I picked up this book because I enjoy a good contemporary read and because I love books featuring animals. Some of my favorite books growing up feature horses or horse-like creatures - Unicorns of Balinor, Riding Freedom, the Heartland series, The Black Stallion, and Misty of Chincoteague, to name a few.

Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this book. From the beginning, Cassidy's character felt distant. The opening lacks internal dialogue that made her relatable; the use of the present tense and the stilted dialogue didn't help either.

Perhaps it gets better later, but the opening pages didn't encourage me to read further.

DNFed 5% into the novel

Awesome descriptions of Wyoming and a very touching and realistic love story.
'The Thief of Happy Endings' is a young adult contemporary with a huge twist. The story centers around, Cassidy. Cassidy is sent to a youth mustang training camp in Wyoming . Cassidy is there because she is having a difficult time with her parents' recent separation. The catch is that she hasn't ridden a horse since she was bucked off as a child. Things get more complicated when she meets junior wrangler, Justin.


I loved 'The Thief of Happy Endings'. Not only is it a huge departure from most young adult romances, but it also takes on the plight of the mustang in the west. The story also demonstrates how the Bureau of Land Management really has a hard time figuring out what to do with the mustangs.


Loss of freedom is a main theme in TToHE. While the loss freedom of the mustangs is the main loss , this loss is also felt with the teenagers. The teenagers have lost many of their own freedoms and independence being sent to this camp.


Cassidy and Jason were some of my favorite characters of all time. Jason really personified a young troubled cowboy. Cassidy is your typical good girl with troubles at home. Their slow burn romance really seemed genuine and sweet. I also liked the character of Alice. She is the perfect friend that Cassidy needs at the time. The character of Banner is the perfect mean girl to Cassidy's good girl character. Even though the rest of the secondary characters were a little weak for me, I did like Kaya and Coulter.


The thing that really made this novel stand out for me is the setting. You don't see too many books, especially young adult, that take place in Wyoming. The descriptions of the setting is just amazing and worth a read for that alone.


'The Thief of Happy Endings' is one of my favorite YA's for the year. I really have heard nothing about it in other review sites or on YouTube. That is so unfortunate as I found it utterly amazing and well worth a read.

I had never really read a book in an equestrian setting before and this one seemed really intriguing because of its title, Thief of Happy Endings. Who was this "thief" and how did they steal happy endings? How were the horses involved in this? And, speaking of the horses, I was also told that they have their own various personalities, almost as if they were their own characters, so I was curious as to how that played out. Despite the somewhat foreboding title, I was optimistic and hoped that there was a cute romance and relatively pleasant ending waiting for me. Other than that, I had no idea what to expect.

Growing up in the city, there wasn't really any way for me to ever step foot on a ranch, much less even encounter a horse. I found myself feeling a bit envious of Cassidy being exposed to horses ever since she was a child and then reconnecting with them later as a teen. It would've been so cool growing up learning and interacting with horses! The horses were definitely my favorite part of the story, especially the two horses Cassidy spent most of her time with, Goliath and Roanie. I loved Goliath's strong and fierce attitude, and Roanie's sweet and laid back one. Despite not being human and able to communicate the same way we do, these horses actually had some character development and I was sad to say bye to them at the end of the book.

Not including all the manual labor involved, it seemed pretty fun living in a ranch and reading about it just made me want to visit one in real life. The first, and so far only time, I've been on a horse was when I was already in my early twenties but that was only for a few hours at the nearest equestrian center. We weren't informed on how to communicate with our horses, how to care for them, etc. so that's something I found fascinating in the book. I'd also like to attend an actual rodeo! There's a scene in the book where they attend one as sort of a class field trip and it doesn't exactly go as smoothly as they expected, but the concept of it sounds fun.

No spoilers, but there was an unexpected twist at the climax of the story that caught me completely off guard. In retrospect, there were clues but I didn't put it all together until everything was revealed, so that was the most exciting part for me.

