Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Horse

I'm finding it so hard to rate this book.

Based on the summary and my past experience with the author, I figured this would be a resounding 5⭐ read for me. The going was really good, and I loved the writing style. Having multiple narrators made the audiobook so engaging (although the English narrator for Theo has an awful American accent... Lol, sorry).

But... I just... Felt that the ending was SUCH a flop. Maybe I'm spoiled on having happy endings from reading so much romance, I don't know...

Aside from the ending, I mainly have complex feelings on how the topic of race was handled in this book. There was so much detail and sensitivity, and yet... Not a lot of nuance? I know from the Afterword that Brooks really did her research for this book, including having Black early readers, which is good to do. But there were still some parts that felt a little forced. And then (back to my problems with the ending)

to kill Theo off, in a police shooting no less?

Like... Why? I'm not against tragedy in a story, but tragedy that seems to serve no purpose to the plot? Okay, maybe that was the point, since police violence against Black people is so senseless in real life. But I was then made uncomfortable by the focus shifting to Jess's awkward grief and white guilt over the whole thing.

I wish the end hadn't soiled the rest of the book for me, because really it was an interesting, uncommon story, beautifully told. It just needed a stronger finish.

I'm off to look up nonfiction accounts of Black equestrians now!

Content Warnings

kbifolck's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

The Jess/Theo romance and the final plot twist dampened my appreciation for this book. They really took me out of what the author was building and I'm not sure these developments were needed. I think the author could have kept the same trajectory and meaning of the story without those events.

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whiteraven191's review against another edition

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1.0

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clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I have really mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I loved the storyline with Jarrett - it was so richly told and sketched an era of time I don't know much about, from a perspective that is not given much air time. I found the deep diving into 1860s horse racing incredibly fascinating, and I really enjoyed the science aspect of the modern-day storyline. But basically everything else about the modern-day storyline bothered me. Brooks completely forces Jess and Theo together - they have really no chemistry, and I don't really believe they'd have a romantic connection after she had a racist reaction to seeing him standing over what she thought was his bike - and their clashes about their differing backgrounds and perspectives feel incredibly ham-handed and forced. The ending is also completely abrupt, ridiculous, and useless, and really left a bad taste in my mouth.

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jcphillips115's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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elliereads580's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book started out strong, and I really wanted to like this book.

I felt it dragged a lot in the middle and had a twist at the end that I felt was unnecessary.

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bnhunt's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I listened to the audiobook. I struggled getting into this one. The chapters flip between different eras dating pre-civil war to modern day. I liked the storyline of Lexington and would’ve been fine had the storyline only been about him and his trainer. I love that it’s based on a true story and the research that the author did on this. I didn’t love the Jess/Theo plot line because it just seemed forced for the book to have a racial agenda and not authentic to the story.

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vanessagrausam's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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