Reviews with content warning for Death - Usborne Illustrated Originals Black Beauty

I remember starting this when I was kid, as my grandparents collected these deals in the newspaper where each week you could use the token to collect one of their classics. It was such a cute promotion to get people reading, and I never for the life of me know what I did with that bag of classics!

Anyway, memory over, it was time to get back to Black Beauty and hear the story of a horse, from youth to his forever home.

This was such an emotional story (I don't know how I didn't cry!). Black Beauty had been through so many hands, some highlighting the cruelty of people, whilst others showing the kindness the world can offer. He experienced it all and really had my heart in a vice grip.

Ginger's story within in Black Beauty's account was heartbreaking. Treated roughly from the start and passed from cruelty to cruelty, my heart ached for her.

What a beautiful classic. I don't think I can eloquently present my thoughts for this one, but it was wonderful.

Content Warnings

saintmare's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

readertate's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

chelseamayxxx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This is such a classic read and I really enjoyed reading it but I did found it slow to read and some parts of the book did bore me and didn’t grasp my interest at all. I can appreciate the story behind black beauty and I can appreciate how it’s told and how it’s written. I really didn’t like the animal cruelty in this book at all and I found that very hard hitting to read. The way the story is told is done really well and told in so much detail. Overall it was a okay read, xx

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bookishlybecca's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

scottyreadsstuff's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

As a child, I started Black Beauty a few times but never finished it. I’m definitely glad I finally did! Overall, it’s a very good story! It was rather preachy about animal rights and religion (funnily enough, and this is coming from someone very religious). Then again, not only was that the point Anna Sewell was making when writing; but also, that was the convention for the time - especially for a children’s book.

If you’re interested in a good horse story and don’t mind the not-so-subtle activism, I’d recommend Black Beauty! :)

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