Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Pages: 344
Published: February 16th, 2021
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Synopsis:
I feel that this book should really come with a trigger warning, so I am giving it to you here:
Content Warning: This book involves themes that may be triggering or upsetting to some, including sexual assault and child abuse.
Roan Montgomery grew up riding horses. Under the coaching of her highly-accomplished father, she has become teenage prodigy destined to compete at the Olympics one day. But her father commands every aspect of her life, in and outside the arena. Their inappropriate relationship forced upon her from an early age and continued through use of force and manipulation. Roan has done her best to cling to the good parts of her life that her father has provided, namely the horses, but she is struggling to focus her ambition on riding and winning. But when she meets a boy, Will Howard, she begins to see her father as what he truly is, an abuser.
Review:
To be honest, I’m still not really sure how I feel about this book.
It was haunting, and a little disturbing.
I understand the importance of bringing stories like these to light because the unfortunate reality is that these things happen more frequently than we probably realize.
And it is an important topic of discussion for these victims to feel heard and understood. But damn, this was a tough book to get through.
As a lifelong horse owner, I really enjoyed the equine aspect of the story, which is the reason I picked this book up in the first place.
I have to congratulate on the fact that she did amazing research into the world of eventing, competing, breeding, and the inner workings of top tier stable facilities.
I didn’t really have any other expectations going into this book, and I only have myself to blame for not reading more of the synopsis, but I was definitely not expecting something to this level of grotesqueness.
And, wow, was it intense.
I did like her writing style and it did evoke emotions from me as I felt a deep sympathy for the protagonist and her friend.
I think she did a good job of showing what it is like from the victim’s perspective and how difficult and complex the situation can be.
Many people wonder why some individuals don’t just walk away from these situations and I think this book does a good job of explaining how complicated that can be sometimes.
“Anger curled up in my tight constricted heart. I held on to it. I had to. If I ever released it, it would obliterate everything.”
I didn’t feel like any one got due justice by the end of the story, at least not any that they deserved.
For that reason I can’t say I enjoyed the conclusion, which made the story as a whole even more tragic to me.
I’m not sure I can honestly recommend this book, just safely because the themes are so dark and horrifying.
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