Scan barcode
aksimplegirl89's review against another edition
5.0
This book had a crazy group on me the entire time I was reading it. The title blurbs are just exactly on point. Loved this book so much.
estellehart's review
dark
mysterious
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
nicjohnston's review against another edition
2.0
It is rare that I plummet to the depths of a 2 star review but I struggled to engage with Sixteen Horses on multiple fronts.
The hook was clever and there were some smart twists along the way. However, the plot is incredibly disjointed. It jumps around, often rambling, but without real purpose or coming together at the end. Much of the prose is overwrought - this isn’t crime literature - this is poorly edited crime fiction. I also have little positive to say about the characters. There wasn’t one that made a real impression on me.
With a strong edit, I would perhaps have enjoyed this more but otherwise, I would not recommend.
The hook was clever and there were some smart twists along the way. However, the plot is incredibly disjointed. It jumps around, often rambling, but without real purpose or coming together at the end. Much of the prose is overwrought - this isn’t crime literature - this is poorly edited crime fiction. I also have little positive to say about the characters. There wasn’t one that made a real impression on me.
With a strong edit, I would perhaps have enjoyed this more but otherwise, I would not recommend.
the_dubious_muse's review against another edition
2.0
Started out well, but the combination of disjointed and sometimes nonsensical prose killed any interest I had in finding out what the mystery was here.
barborak42's review against another edition
1.0
No book should explain the motives and reasonings for a crime in an epilogue, especially not through a dialogue between the investigator and a therapist. That’s just so lazy!! and means that although you can guess who the killer is, you are never given any actual clues and reasons before the “big” reveal.
The beginning was rather promising, and I enjoyed the contemplations on society’s view on animal abuse and how little are these acts punished by law. However, the rest of the book reads like a prelude - and I couldn’t help thinking this will be a first book in a series about a quirky crime investigator who is not a police officer but a vet.
The beginning was rather promising, and I enjoyed the contemplations on society’s view on animal abuse and how little are these acts punished by law. However, the rest of the book reads like a prelude - and I couldn’t help thinking this will be a first book in a series about a quirky crime investigator who is not a police officer but a vet.
prestonj662's review
4.0
Sixteen Horses is like something that has a slow release. Careful plotting has taken place releasing only so much of the story line at a time. Interesting patient denouement. The discovery of the horses at the beginning is truly shocking but that isn’t the worst of it. An interesting new role of Forensic Veterinarian is introduced and it is Cooper Allen in it that continues throughout the narrative. One of the messages of hers and that of one of the vet characters is that their role as vets is to save animals from their owners more than just save them given the cruelties some owners bestow on their pets.
There is a steady pace like a horse walking along and then a final canter so to speak. As a novel by a debut author the prose is mature and not niave as sometimes found in first novels.
Would recommend highly.
There is a steady pace like a horse walking along and then a final canter so to speak. As a novel by a debut author the prose is mature and not niave as sometimes found in first novels.
Would recommend highly.
h4nn4h25's review
1.0
if i hadn’t borrowed this book, i would have set it on fire once i’d finished it. i hate you, greg buchanan.
colleen987's review against another edition
4.0
With thanks to Greg Buchanan and Pan Macmillan for an advanced readers copy of this book.
I've thought about this review for a long time and I can't cant fine a better word than uncomfortable. This book made be incredibly uncomfortable.
The writing is fantastic, dream like and almost lyrical. The story itself is gripping driven by a pair of really interesting and well developed main characters (Forensic vets! who knew they were a thing!). The setting itself of a struggling seaside town really helps to set the atmosphere. However there is a lot of animal cruelty in this book, and its very graphic in places, I'm not usually bothered by violence in a book but this really stopped me from getting as lost as I could have been in it.
I've thought about this review for a long time and I can't cant fine a better word than uncomfortable. This book made be incredibly uncomfortable.
The writing is fantastic, dream like and almost lyrical. The story itself is gripping driven by a pair of really interesting and well developed main characters (Forensic vets! who knew they were a thing!). The setting itself of a struggling seaside town really helps to set the atmosphere. However there is a lot of animal cruelty in this book, and its very graphic in places, I'm not usually bothered by violence in a book but this really stopped me from getting as lost as I could have been in it.