Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

46 reviews

mamasuereads's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, and Grief

mood_124's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.75

Gripped my heart rooting for Jarret and Lexington, whilst discovering the story alongside Jess and Theo. Martha was the perfect connection between the two settings!
Ending tore my heart, what an amazing story definitely worth the read!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: Animal death and Death

Minor: War

mlander's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Minor: Murder

hollyluia's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

authemmie's review against another edition

emotional informative tense slow-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, and Murder

ahorowitz25's review against another edition

informative

4.5

As a lifelong horse girl, I loved the way Brooks wrote about the horses and their people. I just couldn’t give the book five stars, however, because Jess and Theo’s relationship was just so awkward and totally unnecessary to the plot.

There was no reason it was necessary for Theo to be killed at the end, and it really distracted from Jarret and Lexington’s story — which is what I picked up the book for.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Death of parent, and War

booksandbabble's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Police brutality

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Sexual assault and Pandemic/Epidemic

menglert's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Grief, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and War

megan_martha_reads's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Animal death

melissabristol's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

The only thing I thought was less than ideal was the ending.  Sending Jess back to Australia felt like a bit of a way to avoid harder questions about where her relationship with Theo was going and the interracial dating issues that would have been raised there.  I don't deny that, sadly, Theo getting shot was a realistic outcome (see, e.g., Ahmed Aubrey, RIP), but I felt that it was in some ways throwing a HUGE issue in without really having time to discuss it.  It could have been a book of its own.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism