This is one rare occasion where I feel that a book would have benefited from being just a tad bit longer. The pace is quick - almost too quick, I thought, because sometimes events are just mentioned, rather than being fully described. Neither of these things are true - so why is that what children south of the Wall are taught?This is an enjoyable book, with plenty of horse-related adventure for those who can't get enough of that sort of thing. At his farm, she will discover that many of the things she's been taught all her life are untrue - particularly regarding horses, which she had heard were disease-carriers and extinct. Orphaned Anthea has been shuffled from one relative to another ever since her parents' death, but now she is being sent to an uncle who lives in the wild lands beyond the Wall. It’s sweet that this is a story that Day George has had in her head since she was a girl but I do feel that the writing is not up to her usual standard.Having said that, I did enjoy the story and have already downloaded the next one to read.3 stars Read more
I thought the ending, especially the point at which Anthea meets the Rose Matron, was a bit confused and a bit rushed.
Being inside a horse’s head was an interesting aspect, although initially they came across as being a bit servile. I felt that some aspects of the plot could have been fleshed out a bit more, such as Anthea’s change of heart about friendships and why she couldn’t remember more about her childhood.
This story was somewhat reminiscent of The Blue Sword - although aimed at a younger audience - with an orphaned girl being sent to family far away and having fantastic adventures with animals and there are also echoes of Mrs Coulter (from His Dark Materials).Although I liked the story and I’m curious about what happens next, I found the structure of this book a bit uneven. Soon she finds that she has to rethink many of the things she has been taught to take for granted.
However, she has been shunted from relative to relative all her young life until finally, as the story begins, she learns that she is to be sent to her father’s brother who lives beyond the Wall in the north of Coronam - a place where only exiles and reprobates live.To her horror, once she is there she discovers that there are horses there - those monstrous animals that had carried a plague until they were killed off by it, or so she thought. (2018)Anthea is an orphan who lives in Coronam where there are oxen and motor cars (for some reason, when I see motor cars in this story I imagine long, elegant open-top affairs) but horses are monsters of legend it is her dream to become a Rose Maiden, as her mother had been, and serve the queen.
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