A great book that I enjoyed. The cover and title pulled me in first and, though it was very very differnt than I expected, I loved it a lot!
Great book for horse loving or good book loving people! ( )

{First of 3(?); Rose Legacy series. Fantasy, children’s, YA} (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. 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. Soon she finds that she has to rethink many of the things she has been taught to take for granted.

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. 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. Being inside a horse’s head was an interesting aspect, although initially they came across as being a bit servile. I thought the ending, especially the point at which Anthea meets the Rose Matron, was a bit confused and a bit rushed. 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 ( )

I truly enjoyed this book. It is a fun read with important life lessons inconspicuously sprinkled throughout. The main character, Anthea, is sent to live with relatives in an area that she had always been taught was for criminals. Suddenly EVERYTHING she had been taught comes into question as she comes to discover her true heritage - and her bond with horses. Animals she had been taught were extinct. It is a great story incorporating friendships, fantasy, a smidgen of magic & love of animals.!

Fun story! It does show its roots, as a story originally written by a 13-year-old - less by what it has (OK, lots of horses...) than by what's left out. I don't think we ever actually get an explanation of a magTaran, for instance; and there's a scene that's skipped over in a rather odd way. She's about to ride Florian...and suddenly it's later, and we are told she was stopped from riding and had to just lead him on a lead-rein. Maybe the scene was too long for its importance? I found it a disconcerting skip. It ends very easily, as well - the (terrible, dangerous) King is very quickly talked around (at least for the moment). And the throwaway lines at the end, that show the teenage girls had it right and the adult male's been going about things all wrong...amusing. And for all these flaws, I enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to the promised sequel. There's also quite a bit of depth to it - not discussed, but shown - the power of education and control of same. Anthea's multiple shocks on coming to the farm are entirely because of what she was taught - her view of the world is seriously skewed, and she has to deal with shifting it back. It reminded me somewhat of the forced schooling of many Native Americans - taught to think in the way of the invaders, so that the old culture dies out. Not so much here, though it's a fight to keep it going - I hope we get more detail on things in the later book(s). ( )

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. 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. 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. The pace is quick -- almost too quick, I thought, because sometimes events are just mentioned, rather than being fully described. This is one rare occasion where I feel that a book would have benefited from being just a tad bit longer. On the other hand, its brevity will probably work well of child readers who are anxious to get on with the story. The ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel, so I expect there will be more books set in this world -- though I'm not sure I will seek them out. On the other hand, readers who love horses and fantasy should certainly take a look at this book. ( )