A review by threeseagrass
Dark Horses by Cecily Von Ziegesar
3.0
If it hadn't have been for the last 20%, this book would have been a 4-star read for me.
Told from the dual perspectives of Merritt and her horse Red, [b:Dark Horses] is a really beautiful story of friendship and growth. Until about 80% through the book when it brings in some apparently obligatory YA tropes that I thought I had escaped. Instalove? Check. Damaged girl who continues to relapse? Check. Absent parents? Check. Though this last one was present throughout the entire book.
Needless to say, I went from elated - I couldn't seriously imagine enjoying a book co-narrated by a horse - to angry and disappointed. After a certain incident, it seemed that the author decided to just continue on with the traditional YA story line. There was a lot of opportunity to do something different here. Rather than explore sexuality, the author gets rid of a character that might have made out main character unique and add some much needed diversity to the story. Similarly, characters suddenly became one-dimensional and suddenly we're back to guy meets girl, falls for girl, something tragic happens, exchange of "I love you's", etc.
I want to rate this at 2-stars just because of all of that, but I enjoyed the first 80% so much that I couldn't do it. Consider this a warning: read at your own risk - you may not hate the ending as much as I did and it's definitely worth it to be inside Red's head (that is, for the first 80% of the novel).
Told from the dual perspectives of Merritt and her horse Red, [b:Dark Horses] is a really beautiful story of friendship and growth. Until about 80% through the book when it brings in some apparently obligatory YA tropes that I thought I had escaped. Instalove? Check. Damaged girl who continues to relapse? Check. Absent parents? Check. Though this last one was present throughout the entire book.
Needless to say, I went from elated - I couldn't seriously imagine enjoying a book co-narrated by a horse - to angry and disappointed. After a certain incident
Spoiler
Beatrice's deathI want to rate this at 2-stars just because of all of that, but I enjoyed the first 80% so much that I couldn't do it. Consider this a warning: read at your own risk - you may not hate the ending as much as I did and it's definitely worth it to be inside Red's head (that is, for the first 80% of the novel).