Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was torn while reading this book because I found the main character thoroughly unlikeable. Every action she took was so obviously a plot device – I could see the consequences of her bad judgment coming a mile away and thought it was unbelievable and insulting to the reader that a character would act in such an obviously illogical manner. That said and main character aside, the writing itself was phenomenal. I sat up until 1am this morning finishing the book because I just didn’t want to put it down. This is the same author who wrote Water for Elephants which was one of the best books I read last year. I found the same delight in her descriptions, turns of phrase and the way she made me want to keep reading. Unfortunately, while I found the characters in Elephant to be interesting and imperfect, making human mistakes as they navigated their lives, AnneMarie in Riding Lessons was nothing but a caricature of a harried, middle-aged divorcee.

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