nerfherder86's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent teen novel about being a jockey in England. Jay (Jasmine) leaves her life with her uncle, who had her riding in dodgy "pony" races so that he could win by gambling on her, to try being a real jockey in Newmarket, England's mecca for horse racing. Taken on as a stable "lad" (even the girl stablehands are called lads, although they are few and far between) in a small stable where the trainer's wife is secretly the brains behind the operation (again, a primarily male-dominated and often chauvinistic industry), Jay deals with bullying from the other lads, but stands up to them and gradually forms a bond with the barn's resident "bad" horse, the ornery misunderstood mare named Manhattan. Jay also becomes a reluctant spy for her uncle, who desperately needs insider tips to keep his gambling debts from burying him. Suspense builds as Jay becomes a better rider and is asked to ride Manhattan in races, but to use tactics she knows won't work on this particular horse. And how long can she keep up the spying before getting caught and ruining everything she's worked so hard for? Excellent horse book written by an amateur jockey who knows his way around horses and racing, so there are lots of good details about horse care and riding, and well-written race scenes. I especially liked the lack of a romantic subplot, which is often de rigueur in these kinds of books for girls, but not always what you want in a good horse novel.
emma1521's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
amdame1's review against another edition
3.0
Jay lives with her aunt and uncle and their daughter at their stables. Usually Jay and her cousin Michaela are best friends, sharing a love of horses and racing. As they grow older, they get more distant and relations with her uncle, always tense, get worse as he tries to manipulate Jay and her horse jockey abilities to make some illegal money. Jay runs away and finds work at another stable where she falls in love with a misfit horse who has a lot of potential beneath his misunderstood and possibly dangerous exterior.
I liked the plucky girl character and all things horse. However, I don't have enough horse knowledge to know if the horse elements were accurate or not. They reminded me a lot of Dick Francis novels, though. Set in England.
I liked the plucky girl character and all things horse. However, I don't have enough horse knowledge to know if the horse elements were accurate or not. They reminded me a lot of Dick Francis novels, though. Set in England.
jill_rey's review against another edition
4.0
Racing Manhattan is a young adult novel mixing the underdog story of Seabiscuit with hints of a modern Cinderella.
Jay Barton is forced to live with an uncle she barely knows upon losing her mother to cancer. Her wealthy uncle introduces her to the sport of horse racing, where she quickly begins spending all her time amongst the horses. Feeling like the outsider, Jay runs off to become a “lad” taking care of the horses and learning the ropes of becoming a jockey. One horse in particular, Manhattan, draws Jay in. Manhattan is an untamed beast, towering over the other horses. Kept separate from the others, one lad impatiently attends to Manhattan. Quickly, Jay forms a bond with the wild horse as she fights to save Manhattan’s life and show her owner she’s every bit the strong bloodline he first envisioned her to be.
As an added bonus I loved the female twist on a predominately male sport. Blacker pens a modern Seabiscuit, Cinderella story perfect for horse fans or non-horse fans alike.
For the full review, please visit: https://fortheloveofthepageblog.wordpress.com/
*A review copy of this book was provided to me via the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Jay Barton is forced to live with an uncle she barely knows upon losing her mother to cancer. Her wealthy uncle introduces her to the sport of horse racing, where she quickly begins spending all her time amongst the horses. Feeling like the outsider, Jay runs off to become a “lad” taking care of the horses and learning the ropes of becoming a jockey. One horse in particular, Manhattan, draws Jay in. Manhattan is an untamed beast, towering over the other horses. Kept separate from the others, one lad impatiently attends to Manhattan. Quickly, Jay forms a bond with the wild horse as she fights to save Manhattan’s life and show her owner she’s every bit the strong bloodline he first envisioned her to be.
As an added bonus I loved the female twist on a predominately male sport. Blacker pens a modern Seabiscuit, Cinderella story perfect for horse fans or non-horse fans alike.
For the full review, please visit: https://fortheloveofthepageblog.wordpress.com/
*A review copy of this book was provided to me via the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
wordsofclover's review against another edition
5.0
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Jay lives with Uncle Bill, Step-Aunt Elaine and cousin and 'sometimes best friend' Michaela and all she really loves in life is horses. Following success in the illegal horse tracks, Jay runs away from the home she never felt she belonged in and becomes a 'lad' in a racing stables. Soon Jay meets Manhattan, a grumpy no-hoper mare who just needs a little bit of love. Soon Jay and Manhattan are a team to be reckoned with as Jay tries to prove to everyone that Manhattan is worth saving.
