
Member Reviews

I really wanted to just reach out and steal Roan away. Both of her parents were so utterly awful in a multitude of ways. The book was very well written. Heavy content, but a very interesting read!

5/5
#NetGalley #Dark Horses
If i had to only choose one book to be my favourite this year; it'd be this one. Their was not only a story to this novel, but emotions. Not too many books I've read had the emotions as this novel had, and with that being said, I feel everyone who reads dark plotted stories should give this one a try. Yes, the plot in this one is very much a trigger warning and at first so much, I wanted to stop reading it all together, but I'm glad I didn't because our main character, Roan gives us the hope for a better future, and the end proves victory comes in varies ways.
I highly recommend this novel

Roan is only 15 but her every waking moment either at school or on her horse is controlled by her father. She has no life other than her shortened class schedule and training and competitions. She has no friends, no boys are allowed to call her and even her mother doesn’t seem to love her. Roan’s life is surrounded by her father, engulfed by her father who is also her riding trainer. He wants Roan to be the Olympic champion he was but he wants even more of her. She loves her horses the training and competing, it’s her only safe place. She has the makings of a champion if she gives up everything else a teen should have. Hurt by a mother who is much more into alcohol and prescription drugs than saving her and a father who knows he possesses all of her. He uses his power to control her and he will destroy anything that interferes with him and what he wants of her.
A story of a girls incredible strength and what she has to do to survive. This story will get to you where it hurts the most, your heart. It’s about surviving behind a persona of one happy family in the very public eye.
Emotional book that will make you mad but will let you enjoy victory over suppression. Strong language adult fiction that unfortunately has truth in our society.
Thank you NetGalley, Susan Mihalic and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read this ARC.

Engrossing and sickening all at the same time. Major characters: Monty Montgomery-disgusting power hungry abuser, Roan Montgomery-strong and dedicated, Will Howard-endearing and faithful. This doesn't have the most fantastical writing you've ever read, but Mihalic does know how to weave a good story. I read this in one day. A sticking point for me with this book is that I feel there were a few opportunities that Roan would've gotten away from her father or told someone about the abuse before she actually did. She's too strong of character to have let these two events pass without doing something. One, after the hotel room rape that left her bleeding and injured, and two, after she thought her father had sold her horse to Frank and Jamie. She had nothing left to lose after that! She could've gone somewhere else to continue her path to the Olympics, but losing Jasper should have been too much for her. I definitely enjoyed the horse stuff scattered throughout this book. Dark Horses was a nice bit of getaway fiction for a change for me. Glad I gave it a chance.

Thank you Net Galley for the free. There is nothing good I can say about this book. I hated it and dont see the point of it.Sorry!

Tragic, disturbing, but hopeful. Roan's father (and his father & grandfather) is an Olympian and is training Roan to continue this family legacy. She has no time unless it involves her riding or her horses; her schoolwork and her mother have learned to take a backseat. Roan's father does not allow any interference, so when he suspects she has a boyfriend, he can't contain his disapproval. But Roan and her father have a darker secret... can this secret be contained or will it destroy them both first?

Thank you#Net Galley for the ARC. This book has trigger warnings. Susan Mihalic built the characters so well I was literally absorbed into the story. The storyline was intense and kept me on pins and needles. This novel is very well written and I got lost in it.