Something that kept occurring throughout the book that really started to bother me was weird and awkward dialogue. I'm not sure if it was the writing that was the problem, or if whatever the character was trying to say just didn't come across correctly to me. Quite too often I found myself repeating parts of conversations where the dialogue felt awkward, trying to make sense of what they were trying to say and usually I'd end up either getting a vague sense of their meaning, or just giving up completely and moving on. There were also a lot of equine terminology that confused me because I have little to no knowledge or experience with horses whatsoever, so I feel that there could have been more explanations with those words. Also, the writing sometimes felt choppy and I felt like I was constantly mentally stumbling as I read; there were a few moments where I felt that a couple short sentences could have been combined for a better flow. I also would have loved more vivid descriptions of the landscape and general setting.

I didn't really connect with any of the human characters; they either felt stereotypical and hollow, or just weird and annoying. Justin Sweet, Cassidy's love interest, was so frustrating and such a disappointment. First of all, his hot-and-cold act got tiresome really fast. He also contradicted himself and a lot of his dialogue didn't make any sense on the last quarter of the book, but his Holden Cauldfield moment was by far the worst of it all and is what cemented him in my list of disliked characters. Cassidy's tent-mates, Alice and Banner, felt so artificial - like their characters were first created by choosing archetypes then filling in the blank with the rest of their characteristics. There were attempts at including diverse characters in the main cast, and attempts at addressing mental health issues, but, again, it all just felt insincere, stereotypical, and hollow.

Lastly, the ending had a weird, slow pace and was mainly just Cassidy's inner monologue where she was recaping everything she learned at camp, and all I could think about at that point was "When is this going to be over? Please stop."

Overall, this book was disappointing. The only memorable aspect of this book were the horses and everything else was underwhelming, shallow, and/or stereotypical. The writing was average, dialogue was awkward most of the time, and the overall flow and pacing of the storytelling was choppy and dragged on. Also, I still don't know who the "thief" of the happy ending was. Lol Unfortunately, this book was not for me so I cannot recommend it.

I ENJOYED…

- I really enjoyed the setting of this book: a ranch camp in Wyoming. We are getting beautiful scenery and I appreciated that different setting we too rarely see in books, where it’s usually all big cities or places we already know a whole lot.
- I appreciated how the main character, Cassidy grew in the story, from a judgmental main character I had a hard time appreciating, to someone trying to work things out, her fear, being more accepting of everyone, and so on.
- The romance was not obvious, at first and definitely not an insta-love kind of situation. It slowly grew as the characters got to know each other and was not shadowing the main character’s growth, which I appreciated so much.
- The friendships were great – they were not obvious either, took time to build up, but I loved that they were a big part of this story.

I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…
💭
- I had a bit of a hard time really getting into the book – maybe it’s because I was more invested in my holiday and life at the moment I have read it, but I also found it a bit hard to get captivated by the story, at first. Thankfully, that changed around the halfway-mark, where I found myself a bit more invested in it all.
- I found the main character a bit judgmental and too quick to label everyone, and that for a big part of the book, which prevented me from completely liking her at first. By the end though, she gets better (see in my positive points!)
- Some other characters were too poorly explored, for me. I would have appreciated to know Alice a bit more, especially, given that she was a character I appreciated a lot – and that seemed to deal with anxiety that was not properly mentioned.
- Some moments in the story and use of the language bothered me. There is one part where Cassidy basically uses cancer as an excuse to call her dad and a bit of ableist language.

OVERALL
If you’re looking for a fun summer read with an interesting setting, I would recommend Thief of Happy Endings, even if personally, I didn’t manage to get totally on board with the story, because I didn’t feel the characters and story as much as I would have liked,

Thief of Happy Endings calls attention to many important themes such as resilience, friendship, racism, prejudice, bullying, divorce, parenting, mental health, physical abuse, and animal cruelty. After her father moves out, Cassidy is struggling with depression and anxiety. Her parents send her to a horse camp in Wyoming to hopefully help Cassidy overcome her fear of horses.

