the problems that teens deal with today: coming out, over-drinking, absent parents, and people who don't seem to care about anything. Juby tells the story of Alex, a guy who is gay but hasn't come out to anyone and Cleo, a rich chick who hangs around with the wrong crowd. The author writes about their problems while focusing on the sport of dressage, which brings the 2 characters together taking Dressage lessons together. Throughout the story, the characters become friends and begin to become better people.
The author effectively writes about realistic Canadian teenagers in this novel. She manages to create characters that teens can relate to in some way. There is the naive rich girl, Cleo, who seems to do the wrong thing and has parents who are never there(Let me just admit, I did want to slap Cleo in the face at times). There is the gay guy, Alex, who has made himself a social outcast because he is ashamed of himself and his family. While I found both of the characters realistic, nothing about them made me love them. I couldn't even find myself really relating to them a lot because the characters were about the polar opposite of me personality and life wise. However, I'm sure a lot of readers could relate because the author writes about these problems that do affect other teens, just not me.
This book is all about horses, as you can probably tell from the title. I've never been one to read about horses. When I was younger, I tried to but I honestly gave up after a while because I would get bored (I'm a fantasy lover so contemporary fiction is not my cup of tea). So this book was a bit hard to get through when it came to the horse terms used in the novel. When the characters were at a competition, they would describe what they were doing and I'd totally zone out and end up skimming the paragraph. So, if you're a horse fanatic, you might understand all the terms and really appreciate this novel. But the good thing about the book is that there wasn't too much of the horse terminology to read about. Yes, there was a bit of it but there wasn't too much that I gave up on the book.
The plot was a little iffy for me. It's something I couldn't identify in the story. Sometimes in other books, the characters will come out and say it throughout the novel but this was not the case. I seriously can't think of it, I'm completely stumped on that. But the plot wasn't really what made me like the book. This book didn't have any real "OMG!" factor, no cliff hangers or real suspense for me (thanks fantasy books, you have desensitized me!). I just found the pace was a good speed and it was interesting to watch the characters grow out of their shells, open their eyes and see the world and life in a different way.
I also found the ending really rushed. I was at the last maybe 30 pages and BOOM, four events happen at once. I seriously think the author just threw in those events to make the last pages not seem boring. Additionally the ending leaves a lot to the imagination (which I despise because my mind comes up with the weirdest things...). Honestly, don't throw those happenings in and leave the reader with no idea what happened afterwards.
So, as you can see this book wasn't my favourite but it was an interesting read. Maybe you will like it better than I did because you love horses, connect to the characters or like the story.
maidmarianlib's review
3.0
Nice story of a gay boy and a girl finding out about themselves and making life changing decisions as they learn to ride dressage. Characters have good voices but they don't quite feel real. They make changes/choices and you don't feel the motivation. Note some very mild content may not be appropriate for all readers.