Anton DiSclafani

“I was a girl, I learned, who got what she wanted, but not without sadness, not without cutting a swath of destruction so wide it consumed my family. I almost fell into it, with them. I almost lost myself.”
― Anton DiSclafani, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls

This book is about Thea Atwell who is sent away from her family as a result of a scandal that she was involved in. She winds up, of coarse at The Yonahlossee riding camp for girls. This is her story.

I really wanted to love this novel. I adore Historical fiction and I adore horses. Should have been a good read. But it wasn't.

Part of the issue for me, is that I could not stand Thea, the main character. Like so many other reviewers said, she was a tough one to like. I do not always have to like my characters to get into a story. But I just did not care for reading about her. And after awhile, I ran out of patience. I did read the whole book but it took awhile and I simply could not get over what a destructive force she was. And I pride myself on not judging. However in this case it was pretty impossible.

The horses did not feature as much as I thought they would. And there was a joylessness about the book that made it extremely difficult to enjoy.

END SPOILER:

I also did not like how, at the end, Thea's fate was summed up in about a minute. I really could not get into this and the ending left me cold. At the end of the day, though it was well written, this just was not the right book for me.… (mais)

i wanted to like this one more than i did. it was still a good read, but it never quite captured me and sucked me in. interesting exploration on female desire and the change from girlhood towards something resembling womanhood in the 1930s though. i was constantly annoyed by too many of the characters, and never really connected with any of them. i did like thea in the end, but... not enough to really pull me in to her story the way i hoped. the author shows a lot of promise as her debut though, and i'll keep a lookout towards her future books.… (mais)

reviewed from e-galley. (character-driven; 1950s Texas socialites with a touch of "Hollywood" glam)
I expected a bit more mystery, rather than a story that dwells mostly on the friendship between these two Joans. Their relationship is unusual, and has enough intriguing details (a possibly autistic toddler, a possible secret pregnancy, 1950s period elements) to keep me interested for a while but I tired of both characters by page 180. Not for me, but I think fans of DiSclafani's last book would probably enjoy this.… (mais)