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sarahbc93_'s review against another edition
4.0
It’s always slightly jarring when you realise you’ve been reading a book from the point of view of a horse, but at the end of the day, it is a beautiful story. It’s beautifully written, and there are passages where it is very emotional.
The story follows the life of one particular horse; Black Beauty and his journey between different masters and the life that he had with each of them. It details the work that he did, the environment that he lived in and the treatment that he received.
There are a lot of descriptions of the good and kind masters that he had, as well as of the mean and cruel masters. They always seem to come one after the other, so it feels a bit like a see-saw between good and bad.
You can definitely see Sewell’s love for horses and her desire to seem them treated humanely in this book. Any description of the treatment that the horses receive, even if it’s a good treatment, always has the negative flip side that it could be a whole lot worse for them. Sewell seems to be suggesting that the horses know enough about their surroundings and the work to know that they deserve better treatment, and I can’t think of a better way to get the character to emotionally connect with the reader than that.
The story follows the life of one particular horse; Black Beauty and his journey between different masters and the life that he had with each of them. It details the work that he did, the environment that he lived in and the treatment that he received.
There are a lot of descriptions of the good and kind masters that he had, as well as of the mean and cruel masters. They always seem to come one after the other, so it feels a bit like a see-saw between good and bad.
You can definitely see Sewell’s love for horses and her desire to seem them treated humanely in this book. Any description of the treatment that the horses receive, even if it’s a good treatment, always has the negative flip side that it could be a whole lot worse for them. Sewell seems to be suggesting that the horses know enough about their surroundings and the work to know that they deserve better treatment, and I can’t think of a better way to get the character to emotionally connect with the reader than that.
phoenix_is_gross's review against another edition
3.0
I remember reading this over and over again as a little girl. It is such a sweet story.
merritxreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
amandamiller's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
leanne0116's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ellethefantasyqueen's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. For whatever reason I didn't know it was told from the perspective of the horse so that was very confusing to me at the start haha. But I did really enjoy this book. It is written in an easy enough way to understand and shows how cruel humans can be. I have never read a horse book before, I was never really a horse girl but I think this did justice to it. It did remind me of Animal Farm but I think that's just because talking animals and humans = bad. I did appreciate the characters who were nice to the horses
milenasbookshop's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-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
5.0
The 1994 film was a big influence on me as a child. Reading the book did not disappoint. It’s as intelligent, emotional and accessible as I hoped.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty
danelleeb's review against another edition
5.0
Black Beauty is a sort of autobiographical memoir told by the title's namesake, a horse. His life begins in a very carefree sort of way - frockling in meadows, living on a farm with his mother, and being carefully trained by a kind man. His story continues as he is bought and sold numerous times and he explains the hardships and struggles he encounters and witnesses. Towards the end of his story, the conditions among the horse-drawn taxi cabs in London is discussed pretty extensively - for both the drivers and the animals.
Though the book was written in 1877, it is still relevant today. It's just a wonderful text illustrating how to treat others (people and animals) with kindness, compassion, and respect.
"...there is no religion without love. People may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham - all a sham." (p.67)
"My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and yet do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt." (p.161)
"An election is a very serious thing; at least it ought to be, and every man ought to vote according to his conscience and let his neighbor do the same." (p.171)
Though the book was written in 1877, it is still relevant today. It's just a wonderful text illustrating how to treat others (people and animals) with kindness, compassion, and respect.
"...there is no religion without love. People may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham - all a sham." (p.67)
"My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and yet do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt." (p.161)
"An election is a very serious thing; at least it ought to be, and every man ought to vote according to his conscience and let his neighbor do the same." (p.171)