Reviews

Chasing Painted Horses by Drew Hayden Taylor

kmuzio's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kvlreader's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

tamaru22's review against another edition

5.0

While, at times, the verbal flourish went a bit too far, this novel captivated me, making it difficult to put down.
I do wish more had been resolved by the end but the overarching themes will leave me with a great deal to ponder.
It definitely was worth the amount of time it took to read this short novel for me.

tomikorobson's review against another edition

3.0

I was so excited for this book and perhaps it was my high hopes that led to my disappointment. Love Drew Hayden Taylor and have read a lot of his writing, including both the short story and play for Girl Who Loved Her Horses. I especially love the play where the Horse is realized by a dancer and crosses the border between imagination and reality as he emerges through the wall. I was hoping, in novel form, that I would see more of the story but it just felt the same, maybe with more direct explanation. I definitely prefer the magic of the script where so much more is left unsaid.

amn028's review against another edition

3.0

A quick, easy read. Good story with decent characters.

benrogerswpg's review against another edition

4.0

This was a pretty good Indigenous fiction book.

Would recommend. A timely time to read more Indigenous books.

3.8/5

yasminwooldridge's review against another edition

3.0

A curious and very well written story, but there feels like something is missing. I'm not sure how the character Harry really added anything to this story. He seems to me to be an unnecessary accessory. Apart from prodding Ralph to move the narrative along he doesn't do anything much and I'm not even sure if Ralph really told Harry about Danielle or they just stared at each other in Tim Horton's. The reader felt more drawn to the men/boys in this story than the women, in fact the women were oddly muted. There was no sympathy garnered toward Hazel for her grief as that seemed more like an after thought for bad choices. If anything she comes across as entirely to blame, as a mother, to how she behaved toward her child. Although Danielle said her need and her want for Horse came from the book she received as a prize for the Everything Wall the horse was created before she read that book. Where did Horse come from originally? Why a horse? There still seemed to be more questions than answers as to why things were the way they were. Why were Danielle's family on the outskirts of the community? Didn't they have family near them. Everything seems to me to be unfinished in terms of who these characters were and why they did what they did. Why was Ralph friendly to William? If he had other friends why was there no interactions between them? Why did Shelley's friends express surprise but not vocalise their surprise? While I know for brevity sake other characters in the book had to be a minimum, however, without fully understanding the community's dynamics it's not immediately understood that others can't have a part to play in this story. I can see that this story can be considered a coming of age story, but somehow it doesn't leave this reader feeling satisfied at a story told as well as it could be.

immikey's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

bookishcori's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse

allore's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0