Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic Book Review

 

I received a gifted copy from Simon and Schuster and am providing a review.

Roan is a young lady who rides horses. Roan has a secret. Mama knows her secret and chooses not to do anything about it. Mama decides to leave Daddy, leaving Roan truly alone until she meets Will, a boy at school. Daddy (Monty, by name) holds everything over Roan’s head. If she goes in the opposite direction of what Daddy wants her to do, the consequences are far too great. Roan loves her horses. She wants to tell her secret but finds that when she has the opportunity, several times, she clams up. She could tell the social worker at the hospital after an accident, she doesn’t. She could tell Gertrude, the housekeeper who has been with the family for years, she doesn’t. Gertrude knows something isn’t right, she stays silent. People know something isn’t right with the relationship between Roan and Daddy, but they stay silent. That’s how much “power” Monty apparently has. 

I found the character Roan to be an extremely strong young lady. 

I have to commend the publisher for putting warnings on this book. I also have to commend Ms. Mihalic for taking a chance and writing this book. While it is “just a book,” I suspect that this sort of thing happens more than we ever hear about, to both men and women. 

I am putting trigger warnings on this book. It is very dark. If you are a victim of abuse, whether it be emotional, physical, or sexual, be careful if you choose to read this one. While the scenes depicted are not graphic, I suspect they can be quite triggering as there is just enough to let the reader know what is happening. There are some thoughts that Roan has that I suspect could be quite true of other people who have suffered the same things that she has in this book. Again, I commend Ms. Mihalic for writing this story.