Cassidy's character feels credible. Her love interest, Justin, is intriguing, layered, complicated. Cassidy's roommate, Alice, is probably my favourite character. An amazing friend from the beginning to the end, Alice is reliable, smart, and experiences an enormous amount of personal growth by the end of this story.

The characters are unique with distinctive voices. The story taught me a lot about horses, and in particular the mustang population in western USA. THIS IS NOT AN INSTA-LOVE! Chandler takes the time to let us get to know the characters before introducing a romantic interaction. Drawn into Thief of Happy Endings from page one, I couldn't put it down, and I can't think of any dislikes.

Wild, honest, charming, and entertaining. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟!

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

I don't read a lot of contemporary books, but sometime pops up on my radar and I am just in the mood - and Thief of Happy Endings was one of these books. It is a contemporary young adult read about a girl named Cassidy that is not in the best place right now. Her parents have split up and she bailed on school and now her mother has sent her to a ranch to overcome a fear of horses. While she is away for the summer she has to overcome her fears, anxieties, learn to be herself, and learn to fail before she can move on to the next thing.

This was a very good read and it was a lot of different things rolled into one book. It was a story of overcoming, it was a story of bravery, of abuse and animal cruelty. There were a lot of layers in this book as you can see.

The author does a good job not just glancing over these things but tying them all together in a way that is impacting but also not too overwhelming. This book might not be for the faint of heart though - it was hard to read about the animals and the cruelty and so that is my warning.

The characters were all interesting and I liked how I kept up with the main characters emotions, in some books you can start to feel detached when things get deep, but here I was with Cassidy the whole way - I know fear and anxiety well and to be with her coming into her own skin was breathtaking.

If you like horses, some romance, and a good amount of deep emotion, this is a book to look out for.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

The breakdown of her parents' marriage left Cassidy in a funk. In a effort to help Cassidy work through her issues, her mother signed her up for a ranch camp. While there, she was forced to face her fears of isolation, inadequacy, and horses, but the best part was seeing Cassidy flourish under those less than perfect circumstances.

• Pro: I found myself really invested in Cassidy. I wanted this program to help her deal with her home life issues and get back to living. I was really proud of all the growth she experienced, and would love to know what she did next.

• Pro: Chandler dedicates a lot of time to Cassidy's new friendships. Given her past, I think it was a really important aspect to focus on, and it was great to see Cassidy pushing herself to make these new relationships work.

• Pro: Horses! Seriously, I learned so much, and not just about riding horses, but about all the issues facing Mustangs out west. It was really interesting and eye-opening.

• Con: There were these flashbacks, which gave us a little insight into why Cassidy fell into her depression, but I am not sure about the placement in the story. There was something about them, which made them not totally work for me.

• Pro: This story took place in Wyoming, and that is a first for me. I feel like I am always "visiting" the same places in contemporary books, which is why I always get really excited to see a book set someone different.

• Con: I was ok with the ending, but I would have liked a little bit more there. It was hopeful, but not definitive enough for me.

• Pro: There were a few surprises thrown in there. Yes, I yelled, "I knew it!," at one point, but I was also really shocked by one particular reveal.

• Pro: Justin was that damaged hero that I always love. He was so complicated, and it was very gratifying peeling his layers back.

Overall: A lovely and moving story of friendship and finding your own inner strength to overcome disappointments.

Ever since her father moved out, Cassidy feels like her life has been falling apart. So a summer of riding horses at a ranch camp in Wyoming sounds like just what she needs–never mind the fact that she has a paralyzing fear of horses. She’s determined to move past her fear, even if that means taking lessons from the insufferable (yet irresistible) junior wrangler Justin and embarrassing herself in front of the other campers. What follows is a summer of rodeos, complicated friendships, and a wild mustang thief on the loose.

