This was a rough, dark read. I did think it was gripping and I love a well done horse-oriented story, which this is. Well done.
The publisher generously provided me with a copy of the book upon request on NetGalley. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

This was so hard to read, and yet, I couldn't put it down. I was desperately rooting for Roan in every moment, unsure what would happen next. It's horrifying, and I can't necessarily say I liked or enjoyed this book, because every second of it was gut-wrenching. But it's incredibly well-written and emotional, and I'd recommend it to anyone who has the emotional bandwidth to read it. Look up all the trigger warnings before. picking this one up, though.

I knew this book was going to be dark going into it, but unfortunately it was just more dark than I could handle. This book is extremely intense and should be entered into cautiously. It can be extremely graphic, which makes it extremely uncomfortable to read. An important topic to be addressed, but my stomach just couldn’t handle it.

I was judging the L.A. Times 2020 and 2021 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’d been doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got me to read on even though it was among 296 other books I’m charged to read.

Very well plotted, between mother’s infidelity, UTI, horse competition, adolescent concerns with school… had me turning pages.

The world rushed back amid applause and cheers and whistles. I patted Jasper;s sweat-damp shoulder , “Good job, Great job.”

Mihalic's Dark Horses is a chilling character study of Roan Montgomery, a talented eventing rider striving for the Olympic glory that has run in her family for generations. Her famous father, Monty, embodies the sport of eventing and has set her on the path toward greatness, while also abusing her in a variety of absolutely terrible ways. The abuse in this novel is hard to read but ultimately does not feel gratuitous. Readers will be swept up in Roan's story, rooting for her to take control of her life.

The subject matter in Dark Horses was very hard to read about. Although there have been several cases over the past several years where young female athletes have come forward and admitted and accused their coaches of sexually abusing them, it was disheartening to discover that these trusted coaches violated their young and impressionable athletes. However, Dark Horses, took the act of sexual abuse to a whole other level. Roan Montgomery had the misfortune of being born to a mother that did not care about her, love her enough to save her or protect her and that felt jealous of her relationship with her father and was more often than not drunk and wasted and to a father who loved her too much and in all the wrong and appropriate ways. Dark Horses explored incest, sexual abuse, power over another, threats, rape, ambition, lies, anger, being abandoned, making choices and resilience. It was hard to read at times but I couldn’t seem to put it down either. Dark Horses was Susan Mihalic’s debut novel.

Roan Montgomery was only ten years old when she admitted to her mother that her own father was sexually abusing her. Her mother chose to do nothing to stop it. That was when her mother began to drink in earnest instead of protecting Roan from her father. Her mother chose to hide behind the influence of alcohol. Roan had learned to live with this secret. Her father had threatened her from the very beginning with selling her horses if she ever told anyone. Roan learned to compartmentalize her life into two distinct worlds. The one in the arena where she rode her horses and trained was her good and happy place. Outside the arena, where her father threatened her and took her innocence was her dark place and where she could not escape. Now fifteen years old, her father, the famous equestrian Olympic gold medal winner, was both her coach and father. His relationship with Roan had been inappropriate for way too long. Roan was now an equestrian prodigy herself. Her greatest dream had always been to compete in the Olympics. Roan lived an isolated life. She had no friends and never socialized with anyone from school or from anywhere. Her life was structured and her father made sure she kept to his strict rules. Roan went to school and came home, did her chores, trained and did homework and studied. Then one day, her father was late to pick her up after school and Will Howard, a boy from one of her classes, offered her a ride home. After much trepidation, Roan accepted his offer. That unplanned act would allow Roan over time to see that she had choices. Would Roan be able to take control of her own destiny? Could she stop her father from sexually abusing her? Would Roan heal enough to allow Will to help her and would she find room in her heart for Will?

Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic was an extremely difficult book to read, absorb and accept. It was hard to accept that a mother could be so cold and complacent toward her own daughter knowing that she was being sexually abused by her father right under her nose. How could a mother abandon her own daughter under those circumstances? The road Roan faced to try and alter and fix her life was not easy. She was faced with more losses and cruelty while she traveled on this path than any young girl should have had to witness and experience in a lifetime. The characters in Dark Horses were complex and far from perfect but that was what helped make them believable. I look forward to reading more books by Susan Mihalic and recommend this book very highly if you can stomach the subject matter.

Thank you to Scout Press and Susan Mihalic for allowing me to read Dark Horses through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was horrifying and dark. Not for most people. I wouldn’t recommend it. Giving it two stars though because I’m proud of the main character.

This book was not for me, based on challenging personal experiences, but I have recommended to several other readers who have thoroughly enjoyed it. I will look forward to more from this author in the future.

WOW...I could not put this book down. This book made me feel so much, but I have to say a lot of hard to read things happens in this book. If you have trouble reading hard hitting books that covers dark topics this is not the book for you. I loved this book, and it was so well written. The characters were so well developed. I wanted to safe some, but on the other hand I wanted to jump into the book and kill one of them. I think when a fiction book brings those feelings in me means it was a great book. This is one of my favorite books that I have read this year. I am going to say one more time do not read this book if you cannot handle hard hitting dark book, and please look into what topics this book covers before going into this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Gallery/Scout Press) or author (Susan Mihalic) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review , and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

This was so beautifully written and absolutely heartbreaking. SO MANY trigger warnings. I enjoy dark books, this is one of the darkest I've read. And even I had to take a break sometimes. Will turn your stomach. But like...in a good way? Love a books that can make me feel so strongly.

