Book Review: City of Horses by Frances Moloney

Title: City of Horses

Author: Frances Moloney

Page Count: 224

Publish Date: April 1, 2025

Publisher: Pushkin Children’s Books

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Synopsis:

New home. New friendships. New rules.

Thirteen-year-old Misty’s life is about to be turned upside down. When her dad loses his job, they’re forced to move to Redbridge – a world away from her house and her friends. But this new part of town brings plenty of surprises – she wasn’t expecting to live somewhere that horses run free, and she certainly wasn’t expecting to meet Dylan, a mysterious local boy who loves horses…

Misty is determined to keep up appearances and hide this new version of life from her old friends at all costs. But the horses she has grown to love come under threat, and she must fight for the courage to stand up for what she believes, and to help save the place she now calls home.

This is a heart-warming story for pony-loving middle grade readers, covering a broad range of topics involved in overcoming new challenges. Handling topics such as friendship, family, grief, unemployment, and moving home with a masterful touch, the book will appeal to young readers who like friendship drama and realistic novels where characters are resourceful and determined to make a difference. This is a touching and convincing portrait of an adolescent forced to grow up before her time, but at the heart of this uplifting book is a time-old story of the transformative bond between animal and child.

City of Horses

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My Review:

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book via NetGalley.

It’s been a long time since I have read a middle-grade book but I’m a sucker for a story involving horses, so I wanted to check this one out.

Misty and her two best friends, Jasmine and Ruby, have a close bond that shows right from the beginning. Jasmine is my favorite of the pair because she is more levelheaded and understanding, whereas Ruby can be self-centered.

Despite losing her mom a few years ago, Misty has a loving father who does whatever he can to make sure Misty is provided for – even if some of those decisions don’t sit well with Misty. Her age does play a factor in her not fully understanding why certain things must happen.

While dealing with her father’s job loss and moving to Redbridge, Misty goes through a pre-teen crisis. There is a bit too much teen drama thrown in at this point, with Misty assuming that because she is moving away, her friends will disown her or something else, so she cuts them off completely. Then she is shocked that they don’t welcome her back with open arms when she does talk to them again.

Perhaps because I am much older than the demographic for this book, but this part grated on my nerves a bit because Misty seemed to be doing everything she could to put a wedge between her and her friends while also desperately wanting them to be there for her.

The town of Redbridge doesn’t have much going for it at first glance, but there are horses, and that is the thing that brings new friends into Misty’s world. While Carin and Dylan don’t immediately bond with Misty, the common thread of horses pulls these three together into a wonderful friendship.

Carin’s mom, Judy, and their uncle Frank play important roles in helping Misty and her father feel welcomed and become a part of the Redbridge community. Frank is a big help in getting Misty to develop a love and understanding of the horses.

Watching Misty learn about the joy of horses, the freedom they give, and the love you can feel for them was my favorite part of the story. It’s a shame this part of the story seems so small given the significance the horses play as the main sticking point of the novel.

It does take a while to get to the main crux of the story, which is the free-roaming horses coming under threat of development. This finally spurs Misty into caring about Redbridge as she, Carin, Dylan, and a few others work to save the horses and the commons area of Redbridge.

Throughout this book, Misty and her dad’s relationship is awkward at best. I can understand why, to a certain extent, but it also felt that this was dragged on a bit too long, given everything happening.

While I understand why Misty was the driving force behind trying to save the horses, after all, she is the main character, it didn’t quite feel right. Maybe it was because I was tired of her ways at this point, even though she had made strides to deal with the rift that she had put between her and her friends as well as her father, but I wished the focus of this had been put more of the other locals, such as Carin.

Overall, I thought City of Horses was decent. I do believe I would have liked it more if I were younger. Reading middle-grade books as an adult gives you an entirely different experience than when reading them as a child. Even so, I will consider adding other books by the author to my TBR.

I hope you enjoyed my review of City of Horses. Have you read this book?

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