This book didn’t take long to hook me. Really, the words ranch camp and cute cowboy had me before I even began reading, but Cassidy was what kept me reading. She was a great character and her voice was unique while still being a little familiar, in the way where she would say or think something that I was already thinking. It made me feel connected with her, which made me all that more invested in her journey. She was dealing with a lot at home and the ranch was supposed to be a way for her to get away from it all for a while, make some new friends, relax. I loved watching her re-discover her love for horses and overcome her fears.

The ranch setting was amazing and I loved the vivid descriptions of the area. It added to the overall atmosphere and it made easy to picture everything. The supporting characters were all very unique, some were more developed than others but I expected that with such a large group. The characters who Cass hung around with the most were the ones we learned the most about, of course, and Alice and Ethan became quick favourites. Alice probably had the second most growth over the summer and it was great to see.

Another thing I enjoyed was the dynamic between Cassidy and Justin. He could be a jerk, or at least come off as a jerk, but there were hints of someone sweet who was just awkward with people. I loved that Cassidy didn’t take his opinions of her lying down. They definitely made a great team. Between Justin and Coulter, the I-care-but-I-don’t-want-you-to-know-it owner of the ranch, it gave a natural way for information on mustangs and the relocation.

Reading this book brought back the same feelings of watching some past favourite TV shows that involved horses like Heartland, Wildfire, and even Hey Dude(going way back). I can’t wait to recommend it at the bookstore this summer.

Horses, mountains, romance and new beginnings - Thief of Happy Endings has all the makings of a perfect YA contemporary that grabs your heart. Thief of Happy Endings is thoroughly charming in a down-to-earth, back-to-basics, raw and real way. It touches on so many important themes, from racism and prejudice, bullying and relationships, and divorce and parenting to anxiety and mental health, physical abuse, and the capture and treatment of wild mustangs. All these elements come together in a beautiful story that is utterly moving.

Cassidy’s parents are sending her to the middle of nowhere, Wyoming, to a horse ranch. Cassidy hasn’t been around horses since she was a young girl and suffered serious injuries from a fall. But fear of horses is just one more thing turning her stomach to knots. Settling into the ranch, fighting with her new bunkmates, and working with wild horses is nothing like she expected. This summer Cassidy will do more than just face some of her fears, sh might even learn to embrace them.

Horses. I believe there could never be enough books about horses. Especially for older readers. Animal cruelty, the amazing bond between horse and rider, and the contention of wild horses vs land owners bring a seriousness and maturity to Thief of Happy Endings. The setting of The Thief of Happy Endings is perfectly rustic. I thought I could smell the mix of horse and hay and summer days seeping from the words. Campfires, big open skies, and living in basic accomodation with people you don’t know or necessarily like all brought back fond memories of my own camp experiences - we just didn’t have access to wild horses.

Cassidy is a complex character. At first I thought she was overly judgmental. She is quick to label people in what seems stereotypical or judgmental. But as the story developed and Cassidy started to work through her fears, it becomes clear that she is a caring and kind girl, who all too easily can get caught up in her own head and anxieties. I loved her character development, loved her journey, loved that she was willing to face her ears but also knew when to accept things as beyond her control.

And then there is the romance. Oh my goodness. There are so many things I loved about it, I’ll have to list them:
- Cassidy is not instantly attracted or drawn to Justin.
- Justin is not the most amazing specimen of man flesh to ever be created. Instead he is an average guy, with flaws and history and depth and it is that that finally draws Cassidy to him.
- The romance doesn’t start to develop until well into the book, leaving time for readers to first get to know the characters and then for the relationship to develop slowly, naturally, and with more than a few bumps along the way.
- The romance never gets in the way of all the other important messages of self-discovery and friendship.
- A great ending. Realistic, hopeful, sentimental in the best way and yet totally real.

The Thief of Happy Endings, as charming as it is authentic, is a touching story of self-discovery and bravery, set against the gorgeous backdrop of wild Wyoming.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.