Helpful Score: 5
I was excited to pick up this book, mostly because of the hype about Water for Elephants. I have to admit that I started skimming about 2/3 of the way through. The protagonist, Annemarie, is often more despicable than sympathetic, and the book was making me cringe. She is utterly incompetent in her personal and professional life. Although, naturally, she finds her way in the end, it was difficult as a reader to struggle along with her. I'll read/skim the sequel, but only because I got both books at once and it's already on my shelf.
Helpful Score: 5
really good book! if you love horses and a book that you cant put down than this is the book for you!
Helpful Score: 3
This book held my interest to the point where I gobbled it up in a day! Also, have read the sequel, Flying Changes, and enjoyed that one also. It was an easy read and the characters were interesting.
Helpful Score: 3
There is no doubt about it: Sara Gruen can write. I read this first book in the series after I read the second one, Flying Changes, and I was impressed with both of them. It's a touching story of a woman finding her way through a life turned upside down - again - and doing her best to make the right choices. She's like anyone else who has ever been uncertain or felt like they were flying blind, so I could relate to everything she went through. I love that Sara Gruen's characters are so real, they could be your neighbor, your best friend, your sister, your mother...there is something for everyone to relate to here. I was sorry when it was over, and I hope there is a third book in the series.
Helpful Score: 2
Annemarie Zimmer is a whining, self-centered woman. After the first 50 pages, I just wanted to grab her and shake her. But I kept reading, hoping she would ultimately change. She didn't. When I finished the book, I wondered why I had wasted my time reading about a character who refused to learn, change or grow up. A waste...
Jeanette R. (thebeakeeper) reviewed Riding Lessons (Annemarie Zimmer, Bk 1) on + 167 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
i picked this book up in Mexico on the book exchange table at the school where bea and i took spanish. id never heard of it but it's by the author of like water for elephants, which i loved so i thought id give it a try. so....its absolutely nothing like water for elephants. its written differently, in an..easier language, a little less sophisticated. its about a woman who when she was younger was a famous horse rider on her way to the olympics when she had a horrible accident and never rode again. shes now going through some life issues and everything comes back to her days as a young girl. i really liked it and am looking forward to reading the sequel.
Helpful Score: 2
This is a review of the audio version of this book originally published at Publisher's Weekly and I agree with it 100%. "When the main character in a novel is as annoying as a boil, an audio performer must be thrilled at the chance to portray someone who isn't particularly nice or competent. Maggi-Meg Reed's Annemarie shouts, cries, whines, cajoles and lies her way through escalating crises. Reed is superb. She does an equally adept rendering of the other characters, including Annemarie's mother, with her thick Austrian accent and tight-lipped stoic voice. Eve, Annemarie's daughter, is a perfectly petulant teenager, speaking to her mother in a strident and querulous tone. A local policewoman has such a perfect New Hampshire accent that one wonders why the other locals don't. Despite the unsympathetic Annemarie, Reed's stellar performance makes Gruen's 2004 debut novel hard to turn off."
Now my 2 cents - this audio book kept me coming back for more even though I was constantly yelling "I HATE ANNMARIE ZIMMER!" - the main character has so many flaws and is so unlikeable that it took the perfection of Maggi-Meg Reed's narration to keep me enthralled.
If you find yourself having a hard time reading the book, give the audio version a try. It's worth listening to.
Now my 2 cents - this audio book kept me coming back for more even though I was constantly yelling "I HATE ANNMARIE ZIMMER!" - the main character has so many flaws and is so unlikeable that it took the perfection of Maggi-Meg Reed's narration to keep me enthralled.
If you find yourself having a hard time reading the book, give the audio version a try. It's worth listening to.
Helpful Score: 2
This was a decent read - not nearly as good as Water For Elephants, but it was ok. I didn't find myself liking any of the characters, and most of the book is about how the main character, Annemarie, watches her life unravel, yet she never really changes. She's not a likeable person, and I didn't feel any sympathy for her.
Helpful Score: 2
Excellent read whether you like horses are not.
Helpful Score: 2
Great book, quick read
Christine O. (crissyreader) reviewed Riding Lessons (Annemarie Zimmer, Bk 1) on + 275 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is an extremely well written book about conquering fear, the strength of family, and healing. By the author of Water for Elephants, Riding Lessons will carry you along in a great story.
My book group chose this book. Two people loved it. I thought it was okay. (The other person wasn't there.)
I think the story line is interesting, and my friends thought it was compelling. I thought it lacked "beautiful writing", but had a story that moved forward.
Not my favorite, but it was okay.
I think the story line is interesting, and my friends thought it was compelling. I thought it lacked "beautiful writing", but had a story that moved forward.
Not my favorite, but it was okay.
Helpful Score: 1
I'm impressed with this author, she is very skilled in creating characters. The main character in this story isn't the perfect heroine some of the previous reviewers obviously wanted, but a "real" person, complete with flaws. She has struggles in many facets of her life just like many real people do. Sara Gruen also obviously knows many of the issues that trouble us in the "horse world" such as the plight of Premarin mares & foals. I'm looking forward to reading the second of the series "Flying Changes".
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book! Couldn't put it down and read it in one day.
Wonderful book. Couldn't put it down.
Joyce B. (tripletmom) -
Another great story by Sara Gruen. Couldn't put the book down. You can feel the characters ups & downs. Emotional at times. Highly recommend.
