Review: The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff

Pell is set to be married and she couldn't want anything less. So with a vague plan in mind, she takes off with her favorite horse, and her little brother, who doesn't speak and who won't be left behind.

Her plan is to go to the horse fair, where she hopes to get a job. She has a gift with horses and a sharp eye for spotting healthy horses and their disposition. But life on the road isn't as easy as she first imagined and she faces several setbacks in her quest for self-sufficiency.

This book is kind of hard to review. First of all, it's very slim, at only 214 pages. Secondly, it has that sort of not real feel to it....like The Good Thief. It takes place in the past, but the time seems of little consequence to the actual story. The writing is lovely and perceptive and probably what kept me reading, because while I wished for Pell to succeed, there wasn't a whole lot for me to hang onto in this story. There was a great deal of sorrow, suffering, and disappointment and while there were a few small surprises, the overall plot was, I don't know, just not that exciting. I think if I had been able to read it uninterrupted, I may have enjoyed it more, but I had to read it in little bits and snatches and I wasn't ever really thinking about it when I wasn't reading it.

But it wasn't a bad read, like I said, the writing was really nice. I also think the cover is pretty fantastic. (which has nothing to do with anything really, except that I like the cover) I've heard really good things about this author's other books and I think I'll check them out.

Rating: 3.75/5
Source of Book: Review copy received from Viking Penguin