Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Horse

A beautifully written story inspired by real life. Slow in the beginning. The dual timelines and multiple pov made it hard to get into at first but it is such a touching story with a very important message. It also blends some of the things I love most, art history and horses.

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bookslumper's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

4.0

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friskreads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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? No

4.25

This is a big-hearted book that on the surface is about a horse, but is really about the complexity of relationships. It drew me in from the first page and immediately immersed me in the world Brooks created, spanning three centuries. A read you'll want to devour. Loved it.

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pandapjays's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Fascinating read, enjoyed the history,the horses and wanted more about the bones.

Spoiler

I felt it lost focus at the end and, while addressing the threat of police violence and the murder of people of colour managed to centre the experience of a white person which was a choice. I think it would have been more interesting, especially given the forays into art and art history to explore how all the art of this black-owned horse made white profits and how horses from his line are the backbone of white dominated sports. These subjects were there in the text but never explored and I wish they had been.

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nora_knight's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

This was a really interesting book. It told the story of horse racing in America and one particular horse in a very moving and interesting way, utilizing characters spanning 200 years. However, it also told a darker story of blackness in America and how rooted horse racing is in slavery. It was a moving, powerful book but the paragraphs and chapters were a bit long for my taste. Additionally, the story was told through many POVs but it would occasionally include other characters' thoughts and feelings during chapters which I found confusing and mostly unnecessary. This is a book that my mother and grandmother read and enjoyed, and it was lovely to discover the same story as two generations of women before me. Beautiful and important.

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mehak16's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative medium-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? No

4.0

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jsant's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad 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

I really enjoyed this book. The audiobook is well done and has multiple narrators, which is a nice experience.

The book had many of my favorite elements:

Recommended to me by someone I know, love and have similar taste to
Historical fiction that flashes between current time and the past
Based on the histories of real people
Has an author's note at the end explaining what was based in fact and what was imagined
Muliltiple story lines that start separate and converge

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dckathleen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

This book broke my heart in a way that's all too real and not what I was expecting at all. The telling of the story in mostly two, occasionally three, storylines is well done. There are themes around race and racism and power which come up repeatedly.

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