A review by jennybeastie
The Night Ride by J. Anderson Coats
4.0
J. Anderson Coats is a really great writer -- her storytelling just flows onto the page. This is a great book for fantasy-focused young readers who have the deep love of horses in their hearts. Even if they don't, it has a fast-paced adventure in an interesting world.
The only criticisms I have -- the world is a bit simplistic -- there's inside the city kingdom, where the horse-mad live, and there's the greenwood full of bandits. While that does get fleshed out and explored to a degree, it very much feels like a kids point of view, where the larger contexts of the rest of the world aren't relevant or visible -- it works for this story, but only if you don't push too hard on the walls. Sonnia is almost painfully naive in parts, but I think that works really well for the story also. Finally, it left me with a burning question: why are the horses in this kingdom so much more important than the people? I don't think that depiction is unrealistic at all, but I love that Coats leaves us to answer that troubling question ourselves.
Really enjoyed it!
Advanced readers copy provided by Edelweiss.
The only criticisms I have -- the world is a bit simplistic -- there's inside the city kingdom, where the horse-mad live, and there's the greenwood full of bandits. While that does get fleshed out and explored to a degree, it very much feels like a kids point of view, where the larger contexts of the rest of the world aren't relevant or visible -- it works for this story, but only if you don't push too hard on the walls. Sonnia is almost painfully naive in parts, but I think that works really well for the story also. Finally, it left me with a burning question: why are the horses in this kingdom so much more important than the people? I don't think that depiction is unrealistic at all, but I love that Coats leaves us to answer that troubling question ourselves.
Really enjoyed it!
Advanced readers copy provided by Edelweiss.