The Truth About Horses: A Novel

I absolutely loved this book! .... and the protagonist. With great anticipation, I always looked forward to the next time I could turn the page! The storyline touched my soul and had me experience many emotions. I learned much about horses and horse-people who are savvy, perceptive and so very special. The shared pearls (of wisdom) passed down through generations and other horse-people was moving. Lessons learned: following your heart and intuition and doing what you love and loving what you do is one of life's greatest gifts. Count on challenges, pain, heartache, frustrations and sacrifices along the way. This book put a spotlight on the perspective teenagers face growing up THEN versus today. Independence, making her own job based on her fortitude, perseverence and merit vs using connections, .... riding her bike to get to work vs being chauffeured by parents ... embracing obstacles, listening to your inner voices verses feelings of entitlement/s were pronounced. Traditional family values help shape young adults trying desperately to find their way in today's society and compete. Despite her mother's physical absence, her presence was felt constantly. Her daughter's sense of independence, resilience and tenacity... i.e. going back to the auction to get Treasure back was heartening. She learned how to support herself and not have to depend on her parents. Even though her mother had passed, the emphasis on the very strong bond and her memorable teachings; their relationship was compelling and clearly played a key role in life choices, behavior and developing her daughter's character. Ultimately, this book suggests that following your heart and passions lead to our life's destiny.

Absolutely beautiful novel! I could not put it down. I can’t wait for her next novel!!! Brilliantly written!!

I kinda wish The Truth About Horses by Christy Cashman wasn’t titled The Truth About Horses. And I also wish the cover were different. Though it almost looks self-pubbed and the title is lackluster and maybe even cheesy, the book is pretty solid. Despite some rather specific things I will find to complain about, overall it’s a good experience with older MG/earlier YA literature. Especially if you like horses. But it’s true: you don’t have to be a horse person (I’m not) or even a teen (I’m not) to enjoy this story and the fairly deep issues that the realistic characters are dealing with, though I think teen horse-lovers are the ones who will appreciate it most. Maybe not ground-breaking, but something I could see a lot of people liking and quite a few appreciating for its subject matter.Reese is 14 and is rooting for her family’s horse, Trusted Treasure, to win the Black Elk. But when Treasure takes a spill, it’s only the beginning of everything falling apart for Reese. A year or something later, everything has changed and while trying, alone, to put together the pieces of her life, Reese meets Wes, a man who refuses to speak (as in he’s mute) while he deals with his own trauma, and who is new to town and the owner of a horse stable. Reese inserts herself into the barn and into Wes’s life in her quest to get her horse back and find some sense of happiness and purpose… and Wes isn’t sure this is such a good idea.I read this book as an ARC, which actually happened two months after its publication by the time everything washed out. And then I was doing Nanowrimo and then I was sick and then the holidays were a mad scramble. By now, the book has tens of reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, and people are loving it, for the most part. I am not paid to read ARCs, but I like to give a positive review as well as an honest one. I can do that with this book, even though my review is already just one of many.It is Cashman’s first novel, and I think it possible she could write a lot more in the YA and MG arenas and hook some repeat readers, a la Jacqueline Woodson. This could also be the only story she has to tell, and she’ll end here (with other careers in her life). There will always be kids and teens (and adults) who love horses, and a pastoral in the modern times is a breath of fresh air that is reminiscent of both Judy Blume and books like Where the Red Fern Grows or Sign of the Beaver, at the same time.The Truth About Horses is both what you expect and not. It has strong characters, realistic situations, growth, a whole lot about horses and a girl’s love of them, sweeping vistas, and other things to keep the pages turning. I would say the writing is adequate and there is some tweaking Cashman may learn to do as she writes more books, which I’m kinda assuming she will. If you have a teen in your life who is either a) into horses or b) going through some stuff, this is an accessible, small-town-agrarian-warm-feeling book that they can probably see themselves in. Really, all of us can see ourselves as struggling against the loss and injustice in our life, and Reese is an honest character to walk us through some of that.ABOUT THE AUTHOR:As I said, this is Christy Cashman’s first novel. She also has a couple of children’s picture books. She was first an actress and a producer and has been in a bunch of movies. She lives between Ireland and Massachusetts and actually has horses as well as a lifelong love of horses. Her website is HERE, where there is a nice trailer for The Truth About Horses.QUOTES:“I don’t like being a stranger in a place that’s put its giant thumbprint on me” (p46).“I think Wes has already figured out that stringing a bunch of sounds together is way less useful than we think” (p58).“’When a horse charges, you have two choices. You stand your ground, or you stand your ground’” (p91).“Crying about a stupid thing you’ve done is something horse people should do on their own time” (p92).“I sleep like a baby. Literally. I’m awake every couple of hours and I’m restless and I want to cry. I realize that making an effort to go to sleep is making sleeping even more difficult” (p101).“Even if Lexi spent twice the time working on her personality as she spends putting on her makeup, she’d barely make it to tolerable” (p192).“He said most people use their vision to strengthen their fear, not to overcome it” (p222).“Since humans aren’t great at dealing with pain, fear takes over. And we want to, you know, give a face to that fear” (p227).“’It’s so hard to lose someone who’s died, but maybe it’s just as hard to lose someone who’s standing right in front of you’” (p312).“But that night, it’s like we started to see each other again. And it seemed like we had both changed some and we had both stayed the same some” (p333).“…once dreams are reached, they’re meant to turn to dust, giving you a chance to dream again” (p354).MOVIES AND SHOWSThe book is new and she’s a new author and it’s not exactly spreading like wildfire, so I don’t see any movies or shows in the works. However, Cashman is a producer, so maybe she’ll make a movie or show of The Truth About Horses as her next “pet project?” I think it would actually work really well as a movie or a limited series, maybe even better than the book.

Great story, could not put book down!

I bought this book for my granddaughter who just turned 14. She absolutely loves it , and doesn’t want to put it down! Excellent book!

A great story of how a teen girl overcomes loosing a pet and parent while trying desperately to hold on to a hope of gaining one back. Reese is a loner by choice and the only pleasure she’s ever known was caring for the horses she had with her parents at their barn. When one night take both her parents and the barn life away she uses her snarky sarcasm to keep moving forward, hoping to find the horse that was her link to her mom. Her whit and sharp tongue should have shown her father what was happening to his daughter but he is too self absorbed in his own pain from loosing his wife to read the signs.

This book is hard to put down. Possibly it's audience is teenagers but any adult reader will find the story compelling and the main character Reese, over the top spunky and full of heart. If you have any interest in horses, you will have a blast reading this and come out of your "fun read" definitely more knowledgable and full of respect for "horse people," although you seriously do not have to be a "horse person" to enjoy this book. I highly recommend it. You're in for a treat!