Such a good writer. Each book I have read by Moyes is an original. Her characters are well developed and never fail to engage. Her stories make you think as well as pull at the heart strings. It took me a while to get around to reading this but so glad I did. It is a treat for the imagination

When I first started reading this book I must admit for the first 20% or so I did struggle and contemplated continuing, however I was so glad that I did.
This is a long book so please don’t expect to complete it in a short sitting, but it is however one of the most beautifully descriptive books I have read by the queen of story telling.
I don’t feel I can give a full review without giving some of the plot away and I don’t want to ruin it for potential readers. But it’s a tale of despair, with so much more thrown in. Just hypnotising and beautiful!

I love Jojo Moyes books and she is one of my favourite authors. I was excited to get a copy of her book The Horse Dancer. However, I’m disappointed to say that this was one of my least favourite JoJo Moyes books. I felt it had the potential to be great but the plot dragged in places and was full of unnecessary details.

This book did not peek my interest the way Jo Jo Moyes' better known titles did but I am so glad I persevered with it. A lovely book full of emotion, sadness, joy and love.

This book took me a while to get into and I found myself skipping sections however overall I did enjoy it just not as much as other Jojo Moyes books.

When I saw this book come up on Netgalley, I thought I would give it a shot before I saw how many pages it had. If I had registered that I might not have tried to read it, but I am glad things unfolded the way they did. It is bigger than the others I read (or at least feels more). I felt like there were large chunks of the tale, which could have been pruned while retaining the emotions of the story. I say this at the start of the review only because I almost gave up on it in the first chapter. If I had done that I would not have spent the better part of the evening hours in tears for the lives of the people within its pages. This last bit is a good thing in some ways and not as bad as it sounds. I only weep with a book if it reaches into me with the narration. 

Once the story moves past the prologue (which consists of a prestigious show involving horses), we are brought to the present. On one end, we have Sarah who lives with her grandfather and him with his memories. Her one true love is their horse and the time she spends with Boo. The other is Natasha, who is a busy lawyer who does a taxing job. Her married life has reached an odd point, and she is living by herself. When their paths cross, neither can retain a semblance of their old life whether they want to or not. 

As mentioned earlier, there were some situations which felt like they dragged. Still, the people introduced to us, and all their connections and the heartfelt lessons they learn on their journey (and ours with them) were portrayed with a lot of heart. There were so many pages when I felt like shaking one or the other character to knock some sense into them and for them to avoid further heartache. The story, however, took its own pace to reach the inevitable but well fought- for ending.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Me Before You is one of my favourite books so I jumped at the chance to read this new offering

Sadly it wasnt my cup of tea, I really struggled to get into the story & found myself skimming parts - not for me

I struggled with this book. I'm a huge fan of the author and have loved her previous works but this novel fell flat for me.

An engaging and spectacular story about the power of friendship and believing in your dreams

14-year old Sarah Lachapelle lives in a rundown flat on the outskirts of London with her beloved grandfather Henri. They don’t have much in terms of material possessions, but Sarah’s pride and joy is her beloved thoroughbred horse named Boo, who is a majestic Selle Francais. She hopes to one day follow in her grandpa’s footsteps with Boo and join Le Cadre Noire, a prestigious French riding school that only accepts the best of the best. When disaster strikes, Sarah crosses paths with divorced lawyer Natasha, who is struggling to juggle her career and the challenge of still sharing a house with her ex-husband Mac. As their lives intertwine, each may find that the other can help them achieve their dreams in ways that neither of them expected, but only as long as they’re able to trust each other.

This was a highly enjoyable and readable novel with a unique setting and likeable characters. I have not read many books about horses before and certainly none focussing on the competitive world of dressage horses ('horse dancers'), which made this book even more interesting to me. It opens with a flashback to Henri Lachapelle’s youth as a young rider in La Cadre Noire and regularly returns to his story throughout the book, giving the reader background on his life and helping us to understand his motivations in getting his granddaughter involved in the world of horses. Sarah herself is an unusual and sweet girl, and Natasha comes across as likeable despite having a slightly stereotypical 'cold lawyer' exterior. All of the characters are extremely well-imagined, believable and empathetic, and their relationships come across as genuine and not contrived to force the plot along. This is ultimately a story of the friendship and love that can be shared between a human and an animal, and the result is a heart-warming tale with plenty of suspense and sorrow but humour and happiness as well.