A dark, gripping novel - Dark Horses is the story of Roan Montgomery, a 15-year-old equestrian prodigy struggling to reclaim her life from an abusive father.

Woah. First off - proceed with caution. The subject matter of this book is tough and I would be remiss in not mentioning that the author does not mince words or skirt around ANYTHING. I found myself gasping, cringing as I read. Susan Mihalic is a very strong writer and subject matter aside, she has a very bright future ahead. Her ability to provide windows of hope into what felt like an endless box of darkness kept me going.

While I know Dark horses is written as a survivor story, I did take issue with the ending. At first it felt satisfying, but after a couple hours I just felt left down. Spoilers aside, I felt Roan was still beholden to her father, unable to eliminate the bond I so desperately wanted to break.

While I appreciated this book on its own merits, it made me sorry all over again that Heather Lewis's HOUSE RULES is out of print! I'd still recommend to anyone who wants a dark, memorable novel that is equal parts literary and commercial--in other words, exactly the kind of book Allison Callahan is brilliant at acquiring and publishing--and doesn't pull its punches (although the ending feels like perhaps it wraps things up a little too neatly). I'd also recommend that potential readers Google content warnings for this title if that's something they're inclined to do, as the matter-of-factness with which even the most extreme and disturbing scenes are written serves only to increase their impact, or at least it did for me.

Holy crap, I was not expecting what I just read. I have been in a bit of a reading slump lately. Every book I read has just been meh and I have not felt compelled to keep reading them. But this one? Oh my. I was sucked into this one right away. It's the first book I have read in a while that I finished within 24 hours because I did not want to stop reading it.

Roan is a high school student whose only goal in life is to ride her horse, Jasper. Her father was an Olympian horse rider and that is Roan's goal as well. She lives and breathes horses. Her father is an abusive monster who has two personalities: his public persona and the personality he shows behind closed doors, when it is just the two of them. I really don't want to give too much of the story away, but I will say that there are graphic scenes of abuse and this book was heartbreaking and emotional in so many ways. I finished it hours ago and I can't stop thinking about it. This was a phenomenal read and I was so satisfied with the ending!

I purchased a copy of this for my library because I think it might appeal to a certain segment of my population, but it was a personal DNF. I wasn't enjoying the story and was so turned off by the graphic descriptions of abuse that I couldn't finish it.

Wow, just incredible.
I love horses and love riding, so the things this book showed were amazing.
But the content of a determined young women to be an Olympian and the support, abuse, coaching and fire she get because of her awful father is heart wrenching.
I cannot wait to discuss this book tonight.
It made me cry, but there are so many other emotions going on in these pages.

Just wow. Please read if you get the chance

I shared my thoughts about this book on my blog and on GoodReads. I will provide the details directly to the publisher in the next round of this process.

Abuse is a sensitive topic. We never know what the other person has been through. When they try to explain the history, even though its a fraction of what they feel, be respectful and listen. Be supportive and show love, not hate!

DARK HORSES is a dark psychological thriller about Roan Montgomery, a 15 yo olympic equestrian, her inner feelings and her efforts to regain her teenage life. As a teen when she should be enjoying, she trains. She trains hard to win the Olympic games. Her trainer is her father the Olympic champion. A trainer can be over protective and possessive over their trainees. But Mont is something else. He is overly watchful, controlling and abuses Roan, which makes smothers her. But she can’t tell anyone, because - no one would believe her.

The story progresses showing us the difficulty Roan has the endure, the courage she picks up and her moment of release from the dungeon. This is whole in whole Roan’s story. I could feel her suffering, every time she was manipulated by the monstrous father, I screamed wanting to shout some sense into the girl to find an escape path. But then I realised, no matter how much I know about Roan or how much I’ve read about her, I can never understand what she is going through. She has to figure it out on her own, but I can support her, show her love.

This is a painful book! Not everyone can read this and be a normal person. I definitely have to appreciate the effort and writing of Susan Mihalic. A hell of a book for a debut 👏 you deserve to be appreciated!

Thank you Gallery books and Netgalley for the arc. This is my honest and voluntary opinion.

Alright, this book. The description, I loved and it drew me in. I looked forward to reading this one for months. So when it finally came time on my list, I was super excited. The book starts out perfectly. A young girl toxically obsessed with horse riding, and her sick and selfish and toxic intertwined with her. And then a thing happened. This thing....happens many times throughout the book. It's disgusting and awful and just plain sickening.


If that wasn't bad enough, I think the thing that really set off my red flag is that the main character almost liked the horrible thing that's happening to her. I realize I'm being vague, but I can't go into it more without a very big and bold spoiler. If not for this thing, I think I really could have fallen deeply in love with this book. But then it got worse, and instead of focusing on the story, the author focused on the wrong things (IMO). It was almost like Mihalic was romanticizing brutality. And while I realize she wasn't, there's cavalier attitude to the whole book that really upset me.


