Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Horse

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

29 reviews

calamitydeeds's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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menglert's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I usually love this kind of historical fiction/timeline switching/multiple POV parallelism, but this one didn't totally click for me. Some of the POV choices were a bit confusing, with some characters only having only one or two chapters.

I think the core of this book was quite effective at examining themes of racism in America's past and present, so it could be worth the read for that.

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megan_martha_reads's review against another edition

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challenging informative sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Opened my eyes to horse racing and the role of enslaved people in building that industry in the US. Beautifully written but heavy. As someone who does not have any interest in horses or racing still was sucked in.

Spent a lot of time after googling equestrian art.

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bendercath's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book completely captivated me. So many passages just took my breath away. I don’t always love bouncing timelines but this one worked. However, the ending was

quite abrupt and shocking to me. I really hated that Theo was killed. What if the author had chosen a different ending … he could have been accused and maybe even beaten by an officer … but shot in cold blood while in a defenseless stance? I found Jess’ fascination with skeletons to be so symbolic … like she was literally learning about creatures from the inside out. What if that would have been a metaphor for her understanding of racism? Did the author intend to kill off any hope that Theo could contribute to Black scholarship? That part just did not compute. <\spoiler> reading about Jarrett … his intelligence, his love of horses, his expertise and insight into horses and humans … all of it was so beautiful. One cringey section was the romanticization of his time picking cotton in the fields. No way in hell should that have been portrayed so wistfully, as if he were somehow better after being subjected to such brutality.
I have read many articles and heard interviews about Geraldine Brooks being white and writing about Black characters and racism. I am sensitive to that and want to learn more about her perspective. This book definitely got me thinking a lot.

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king_rune's review against another edition

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emotional informative 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

4.75

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creativerunnings's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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fifteenthjessica's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Horse weaves together two and a half story lines together across three different centuries, using the famous nineteenth century stallion Lexington as inspiration. The first (and my favorite) follows the life of the horse Lexington, primarily through the eyes of artist/Civil War soldier Thomas J. Scott who produced the most famous painting of Lexington, and Jarret, a fictional character based on an enslaved groom in one of those paintings. The second follows two modern young adults, Theo and Jess, as their work as an art historian and scientist at the Smithsonian brings them together into a project and a budding relationship. The last one is a handful of chapters that tries to answer the question as to why mid-20th century art gallery owner Martha Jackson had one of Scott's oil paintings of Lexington in her collection, which focused primarily on abstract art by her contemporaries. Throughout the story, there is also an exploration of the way people mistreat other humans and horses. I don't think these storylines are of equal quality. Jarret's life story was far more compelling and poignant than Theo and Jess's, especially when their plotline shifts from their research projects to their beginning relationship. Martha was interesting, but she could have ended up on the cutting room floor without much lost to the overarching plot and themes.

Geraldine Brooks definitely did her research while working on this and can create interesting characters as well as poignant imagery. Characters are complex and not necessarily likable. Jarret is my favorite of the PoV characters, and I enjoy his arc from acceptance of his fate to a determination to make his best life, as well as his attempts to show kindness when he can. A lot of historical fiction that comment on modern day issues tend to focus on more rebellious protagonists, and I like that Brooks made a compelling character within the reality that many people, unfortunately, can be accepting of unfair systems, even if they are the ones who are crushed by it. Another strength of Jarret's plotline is that all of the major white characters, including Scott, both oppose and are complicit with different aspects of life in the antebellum South. The modern cast features many dorks that are enjoyable because of their passions.

The book is not perfect. It talks a lot about racism in multiple points of American history, but African American women are almost exclusively relegated to bit roles as love interests. I'm not sure how to fix this (maybe tell Martha's story through the eyes of Annie, the maid whose family had inherited the painting?). Theo's justified resentment of racism paired with his utter lack of self awareness about how his parents' wealth sheltered him from some of the worst parts can be grating, and attempts to address this flaw fell flat for me.

His death in the third act also feels like it's more about shocking than a satisfying conclusion for his and Jess's arcs, but it is a good illustration of how far society has to go that the modern characters' arc has a more depressing end than the arc that heavily features slavery.

It is also has a rough first chapter that is a case study on why relatability in characters is not as important as resonance.

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