Degenerate Chemist’s review of Horse > Likes and Comments

While some reviews are upset about the social issues, I felt like Theo wasn’t treated like a real person but a sort of paradigm of “good blacks” which is underscored by his being sacrificed at the end so his white girlfriend can have her eyes opened. He really had very little to do with the horse’s story.

I will admit that I didn't make it that far but the fact it ended that way doesn't surprise me. The trope is pretty common in literature and is incredibly racist- so Theo is a 'magical negro' character.

Awful ending. Very contrived. It made no sense.

I only got 49 pages in. I already disliked Jess, on top of other issues with the writing and the way the time-hopping was used. It had all the vibes you described, and I’m so not surprised to see that they all came to fruition. I so don’t understand the hype unless maybe people love horses so much that the subject automatically draws them in? Maybe if it was just the story of the past, just left at that, and the paintings found at the end.

Hated this book—I thought the writing was forced and held no beauty. And yes, all the racial references were cringy and off. Glad I’m not the only one :)

1000000% agree. I also gave it 1 star for all the reasons you listed. I’m incredibly confused why Brooks felt like this was a story she even needed to tell. I actually laughed out loud when she tried to also weave in Covid!? If I learned anything from this book, it’s to save my time from ever reading black historical fiction written by non black authors again.

Thanks for this review. I am 25% of the way into this book, and while I like the horses, I'm cringing at the way Brooks missteps (and oversteps) in her depiction of the Black characters. I just can't get past the hubris of a white woman writing from Jarret's or Theo's POV.

I so agree!!! if you really want to see it done well, read hell of a book or sing unburied sing. I found march to be cringe foe the same reason!

I agree. The contemporary story felt awkward and poorly researched. The mention of the Ta-Nehisi Coates “article” and not his writings or books. It felt like that was the only thing she had read on the subject.

I think I need to read this book to see how bad it is…

I agree with your review!!!!!!

Brooks set out to write a book about this horse who was a celebrity in his day, and largely unknown now. As she learned more about his story, it became obvious that she couldn’t leave out race. The story of the bones is an important one, and in an interview (PBS NewHour) she says she couldn’t go to the present day and just leave race behind. Others have criticized her depth of characterization of Theo and Jess, and I agree that they did not seem quite as real as Jarrett, who reminded me of real people I have known when I used to be around horses.

What is POV of POC?

POV of POC is point of view of a person of color

Interesting review. Am about to start it

I felt the same way. It’s like OMG you found out about race while researching about an Antebellum celebrity Horse..um..duh…I kept think what does a boomer aged white woman know about POV from POC…nothing and it shows. This book was so embarrassing to me a quarter of the way thru I had to stop. I just Wikipedia the rest and moved on.

You comment that this novel is far more of a horse book, while the book IS called Horse.
That aside, I completely agree with your paragraph about Jess and Theo.

Valerie,

Just wait until you get around to reading "Catcher in the Rye." It is, in fact, not about a baseball game in a wheat field.

This book was marketed as an exploration of race relations which is why I made the comment. There will be people who pick this up thinking it has something interesting to say about race in the US.

Although I am a white woman, I do think that your thought that this a book about race written by white women for other white women is pretty much perfect. For some reason that I can't quite identify, I found it a slog.

SPOT. ON. I just finished it and I’m just… baffled by the entire book. I have no idea how it got to print, let alone be considered one of the great books of the year. At first I thought I was overreacting to how much I disliked it, but then I reached the final 50 pages and felt it was very much justified, lol.

Your comment of “this is a book about race written by a white woman for other white women” is 100% correct.

How has it gotten so many good reviews?

Julia,

My thoughts on this-Brooks wrote beautifully for her target audience. If this had remained just a horse book there wouldn't have been any issues.

The problem comes from the ham handed way she addressed the popular social issues of the day. These sections were painful to read and felt like they were tacked on to make the book more marketable. Brooks was absolutely not qualified to write about race or interracial relationships in any meaningful way.

The positive reviews are coming from the people for whom this book was written.

I agree completely!!!

I laughed outload and cheered you on throughout your review! I got so tired of hearing Theo's inner voice. I mean, what was Brooks' point? To point out that we haven't progressed much since the days of slavery?

Spot on review indeed. I rated 3 stars as I love the thoroughbred breed which is all I wanted to read about. Authors today have to tick every sexual,social,racial,revisionist,guilty box or they don't get published. I found it hilarious that Brooks herself is whiter than me but thinks she can write about a modern black man ( who reads like a cross between Bridgerton and maybe a Prince Harry pal. Wth?) Thanks for a well written witty review!

A particularly odious septuagenarian I know recently said how much she loved this book. Given that her status quo on issues surrounding race leaves a LOT to be desired, I decided I didn’t want to read it but was interested in the thoughts of others.

Now I’m cackling in delight at your review. Thanks for affirming my choice!

You said this so much better than I expressed in my review. I did love the book, but for the horse story. I found the racial elements to be so stereotypical that it was painful. Yes, I am a middle aged white woman, but even I recognize a cliche when I see it. Brooks tried way to heard to express something she has only seen from the outside.

