Book Review – The God of Animals

‘The God of Animals’ by Aryn Kyle was a surprisingly great book! I say surprisingly because I’d never heard of the author, or the book, before I picked it up. The image of a horse on the cover drew me in, and the description on the back included many great reviews. One of the reviews mentioned that although the setting was mainly on a family horse ranch, the book was not a “horse book”. Well, I disagree. I think it’s a wonderful representation of real, gritty, challenging and sometimes just plain hard life with horses. And the hard life of a teenager.

The story is narrated by a 12-year old girl named Alice, whose father owns and operates a boarding stable. The story starts off with major changes in Alice’s already complicated life. A sister who eloped, a mom with major emotional issues, an overworked father and the girl who takes lessons. These characters are developed so well, I feel like I have met each and every one of them at some point in my life. I loved reading from the viewpoint of Alice and found myself remembering and relating to a lot of her experiences. As more characters enter into Alice’s life, she struggles with new relationships and tries to learn what it means to be a true friend.

There are some parts in this book that I was not particularly fond of, but I did really enjoy this book as a whole. I found myself thinking about the characters after the book had ended and wondering whatever happened to Alice. I guess that means the author did her job – and did it well!