Horses, friendship, fandoms, and more! A really fun graphic novel~

First up, a big big thank you to my hubby for buying this one for my birthday (Feb 5th). I have been eyeing this graphic novel for ages, I just love books about horses and so this one was HIGH on the list.

Before I start with all the good, and yes, normally I start with the good, I want to get my frustrations out of the way for one thing that almost had me stop reading the book and that annoyed me for most of the book.

🤬 Namely Noreen, or Norrie. What a total fucking bitch. She acted more like a 6-8 year old rather than the 12 years she is supposed to be. Her constant OMG Waverly is OUR NEMESIS OOOHHHHHH  WE MUST DEFEAT THEM!!!! was highly annoying and she KEPT going on and on and on about it throughout the book. Seriously girl, what the fuck. Her image of Victoria is instantly coloured because Victoria is from that stable. And when Victoria is NOT in the mood for someone who talks like she is on speed, sure Victoria could have been a bit more tactful but I still think she did it very politely, Norrie goes in full anger campaign and does some weird shunning shit and constantly talks shit about Victoria. Based on ONE conversation and all the assumptions she has about riders from another stable. She even drags her two friends in with it and I was just so pissed. Instead of them forming their own opinions they are going with what Norrie says and that is just so fucking toxic. I get that Victoria isn’t the easiest, but respect her choices at least. Geez. SO yeah, I was strongly considering DNF-ing the book after seeing SO much of Norrie’s stupidity/ass-hattery/dumbfuckery/the fact she has her own POV. Thankfully, there were other elements that pulled me through and that made me love the book in the end. But seriously, Norrie, go fuck yourself.

🥰 The horses! I just love horses and would have been a rabid horse girl if it wasn’t for allergies. I loved seeing the girls (and our one boy) take care of the horses, I loved seeing Victoria ride and find her love again for just riding, I loved the stables and wished I could pop in the story and have zero allergies, I loved seeing Victoria connect with the horses and see her just become a total different person, and then there is the competition at the end where I was just rooting for Hazel (so happy for her) and Victoria and Sam (had to look that name up, sorry dude).
🥰 The fandom! The whole Beyond the Galaxy which reminded me strongly of Star Trek. And I just loved how eager all these kids were for the newest season, for new material. I loved seeing them bond (or at least Sam, Hazel, and Victoria, fuck Norrie), make cosplay, think of fun ways to celebrate the new season (which include some help of Victoria’s older sister), share fun things together, plus, see Victoria’s memories of the show.
🥰 The cover is so cute and so fun!
🥰 Victoria really grows in this story, from a loner to finding friends and family and happiness. I could definitely understand why she was acting like this, given all that we learn about her ex-friend + that it wasn’t easy for Victoria to have lessons and make decisions because her family isn’t rich.
🥰 The art! But then again this is Faith Erin Hicks, one of my favourite artists!
🥰 I loved how the owner of the Edgewood stables took faith in Victoria and gave her chances! That was just so sweet. Victoria was new, but the owner knew that she was good.
🥰 I fully agree, ponies are evil. Especially Shetland ponies. LORD. Yes, I am allergic to horses/the dust/hair stuff/hay, but I did some caring for Shetland ponies with someone else when I worked on a farm (making sure I was filled up with allergy meds, haha).

All in all, despite Norrie, I really enjoyed this one and I am happy I got the chance to read it finally! Thank you hubby!