A review by jourdanicus
Horse by Geraldine Brooks

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I'm finding it so hard to rate this book. 

Based on the summary and my past experience with the author, I figured this would be a resounding 5⭐ read for me. The going was really good, and I loved the writing style. Having multiple narrators made the audiobook so engaging (although the English narrator for Theo has an awful American accent... Lol, sorry).

But... I just... Felt that the ending was SUCH a flop. Maybe I'm spoiled on having happy endings from reading so much romance, I don't know...

Aside from the ending, I mainly have complex feelings on how the topic of race was handled in this book. There was so much detail and sensitivity, and yet... Not a lot of nuance? I know from the Afterword that Brooks really did her research for this book, including having Black early readers, which is good to do. But there were still some parts that felt a little forced. And then (back to my problems with the ending)
to kill Theo off, in a police shooting no less?
Like... Why? I'm not against tragedy in a story, but tragedy that seems to serve no purpose to the plot? Okay, maybe that was the point, since police violence against Black people is so senseless in real life. But I was then made uncomfortable by the focus shifting to Jess's awkward grief and white guilt over the whole thing.

I wish the end hadn't soiled the rest of the book for me, because really it was an interesting, uncommon story, beautifully told. It just needed a stronger finish.

I'm off to look up nonfiction accounts of Black equestrians now!
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