Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

60 reviews

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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penguinreads's review against another edition

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Sslloowwwww

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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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lmcarr0314's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-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

3.0

This book was okay, The story itself was good. The multiple POVs in this story were not my favorite and were a little confusing at times for me.

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emjrey's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

An incredible story based around famous racehorse- covering his life just before the US civil war, and later looking back at his life through a story centering researchers and art. It does not shy away from talking about racism and slavery during the historical period but also in the modern setting.
 Thought this was fantastic 

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mariposa517's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.5


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chickaboogawah's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring 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

I loved this book by Geraldine Brooks. She is such a great author, and she skillfully wove the various storylines together. 

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geminireader's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Belongs in the curriculum of education. Incredible and deeply emotional read. It is obvious the author put significant thought and research into this novel and handles the story with such care while also sending a powerful message. 

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mamasuereads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I appreciated the research the author did and I enjoyed learning about the race horse, art history, and the work done behind the scenes at the Smithsonian institutes.  This story was very sad to me and I don't enjoy reading about the past mistreatment of animals and humans knowing that it still exists.

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