I enjoyed this book because it focused on historical elements intertwined with fiction (ie a story). It revealed an insight into a time in the US and highlighted how appalling slavery was and always will be! The intertwining of all Brook’s carefully crafted elements switching from past to present with the bones research and the famous horse Lexington kept my interest and I found it fascinating and informative - something a bit different from the norm.

I think some of the reviews above have got all hot and bothered about the race element ignoring the greatness of the book as a whole. Yes I agree the Theo and Tess relationship part did become very cliched and a bit icky in its approach particularly towards as it progressed but it did highlight the issues which are still very real!

Overall I took a lot away from this book and I am glad I read it.

Great author.

Kathryn,

Is there a reason you decided to post this here rather than write your own review?

I am a white woman and I would be bothered by what you wrote here. Not to say that all POC write well about POC.

I have an issue with some (read most) of book club historical fiction. The writing is lazy, cliched, overly romanticized or dramatized. I am sometimes baffled by their success. Oh well, I am not the target audience, it seems.

I think you should have read the whole book before you critique.

100% !! She is too mediocre of a writer to fully-realize characters that have practically the same lived experience as her-- trying to stretch to the Black experience was never going to work, ugh! Of course she got a pulitzer 🙃

Could not agree with you more. With any luck this will be the worst book I read all year. Curious if you've read The Sport of Kings and, if so, what you thought of it by comparison?

As a white, middle-aged woman, I am offended and appalled at your review.

Kate wrote: "I think you should have read the whole book before you critique."

Its been long enough since I've read this book that I don't actually remember all that much about it other than the deep desire I felt to feed Jess feet first through a wood chipper. Does this happen in the book? If it does I will gladly go back and read the last 100ish pages just to experience that glorious moment.

Brigitte wrote: "100% !! She is too mediocre of a writer to fully-realize characters that have practically the same lived experience as her-- trying to stretch to the Black experience was never going to work, ugh! ..."

She really is just mediocre. I am trying to figure out why she is so popular. I have read Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction that was better written and more thoughtful.

Adam wrote: "Could not agree with you more. With any luck this will be the worst book I read all year. Curious if you've read The Sport of Kings and, if so, what you thought of it by comparison?"

I have not. I think its on my ever growing list of TBR. I also hope for your sake this is the worst book you read this year. Happy reading!

Kristin wrote: "As a white, middle-aged woman, I am offended and appalled at your review."

I middle-aged white woman offended and appalled by having their own racist tendencies pointed out . . . color me shocked and surprised. Im glad you could take a break from your pearl clutching to leave this comment. It is honestly the funniest thing I have read this week.

I felt the same way. Whew.

Mimi wrote: "I felt the same way. Whew."

If find this books popularity disappointing but not surprising. Maybe some day in the distant future long after I am dead white readers and writers will learn how to recognize racist character tropes.

There were 4 to 5 sentences about Jess's embarrassment over her racial jumping to the wrong conclusion, in a 400 page book about a horse and art. She was possibly tying past incivility to present. Lexington, the horse, lived in civil war period, most of the men and women associated are historically accurate. Brooks adopted son Bizu (born in Ethiopia, 2003) approved of it.

From a white woman's perspective, I agree with you. Rubbed me the wrong way. She almost superficially approached the subject without understanding it.

I agree 1000%. She had no business writing this book and I won’t be reading any more of her work.

I liked the book a lot, but I'm really interested to read these reviews. I thought Theo was underdeveloped and two-dimensional, I know that as a reader, and I didn't think the relationship between Theo and Jess was thin, at best. I didn't know what to think about the portrayal of Theo as a POC (spoiler alert - I'm a white woman) but I suspected it was...unrealistic. However, I don't think that authors have to limit themselves only to their own gender/race/class identity. It's a puzzlement.

Totally agree with you. My one word review - tedious

Thanks for bringing this up. I agree that it's for a white audience (I'm white, as well)--because there's so many white people ignorant of/ignoring the police shootings of unarmed Black people. Also, although I am pretty well-versed in history, I don't know anything about horse racing or ever think about it, so learning about Black grooms, trainers, and jockeys, and what happened post-Civil War, was educational for me. Another aspect that I felt was important for white people to read: when white characters would say something offensive to Theo or Jarrett, it's made clear what was offensive about it. Many/most white people totally need this spelled out for them.

Maybe this wasn't the best way to do that, but I've heard that Black people don't want to ALWAYS be the ones explaining all this. Maybe it's good to keep it coming from many different sources, including white-lady-literary-fiction. When Jess messes up and feels so terrible about it, and Theo is thinking, "Why does she have to make this about HER feelings?", white people think, "OMG, I do that all the time. I need to get a grip and quit making this all about me...", etc. Yeah, it's a sad state of affairs, but I'm sure these parts in the book were eye-opening for many white readers. I understand how POC would find this tedious to read--who live with this all the time/know all this already ad infinitum.

I, too, am nervous when white authors are writing outside their culture, but how much do we discourage allyship?

It sure is complicated. I hope we can learn from each other.

Great review

Until I read your review I couldn’t put my finger on why I am not liking this book. Thank you!!

Agree with Karen. I’m part way through and it’s not sitting right with me. Thanks for your thoughts.

Thank you for giving me all I need to know to skip this one!