I LOVED this. It was a perfect mix of National Velvet, Blind Beauty and Seabiscuit. Jay is the typical trope of the no-hope teenager trying to find her way but I really enjoyed her own struggles with becoming a respected member of the yard. This book had a strong emphasis on a female lad/jockey trying to make her way in the racing world and we really see examples of the kind of sexism and sexist comments Jay faced while in the yard and when trying to be a jockey. The fact that Manhattan's owner, Prince Muqrib, had so much trouble in Saudi Arabia over the fact he was letting a female jockey ride his horse was very interesting and I felt it to be really realistic as well. Mrs Wilkinson's efforts in the stables and the horse training (and how she was talked about by the male lads) was also a great point. I had always suspected she was something more and to see her being disrespected as a 'busybody woman' when she knew more than everyone was annoying, yet I can see it happening in everyday life.
This book had more about jockey training with Jay's brief stint in jockey school and I really loved experiencing that with her. Considering this book is very focused on Hay being a female in a typically male world, I think I could have done with Jay having some stronger connections towards the other female characters in the book - forging a better friendship with Laura, a little more interaction with Auntie other than the 2-3 scenes we did get and while her relationship with Michaela did improve, there could have been just a bit more. I felt like Jay had a definite distance with pretty much every character in the book, who wasn't a horse.
I LOVED the ending, I was pretty much cheering Jay and Manhattan on and then the very, every end with Hat's fat belly, I felt like squealing. I don't know if there will be any more books about Jay and her racing adventures but I would definitely read them or at least read more of Terence's horsey books. The effort that went into describing everything in detail and the history of the racing and horses was terrific.
Jay lives with Uncle Bill, Step-Aunt Elaine and cousin and 'sometimes best friend' Michaela and all she really loves in life is horses. Following success in the illegal horse tracks, Jay runs away from the home she never felt she belonged in and becomes a 'lad' in a racing stables. Soon Jay meets Manhattan, a grumpy no-hoper mare who just needs a little bit of love. Soon Jay and Manhattan are a team to be reckoned with as Jay tries to prove to everyone that Manhattan is worth saving.
I LOVED this. It was a perfect mix of National Velvet, Blind Beauty and Seabiscuit. Jay is the typical trope of the no-hope teenager trying to find her way but I really enjoyed her own struggles with becoming a respected member of the yard. This book had a strong emphasis on a female lad/jockey trying to make her way in the racing world and we really see examples of the kind of sexism and sexist comments Jay faced while in the yard and when trying to be a jockey. The fact that Manhattan's owner, Prince Muqrib, had so much trouble in Saudi Arabia over the fact he was letting a female jockey ride his horse was very interesting and I felt it to be really realistic as well. Mrs Wilkinson's efforts in the stables and the horse training (and how she was talked about by the male lads) was also a great point. I had always suspected she was something more and to see her being disrespected as a 'busybody woman' when she knew more than everyone was annoying, yet I can see it happening in everyday life.
This book had more about jockey training with Jay's brief stint in jockey school and I really loved experiencing that with her. Considering this book is very focused on Hay being a female in a typically male world, I think I could have done with Jay having some stronger connections towards the other female characters in the book - forging a better friendship with Laura, a little more interaction with Auntie other than the 2-3 scenes we did get and while her relationship with Michaela did improve, there could have been just a bit more. I felt like Jay had a definite distance with pretty much every character in the book, who wasn't a horse.
I LOVED the ending, I was pretty much cheering Jay and Manhattan on and then the very, every end with Hat's fat belly, I felt like squealing. I don't know if there will be any more books about Jay and her racing adventures but I would definitely read them or at least read more of Terence's horsey books. The effort that went into describing everything in detail and the history of the racing and horses was terrific.
khisle's review against another edition
1.0
I couldn’t get past the weird writing style of this books to see anything else. It almost wants to be free verse because it has 3-4 stanza lines at the end of each chapter after the prose. It also had them interspersed through the text in a couple key moments which totally took me out of the story. It also was a lot of telling and very little showing. For instance, instead of showing character traits it put a couple facts about them in parenthesis after two newly introduced characters. There was a lot of explaining done by the main character in the beginning with very little descriptions or compelling features. I got boarded listening to her inner voice tell me things. This is a horse racing book but the first race lacked suspense and I didn’t get the same atmosphere I’ve seen in other racing books I have liked. This was a big miss for me
nce14210's review
4.0
Great story of a girl and a horse. I enjoyed the relationship she had with the horses. I worried for her as problems beset her. I couldn't turn pages fast enough during the races. I was glad to see her growth as a person and her development of a forgiving nature. A very fun book. I would highly recommend. I won my copy from LibraryThing and am grateful to the publisher for the gift.