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A review by santorinirivera
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
2.0
I really wanted to love this book because I love horses, and I have always loved reading stories about them. It’s okay if you don’t mind lost of description, but I was disappointed.
The pace was so incredibly slow that I was worried I would never finish this book. It dragged because of the amount of description coupled with problems with the plot. I understand why so much description was used because it does make you feel as if you are actually on a ranch in Wyoming, but I am much more of a dialog person, and I find it difficult to tolerate pages upon pages of long-winded descriptions. The problems I had with the plot were pretty straightforward. We all know the basic premise of this book. It’s about a horse named Flicka who becomes Ken’s friend. The problem I had was if we all basically know what is going to happen, then why don’t we actually encounter the horse until almost halfway through the novel? I was frustrated with this because I knew this thing was going to happen, but as I got to page 100, it still didn’t happen yet. Everything else was set up perfectly, and it took forever to finally get the story moving along.
I wasn’t a big fan of Ken’s father, and not just in the “he-is-the-father-putting-too-much-pressure-on-his-son-way.” I found his character flip-flop a lot throughout the story. At first he didn’t want to help Ken, then he did, then he didn’t again, etc. It was very confusing because there was no basis given for him to be changing his opinions and actions like that.
I did like Ken’s character though. He seemed almost imaginary; as if he wasn’t real, but he was someone I could sympathize with and root for until the end. I admired the hope and determination, but this couldn’t make up for the rest of the book.
The pace was so incredibly slow that I was worried I would never finish this book. It dragged because of the amount of description coupled with problems with the plot. I understand why so much description was used because it does make you feel as if you are actually on a ranch in Wyoming, but I am much more of a dialog person, and I find it difficult to tolerate pages upon pages of long-winded descriptions. The problems I had with the plot were pretty straightforward. We all know the basic premise of this book. It’s about a horse named Flicka who becomes Ken’s friend. The problem I had was if we all basically know what is going to happen, then why don’t we actually encounter the horse until almost halfway through the novel? I was frustrated with this because I knew this thing was going to happen, but as I got to page 100, it still didn’t happen yet. Everything else was set up perfectly, and it took forever to finally get the story moving along.
I wasn’t a big fan of Ken’s father, and not just in the “he-is-the-father-putting-too-much-pressure-on-his-son-way.” I found his character flip-flop a lot throughout the story. At first he didn’t want to help Ken, then he did, then he didn’t again, etc. It was very confusing because there was no basis given for him to be changing his opinions and actions like that.
I did like Ken’s character though. He seemed almost imaginary; as if he wasn’t real, but he was someone I could sympathize with and root for until the end. I admired the hope and determination, but this couldn’t make up for the rest of the book.