Thank you Gallery for the advanced copy!

CW: Sexual assault, abuse

Wow. This book is not for the faint of heart. Dark, twisted, and scary, Susan Mihalic’s “Dark Horses” is the story of young woman finding her power.

15 year old Roan Montgomery is the best of the best in the world of Equestrian. Trained by her past Olympian father, everything seems in order. However, what Roan faces at home is far from what the cameras see and not anything a teenager should be dealing with.

I found the story to be incredibly Greek, therefore very hard to stomach at times. The abuse in the book is brutal so I think it’s important readers know that going into the story. Mihalic’s story is really unlike anything I’ve ever read. Roan is a complex character dealing with serious monstrosity and trauma. As a character she gives a unique perspective on the abuse she deals with. I could feel the darkness in the words alone, and that was very effective.

Ok, first things first this book has many content warnings. The two most important are rape/sexual abuse of a minor and animal death.

It’s hard for me to put into worlds how I feel after spending a large part of the day reading this book with no breaks. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. The pacing, the character development, and the outrage you feel is a roller coaster and there was no way I was taking this book in chunks. It was an all or nothing read.

That said, I had to put it down and walk a way for a few minutes more than once. There are several visceral gut punches in this book and you literally will go blind with rage and sometimes grief. As someone who showed horses competitively I probably had some extra insight to how Roan’s mind worked during her training and competitions and how your horse and your future can feel like ist’s dangling by a thread at times. On top of being a child pushed to their limits, the control of an abuser over your animals that can definitely make you feel extra vulnerable.

This book is one of the most engrossing, disturbing, but worthwhile books I’ve ever read. That fact that this is a debut novel blows me away It’s very dark, ala Flowers in the Attic or My Dark Vanessa, but so much better written than either one.

Roan Montgomery is a pretty 15-year-old, living with her parents on a rural Virginia horse farm.
Her father is a charismatic, near-legendary Olympic Gold Medal horseman, trainer, and media personality.
He’s also a control freak of the highest order. He runs Roan's life as though she is his slave. He tells her what to wear, how to wear her hair when she will do her chores, her homework, and most of all when she will train on one of her three horses.
Because Montgomery is training his daughter to follow in his hallowed footsteps as an Olympic champion.
He’s also been sexually abusing her since she was scarcely out of diapers.
So Daddy does not allow Roan to date. He does not allow her to use the telephone unless he is present. He monitors her calls.
Roans mother and Monty’s wife is a lush who leaves in the first half of this stunning, frightening but wonderfully written work.
What will Roan do, trapped between her love for her horses, her desire to be a champion equestrienne, her desire to free herself from her father, and to live a life of her choosing?
Sorry, no spoiler. Read it, enjoy the author’s skill, and marvel at the world she had created.

This debut novel is a touching story about a girl who is pressured by her father to compete in the Olympics. It is a powerful story that shares the emotional trauma of the high demands and pressures that parents put on their children. After reading this book, I couldn't believe that this was a debut novel. I recently found out that the author attended college in my hometown. This book was a page-turner and I could hardly put it down. As a mother to a child who competes in competitive robotics, this book made me realize that child prodigies are just children. I was honored to receive a digital ARC copy of this book and my review is that anyone with children should read this book to realize the pressures we put upon our children. This was an unforgettable and gripping story.

I'm not sure where to begin with this story...it was disturbing, it was compulsively readable. It made you wince, think, feel.
The subject matter is a tough one, the characters are not always redeeming, but I could not stop turning the pages!
Thanks to #NetGalley for an arc!

An searing debut, this book left me feeling a lot of emotion. It tells the story of Roan Montgomery, a teen equestrian prodigy and the dynamic between her and her abusive coach and father. If you cannot read dark themes in fiction or otherwise, I would for sure skip this one. There is a huge theme of sexual and emotional abuse throughout. It reminded me of My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent.

But, in the end, and the reason that I appreciated the book so much was because of Roan's resilience. It was a coming of age story filled with hope and it stayed with me.

Dark Horses tells the story of 15-year-old Roan, an Olympic-caliber equestrian, and her father/coach who we soon learn has been abusing her sexually, mentally, and emotionally for many years. He controls every aspect of her life, until she meets a boy her own age and her father's hold over her starts to unravel. This is one of the most disturbing books I have ever read--but I absolutely could not put it down. With strong writing and characters, it's gripping, upsetting, and ultimately hopeful. I rooted so hard for Roan (and so hard against her dad) and really felt like I knew these characters. I definitely recommend it with the caveat being that this book is basically WHY trigger warnings were invented!

3.5 Intense Stars
Susan Mihalic has taken a story that will strike the reader in many ways. The intensity of feelings felt while reading may surprise, bring forward deep emotions not expected.

Roan Montgomery’s life is training and competing in equestrian events. Her father controls every area of her life but at 15, Roan starts to fight back. Angsty YA type story but with some intense descriptions of sexual abuse. Unfortunately none of the reactions of the characters felt real to me.

This book was pretty bad, and it had nothing to do with the subject matter. The reason I didn't like "Dark Horses" was the choppy writing style. I had a hard time caring about Roan, who is a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of her controlling father. I also didn't like the overall vibe. This novel could've been really compelling and powerful, but instead the vibe comes off like a '80s soap opera. You can not blend severe trauma and melodrama together, it just doesn't work. I also didn't enjoy the equestrian theme, it was pretty trite. Also, the dialogue was laughable. No one talks like that. Such an insulting book.

Thank you, Netgalley and Gallery Books for the digital ARC.

Release date: February, 16, 2021

Roan goes to “ritzy” prep school but gets off early to go home and train. She’s being trained to follow in her Olympian father steps in Dressage, Cross Country and Jumping. Her father is also her trainer. She does her very best to please him in all things. She follows all his rules. Her mother is very distant with her because she is always with “Daddy.” She has become an alcoholic and finally leave her daughter to live alone with her father, the staff and horses. Roan loves one horse in particular whose name is Jasper. Will a schoolmate gives Roan a ride home when no one comes to pick her up from school. Her father gets angry with her for not staying at school until he gets there regardless how late he might be. Roan manages to get to know Will and is there for him when his brother has died. They manage to become lovers in spite of her dad’s rules. The main rules are: no boys, good grades and don’t complain. She has been sexually abused by her father since she was six. Once, she got brave enough to tell her mother. What did her mother do when she found out? Her father has her under his thumb and won’t let go. Roan wants her freedom but doesn’t know. What to do. She wants to ride Jasper at the Olympics more than anything. What will she do? Can she stand up to her father and not lose all that she does treasure and love?

This isn’t an easy book to read at times due to the subject of sexual abuse. It is an important subject that should not be hidden from others. It does happen often with a parent, but it can happen with a neighbor or a friend of the family or even a stranger. It’s a great story about a girl who finds out she is. I like learning about the events that they do for horses. I understood the difficulty and the mixed complicated emotions Roan had throughout the story.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review or any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Roan Montgomery is beautiful, wealthy, and an Olympic hopeful in equestrian eventing. Her image is everything according to the father who is her coach and agent. However when Roan becomes too close to a high school classmate, she is jeopardizing everything, including a closely held disturbing secret. The reader will root for Roan throughout the book. The writing style is plain. A first person narrative adds to the immediacy of the threats.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

This was definitely a tough read(in a good way). I could not comprehend some of the horrors in this novel. It was well written and definitely had me flipping through each page to see what happens. I definitely recommend to anyone who can stomach it. I will be watching for new books by this author. Great debut!

