Silverhorse (Katriona, #1-2) By Lene Kaaberbøl

There were three parts to this book:

The dark boring part, the dark annoying part and the dark confusing part.

OK, there was a part in the middle of that which was alright, when she was at the training place for Silvers, but that was relatively short.

OK, so picking up this book was a bit of a salute to my younger, horse-obsessed self. Silverhorse. The name jumped out and the small part of me that still squeals when anything horse-related comes up was awakened, and I grabbed the book without even really looking at it, then borrowed it and walked out of the library.

Ehh, big mistake.
First let me explain what I mean by 'dark'. I don't mean gruesome or whatever. I just mean the whole thing lacked any brightness or humour. You can imagine it raining the whole time, without any sunshine. There were no good moments, scenes that make you smile. So that made the whole thing not very enjoyable.

So we start off with Dark Boring Part. Kat lives in an inn with mother, siblings and stepfather (I do admit that the relationship between Kat and her step-father was somewhat interesting). Boring stuff happens. Something vague about a silver horse. Then, out of the blue Kat's mother randomly sends her away. Which brings us to Dark Annoying Part.

DAP was annoying for two main reasons. One was that it had no impact on the story, and was just not neccessary. It was a waste of my time to even read this part. The other reason was that this was where Kat's temper really came into play.
And it was the most bloody annoying thing to read.
She was moaning and complaining about how bad her life was, but it was her stupid fault for losing her temper!! Even small things that no normal person would think twice about seemed to be the greatest insult in history to Kat. It was overly done and it just annoyed me to think that the author actually thought that doing such a thing would help the story along. If the bad temper wasn't quite so bad, and if Kat had personality traits OTHER THAN temper, then maybe. But her temper defined her whole being and it annoyed me.

So in between this Annoying part and the Confusing part, there was a part which was actually OK. It was still a little pointless, but OK.

Then we reach Dark Confusing Part. This is confusing because
A) Kat gets kicked out of the Academy for no real good reason and the whole chapter where she's 'drunk' wasn't really properly explained.
B) After that, the whole thing is just random.

There are two things that would have made this better. If the whole 'World of Breda' thing was at the start, so we understood that only women could own land, and the whole 'family' thing and all that, instead of guessing for the first half and not comprehending what was going on.

And if it was more about the Silverhorses! For crying out loud, I only picked this book up for the horses part of it!! And only about five pages were dedicated to them. Either call your book something else (Kat-Is-An-Annoying-Protagonist) or actually make it about horses!!
English Review to come :) English One of my favourite books ever. Loved it! Kat was a great character and loved Simon. A MUST READ! English I really enjoyed this book - the background world was well imagined, the main characters likeable and the plot enagaging. Can't wait to get the next in the series English For at være ærlig er den her bog ikke lige for mig. Heste er mere mine venners type. Men ellers var den god. English

Lene Kaaberbøl Ñ 9 summary

In the country of Breda, men are forbidden a home to call their own. They live as nomads, resting only at the mercy of the ruling women. Kat's mother, Tess, the Maestra of Crowfoot Inn, is one of these powerful women and Kat has always known it is her destiny to follow in Tess' footsteps. But then one rain-swept night, a scarred woman comes to Crowfoot riding an extraordinary silver horse and Kat's world is turned upside down. From that moment on it is her burning ambition to become a Bredanari a keeper of the peace and rider of these magnificent creatures. But it isn't easy for a girl from the Vales to fit in at the Bredanari training academy in the big city. Worse still, Kat knows something which has put her life in danger. She has discovered the whereabouts of a dangerous outlaw.Now there are ruthless people who will do anything to keep her from revealing this secret, including leaving her unconscious on Hellhorse Mountain, where the beautiful but deadly stallions run wild. Kat soon finds herself deeply enmeshed in the dangerous plots and politics that threaten her country, not to mention the life of someone she has come to love. This is first of two spellbinding books following Kat's adventures. Silverhorse (Katriona, #1-2)

An amazing story about a girl with a strong will English A great change from the books that I've read lately. Nothing really supernatural about this book, except that there is a little bit of magic on a few occasions. Don't worry, its not one of those books where the author/main character goes on and on about their love for horses, or incessant talk of horses. This book is written from 12 year old Katriona's point of view. I actually didn't realize she was 12 years old until I came across it about a third way through the book. Don't worry, the writing style is mature, and so is the character surprisingly. Most of the time anyway. I found Kat to be a very likeable character, though at times she could be quite rash and distrustful of those around her. However given her background, I found it to be acceptable.


The plot is moderately paced, except during a few fight/action scenes where it feels a bit rushed. And also, there was one part where Kat goes back to Vale to visit her mother, and it ends there, then continues a few days later. There are also a few other parts where I wish the author would expand/develop more on, such as the scene between Kat and Birch, Kat and Tia's friendship, and Kat and Lu's friendship.


However, despite a few minor negative points, I found this book to be quite a good read. You should definitely read it if you like supernatural/fantasy but want a change from all the vampire, werewolf, and fallen angel genre. Like I said above, nothing quite supernatural-y. The world that the story is set in is fictional as well, and you would imagine a sort of middle ages kind of world. I am looking forward to reading the sequel, and you should too. English It was fantastic! I loved it! Great Charectars!!!!!!!! English 4.5🌟 English This book was leant to me for my holiday. I thought it was really good. I wish I could say more but unfortunately I can't remember much of it. All I can remember is that it was a fantastic book. English