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s0phwhit's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rozereads's review
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
trisjdavila's review
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
went back and forth between 5 stars and 4.75. is it my favorite thing i’ve ever read? no. is it perfect for what it is? i think so.
consistent language with an easy feel. the kind of book i’ll always want to reread when i’m ill and need something light. it’s pleasant and nearly revolutionary. for someone who was obsessed with black beauty as a kid, i kind of figured this would be up my alley.
consistent language with an easy feel. the kind of book i’ll always want to reread when i’m ill and need something light. it’s pleasant and nearly revolutionary. for someone who was obsessed with black beauty as a kid, i kind of figured this would be up my alley.
couuboy's review against another edition
4.0
This is like meeting a very close friend's parent and they're telling you all the stories from their childhood and you kind of know they're embellishing as they yammer on because surely not? but it doesn't matter because it's funny and it's endearing and you're happy to just listen as they spin a yarn.
mrgeof's review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
ciarafrances's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
aliwhaley's review
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a strange read. There’s no plot - at first I thought it was a memoir. It’s a series of vignettes about life at the racetrack, most of which are in some way shocking or surprising. It’s supposedly a work of ‘fiction’ but based on interviews with a real woman. I think most of the vignettes actually need to be true to mean anything. I was engrossed in the wild stories and anecdotes because they were true
There’s a matter-of-factness about the writing, the sentences are short and to-the-point and that makes the mad or bad behaviour of people at the track even more shocking. The narrative voice is almost always unmoved, she’s hardened to it. Most of what I liked about this book was just the writing, it was odd but refreshing. Instead of over-written it was almost under-written. I don’t think I would read more by this author, though. The interest was mainly in the novelty of it.
E.g Before her husband died and her house burned down, Bicycle Jenny worked at Crocker’s, the slaughtering plant. What was left of her house was a scorched concrete hole in the ground. That’s where she lived.
Oddly I think that being horsey and having worked in racing made me like this book less. One the one hand, some of the stories resonated with me, but on the other, this book only scratched the surface of the racing world, and the surface is what I know, so I wasn’t actually getting anything from the racetrack setting. I think someone not involved with racing would find value in exploring an unknown world. It was interesting to learn more about the vibe at American tracks, though.
The author is good at anonymising things whilst still giving you enough meat to get into the story / episode. This is something I would like to do in my book