This wasn’t a perfect novel by any means – some of the minor subplots (such as those around Natasha’s legal work) were a little unnecessary in what was already quite a long novel, and the romance aspect was a little predictable at the end. As with many novels, some parts of it were a little difficult to believe, and the ending felt a bit too neat. At times, Sarah's behaviour did come across as quite annoying, and some of her decisions seemed illogical, but then she is meant to be a naïve and idealistic fourteen-year-old girl, and the author actually portrays her mindset and the rationalisation behind her choices very well.

This was my first time reading a book by this author, despite her being reasonably well known, but I am hopeful it will not be the last. I would not describe myself as a 'horse person' at all, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book regardless and would recommend it to anyone looking for an emotional and slightly different story.

Daenerys

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.

What can I say about this fantastic book. As with all of Jojo Moyes books, it was so difficult to put down. Despite not having any interest whatsoever in horses, I was drawn into the story from the start. So beautifully written, great characterisation, fabulous storyline, I loved this book. Such a poignant story, a tale of love and loss, so emotional, so powerful.

I highly recommend this book and all of Jojo Moyes other books - you will not be disappointed.

I would give more than 5 stars if I could.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is well researched and well written with a great cast of characters.

If you are looking for a can't put it down book then look no further.

Highly recommended!!

Amazing story, so very poignant and at times bought a tear to my eye. The story telling is superb with an ability to wholly translate emotions from paper to the reader. Fantastic tale that just makes you will the main characters to their conclusion. Highly recommended.

Thank you NetGalley.

I found this book a struggle. I love Jojo Moyes but I’m not really into horses and large parts of the story were therefore uninteresting.

I’m glad I read it as I like to read all books by favourite authors, but I won’t rush back to it.

Thank you to NetGalley for my chance to read this book.

I'm not really that interested in horses if I'm honest. Which made parts of this book very difficult to read. But one thing you can count on from a Jojo Moyes book is to be utterly heartbroken and uplifted.

I love Jojo Moyes’ writing and have read most of her books. She writes sympathetically and with a real sense of knowing her subjects. So I was prepared to fall head over heels, phone off the hook in love with this book. And I kind of did. The book is, IMO too too slow to start, too too descriptive about horses, I admit to skimming huge swathes initially. However once Sarah starts her story proper the book is moving, inspiring and emotional. Give it a go!

I have to say, I absolutely love Jojo moyes. I am a huge fan of hers, and so the chance to read one of the few of her older books that I've missed out on was one that I was super excited by.

I was left a bit disappointed through - personally, I'm not that keen on horses, and so I struggled a bit with the areas that were very descriptive and to me, not very interesting. I also found it a bit slower than some of her other books, and struggled to keep my attention focused.

I did love the relationship that is central to the novel though, and found it very moving. So yeah, a mix of good and bad. Worth a read if you like her other work, and definitely if you like horses, just not as good as her more recent novels.

I remember reading this book many years ago and found it very slow to start and gave this book to my little sister to read. (never got it back!) So when The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes came available to read again I thought I would give it ago. I found this book slow at the beginning but once I got into it I enjoyed it. It was a lovely read about a fourteen year old girl called Sarah Lachapelle is being brought up by her grandfather, They both have a love of horses and Sarah owns her own horse.
Good read if you love horses.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest, I struggled with this book.

I'm a huge fan of the author and have loved their previous works but this novel fell flat for me.

It's never taken me more than a couple of days to finish a book but this one took over 6 weeks to complete.

There just wasn't enough within the content to make me want to keep turning the pages. I stuck with it as I had hoped the story would improve the further I progressed with it but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

That's not to say that others won't enjoy it but if you're looking for something with a bit more emotion and drama, then I suggest you look elsewhere.

Sarah lives with her grandfather Henri, they share a passion for horses that spans the decades between them. Henri has a plan for them, a way to escape their life in the grey and dreary streets of London, but things don’t always go to plan.
Natasha is a successful solicitor, Mac is a slightly less successful photographer, they’re getting a divorce.
These two sets of people are about to become unexpectedly linked and it will change everything.
A beautifully written story of life, love, loss, grief and the complexities of relationships. I read it in less than two days I felt so engaged with the characters and their lives. They frustrated me regularly, but they also filled my heart with love.
I cried tears of sadness and tears of happiness.
I’m so glad this is being republished for a whole new audience to enjoy its magic.
My thanks to #NetGalley and #HodderBooks for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review

Another fabulous read by JoJo, full of emotion and heart. Beautifully written, wonderful characters and you can’t put it down. It’s a beautiful tale.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion