Sunday 12 April 2015

The Glory by Lauren St John (Young Adult, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

 March 2015, Orion Children's, 320 pages, Hardback, Review copy

Content: teen romance, cruel tricks, hardship,

Summary from Amazon UK (Since Orion website doesn't like me. I don't gain anything through mentioning Amazon)
A Girl on the Run from the Law
Alexandra Blakewood has everything any teenager could wish for, apart from the horse she'd love, but she won't stop getting into trouble. Sent to a US boot camp, she dreams of escaping. It seems impossible until she's told about a gruelling 1,200 mile horse race across the American West...

A Boy on a Mission to Save a Life
Will Greyton was the star student at his Tennessee high school until his father was laid off. Now Will works at a burger joint. When his dad falls ill, it seems things can't get any worse. An operation will save him, but there's no way to pay for it. Then Will hears about The Glory, a deadly endurance race with a $250,000 purse, open to any rider daring enough to attempt it...

Nayu's thoughts  
Squee! Yet another brilliant horse read from the talented Lauren. There's all her trademark points of complex main characters who have attitude and life circumstances which are less than ideal. There are 'enemies' (for lack of a better word) who are cruel, manipulative and underhanded. I liked how dramatically both Will and Alex enter each others' lives, continue to be at odds for a fair part of the novel, and how much they grow as people by the end. 

They both endure heartache for themselves and their animals. They face lots of trouble, which to be fair Alex not so much deserves but she does have attitude issues so the difficulties she and Will face develops them personally, helps them draw on inner strength neither knew they had. I mean that both literally and figuratively, since The Glory is a month long race that is daunting for all who entered it. Alex is a little bit too wishful in leaving her troubles behind her, but rest assured by the end things have a way of working themselves out, even the parts which I thought Alex couldn't get out of but thanks to the generosity and mercy of other characters she doesn't have to deal with the fall-out. 

Not being a direct horse fan I found it interesting learning how horses needed to be treated when they are on a super long race, how much rest they need and the type of nutrition they are given while in the race. Whatever faults Alex and Will have, they adore their horses and do anything for them. Grace can be a little minx but I had to give her credit for some of her 'crimes' because she put a lot of thought into what she did (mostly...she did also act on spur of the moment which did put her in danger). 

I'd better stop here as this part of the review isn't quite short (but I did type at top speed) or I'll end up telling the entire story! Know that you will need tissues when you read this, you will get a wide range of emotions for all the characters, and will definitely want to reread this one day. You might like to know that since reading it I've learnt there will be a film! 

Find out more on Lauren's website

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