Dark Horses

A Novel

De: Susan Mihalic

Narrado por: Alex Allwine

A “sweeping and raw story of courage, resilience, and clear-eyed grace” (Sara Gruen, number one New York Times best-selling author) about a teenage girl’s fierce struggle to reclaim her life from her abusive father in the vein of My Absolute Darling and Room.

Fifteen-year-old equestrian prodigy Roan Montgomery has only ever known two worlds: inside the riding arena, and outside of it. Both, for as long as she can remember, have been ruled by her father, who demands strict obedience in all areas of her life. The warped power dynamic of coach and rider extends far beyond the stables, and Roan’s relationship with her father has long been inappropriate. She has been able to compartmentalize that dark aspect of her life, ruthlessly focusing on her ambitions as a rider heading for the Olympics, just as her father had done. However, her developing relationship with Will Howard, a boy her own age, broadens the scope of her vision.

“[A] heart-pounding, can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it debut novel” (O, The Oprah Magazine), Dark Horses explores the themes of abuse and resilience in a way that will leave you transfixed. This is “a provoking and needed book” (Booklist, starred review).

©2020 Susan Mihalic. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Good story

Power, abuse, and a good horse story. Great character build. Nicest narrated. A dark story, but well crafted.

Gut wrenching but couldn’t stop listening..

Loved the narration, wasn’t over done when switching genders. The story was brutal and beautiful. The author accurately captured horsemanship.

This one will stick with me!

wow! I don't have the words. This story is going to take me a while to process. It's very deep! And painful! Yet, well written. This is not a story for the masses, but I believe it will be impactful for anyone who has suffered and had to learn how to live their own life, not for others, but for themselves. For those who have spent the first 2 decades of their life living to please, and then having to figure out how to live your own life and take control, I believe these readers will relate to this story very much!

Good but...

I gave this four stars yesterday, and something was nagging at me about this book. So I have a few things to say. First. this does not sound like it written in the voice of a. 15/16 year old. Her vocabulary was too mature and it wasn't that believable for me. Second, without giving anything away, there was justice but it left me annoyed and dissatisfied. The main character brushes off the possibility that her father had abused anyone else. Third, I found the main character a little too manipulative and strategic for a 16 year old. And Lastly, I wanted to see her get mental health help, and her lingering issues were just kind of brushed under the rug.

It was still well-written, and kept me listening. But those details bothered me a little too much to give It 5 stars.

Horses

I really like the book despite it not really be about horses...part of the message horses heal people and help theu the hard times

Story Stays with You

This is a dark story that sheds light on how American Women man as God their way through the Dust Bowl and the Depression. Still Relevant today with Climate Change and Immigration. Great Narration. Love the Characters and the Mother Daughter Connection.

Bold & Brutal

Brutal content, but engaging characters. The story is expertly written. Hard to keep going, but impossible to put down. A bold, brilliant author penned this.

As A Survivor:

This was a hard story to get through. It was painful because of how accurate it could be.

The reluctance and resistance of not allowing yourself to process what’s happening to you.

How you feel complicit and at fault even thought youre just a child trying to survive and make life a little bearable.

How isolated and undeserving of love you feel. And how you end up thinking you deserve the abuse you suffer.

The book’s pace might seem a bit lethargic if you’re not familiar with the experience and that’s okay.

My biggest critique would be the ending which is somewhat underwhelming and fails to address exactly what kind of help someone needs after going through all this. I’d like to see people be a little more deliberate in how they portray the aftermath, but it didn’t ruin the book for me in the end.

This also may not be the book for you (as a victim/survivor) if you do not have a support system to lean on at this time. It can be very triggering.

Also—I love the choice of narrator. Allwine has an effortless quality as she switches between characters and gives them not just a distinct sound but distinct cadences. Her male voices lack the strain and monotonous quality that many women narrators can struggle with.

Extremely dark,,,

It's hard to believe this is a debut novel… so dark and unsettling but beautifully written. The writing is raw and at times shocking. It‘s about a young girl who is trapped in an incestuous relationship with her abusive and controlling father and her mother is another kind of horror story. It‘s very intense!

On a side note, I was quite taken with the equestrian side of the story. It was very interesting.

Incredible but Very Dark.

Major trigger warning for survivors of sexual trauma. But, this story, if you can stomach it, is an incredible journey of a young woman learning to take back her life and find healing in a much more elegant way than most people would have. The descriptions of the horse competition life are spot on and the characters are complex and compelling, but very real. This book will keep me up tonight.