Pub Date:Feb 2021

All the trigger warnings - This is a very a difficult and uncomfortable read. Just thinking about the topics of incest and child abuse can trigger strong emotions and Dark Horses was relentless in describing Roan Montgomery's experiences with her father making this a very challenging read. Roan's voice throughout was powerful and authentic and I could not put the book down. I was very quickly emotionally invested in this story. I don't think I have ever wished so hard for the death of a character in a book than I wished for this author to execute Roan's father in the most painful way possible. The reader is not spared from experiencing those feelings of powerlessness alongside the main character in the face the seemingly invulnerable omnipotence of her Olympic gold medal champion father and her mother's emotional abandonment. She survived by focusing all of her energy into her beloved horses and her own Olympic ambitions and risks everything by getting close to Will Howard, a classmate. I was drawn in by the bittersweet relationship between Roan and Will and also with her horses. I was sickened by the way her father used that love of her horses to control her and buy her silence and continued compliance. I highly recommend this to those who like dark, emotional books and are aware of the many trigger warnings. This was an excellent excellent read - unquestionable 5 stars.

This was a very dark, graphic, and troubling novel. Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic centers around Roan, an equestrian prodigy who comes from an Olympian father. Her mother is disconnected and uninterested in Roan, she’s busy having an affair with the principal at Roan’s school.

Roan’s world is all about horses and competitions. Not only is her father controlling, but he is also abusive, sexually abusing young Roan. This book should come with a warning on it because the scenes are extremely troubling and uncomfortable.

As Roan trains and competes, she deals with her classmates and also her horrible parents. She starts a relationship with a boy from school named Will who proves to be a good friend to Roan and remains a consistent presence in Roan’s life as her father does… stuff to her.

Synopsis:

Fifteen-year-old equestrian prodigy Roan Montgomery has only ever known two worlds: inside the riding arena, and outside of it. Both, for as long as she can remember, have been ruled by her father, who demands strict obedience in all areas of her life. The warped power dynamic of coach and rider extends far beyond the stables, and Roan’s relationship with her father has long been inappropriate. She has been able to compartmentalize that dark aspect of her life, ruthlessly focusing on her ambitions as a rider heading for the Olympics, just as her father had done. However, her developing relationship with Will Howard, a boy her own age, broadens the scope of her vision.



What a story! Will you be reading this?

Dark Horses comes out on February 16.

Publisher sent me email of this upcoming novel
"A dark gripping debut novel" ... I wanted to read it!

Travel to Virginia, to Rosemont, a private estate
that keeps strangers out but also keeps secrets in.
Everyone sees a strong, charming, loving father
There is more darkness behind the fences.

The descriptions of competitions had me front row.

A worthy debut - don't miss this book!!

This book would have been better to stomach if Roan hadn't been so flippant and accepting of the years of abuse she endured. It become quite painful and disturbing to continue reading about the abuse.

It is a breathtaking and gripping look at a teen girl’s life in a wholly dysfunctional family. Dark Horses is a deep and dark story of a strict and demanding parent and of child sexual abuse. I feel that the topic needs to be shared as this book would be a trigger for some people. To say the writing is masterful would be an understatement. There are no words for this debut.

5+ stars for Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic. Oh my goodness what a novel. It is so well written, half through the novel I started googling Roan Montgomery to see if there really was an Olympian with this name. And at the end, I checked again to see if it really was a “novel” and not a “memoir”. I have never read any fictional story that was so intense, real, compelling, raw, passionate and so heart-crushing. Never mind this is her debut novel!!! Roan Montgomery is a want-to-be Olympian Equestrian who is trained by past Olympic glory called her Father. It is said all Olympians have a story and boy does Roan have a story to tell. You may read this one with your eyes but it will go straight to your heart. Thank you to NetGalley and Galley books for the chance to read the best book I’ve read in a long time. Don’t delay, I would pre-order this jewel. The publication date is February 16, 2021.

An absolute stunner of a novel, Dark Horses is searing and brilliantly written. It's just phenomenal! Very highly recommended.