I wanted very badly to love this book. Hell, I wanted to just enjoy it. But I honestly was really overwhelmed with the content, and how the content was handled. I think it has the potential to be a really great, engrossing book, and I won't rate it low because of that, but I will mark off a star because I couldn't shake how uncomfortable I was.


And maybe that was the point?


4/5 Stars

From debut novelist Susan Mihalic comes DARK HORSES, a gripping and unflinching story of a teenage girl’s determined and courageous fight to reclaim her life from the man who controls her.

Roan Montgomery is a fourth-generation (future) Olympic equestrian. Although she is only 15 and should be visiting the mall with friends, sipping iced lattes and texting boys, her life exists strictly inside the riding arena and stables where she has spent years riding, mucking and grooming the best horses around. Naturally talented, determined and unafraid of hard work, Roan is every coach’s dream, and she has the medals and trophies to confirm it. Olympic legend Monty Montgomery is her coach, father and trainer all wrapped into one, and he demands strict obedience in every aspect of her life --- including their warped relationship, which extends far beyond the realms of dressage and parenthood. Mont wants Roan all to himself in every sense of the term, and under his watchful, exacting gaze, she feels powerless and controlled.

When we meet Roan, she is at the height of her young career as a rider, with nothing but success ahead of her. She and her father clearly share a love of horses, and descriptions of the preparation and training for events and competitions will put you right alongside them. However, Mihalic writes their early interactions with a “just can’t put your finger on it” edge; Mont is a tad too watchful, a bit too controlling. Throughout the first chapter, we watch as Roan struggles to treat her own bladder infection in secret, indicating that something is not quite right in her tightly scheduled, sheltered world. At the end of the first chapter, Mihalic drops the bombshell that readers have been trying to avoid: Mont has been sexually abusing his daughter for years, and no one --- not their stable hands, their fans or the reporters --- knows.

Roan has turned compartmentalization into a lifestyle, separating her father’s dark hold over her from his stellar coaching and managing to succeed despite all of it. And why should she do anything else? Mont has been abusing her since she was six years old, but he also has been the driving force behind her passion and success as a rider. And unfortunately for Roan, he is the more stable of her parents, with her mother vacillating between turning a blind eye to the abuse and blaming her for it by accusing her of choosing him over everyone else. Simply put, Roan doesn’t stand a chance of breaking out of Mont’s hold --- until she meets Will Howard.

High school is difficult even for a champion rider, if not more so, and the added attention puts Roan under intense scrutiny and teasing. When she stands up to her longtime bully, burnout and general bad kid Will backs her up. He has noticed the spark of fight in her and is immediately interested in this quiet, brilliant, successful girl who somehow can hold her own even in the world of teenage bullying. As Will carefully pursues Roan, she begins to wonder what a real relationship --- with no power hierarchy, violence or control --- would feel like, and whether or not she can even adapt to something so breathtakingly unfamiliar after years of trauma.

As Will and Roan grow close, Mont’s hold on Roan tightens. Every interaction is thick with tension and nuance, and in evocative, propulsive prose, Mihalic shows readers exactly what psychological control and abuse look like, and how drastically trauma can warp one’s sense of self. Mont is calculating and cruel, and he wields power over Roan masterfully, gaslighting and manipulating her until every punishment feels earned, deserved and even craved. In one particularly telling scene, Mont separates Roan from her beloved horse, the one with whom she dreams of winning medals, and remarks, “How much do you want him back? Enough to stop challenging me? Figure out what you want, darlin’. It’s your choice.” Mont is a perfect monster, a man so narcissistic and focused on perfection that his abuse of Roan feels almost inevitable. She is not his daughter --- she is an extension of legendary, infallible him --- and nothing is more attractive to him than that.

I could write for days about Mihalic’s expert portrayal of Mont, but the true star of DARK HORSES is Roan. She is talented and successful, and it would be so easy for her story to feel stereotypical. But her narrative is complicated and sticky, shocking and disturbing, yet full of respect for her and all she has endured. Mihalic’s handling of Roan’s conflicted emotions for her father --- fear and admiration coupled with her own sexual awakening --- is such well-written taboo that it feels almost icky to praise, yet I can do nothing but marvel at her ability to toe the line between discomfort and hypnotization. Just when you are ready to throw the book across the room, we are reminded that Roan is a young girl in an unimaginable position, and you must finish her story to honor her. This unforgettable protagonist knows she is trapped, but she continues to hope that she can control the situation and navigate her father’s abuse if only she remains perfect and focused.

It should go without saying that DARK HORSES is a difficult, painful novel to read, but it is not one that you should ignore if you can stomach it. It is a much-needed addition to the world of stories about victims escaping their abusers, and much like MY ABSOLUTE DARLING, it is as full of power and determination as it is pain. With gorgeous descriptions of the bonds between animals and humans and searing observations on abuse, courage and resilience, this powerhouse of a novel will sweep you off your feet and leave you raw.

Dark, disturbing, but an engaging read. Not a pick to recommend to everyone, but definitely interesting.