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The God of Animals
The God of Animals
Author: Aryn Kyle
When her older sister runs away to marry a rodeo cowboy, twelve-year-old Alice Winston is left to bear the brunt of her family's trouble--a depressed, bedridden mother, a reticent, overworked father; and a run-down horse ranch in Desert Valley, Colorado. To make ends meet, the Winstons board the horses of rich neighbors, and as their lives becom...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9781416533252
ISBN-10: 1416533257
Publication Date: 3/4/2008
Pages: 320
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 78

3.7 stars, based on 78 ratings
Publisher: Scribner
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Mom2EmNAbby avatar reviewed The God of Animals on + 49 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 14
this book is depressing & sad. It starts off that way & it never gets better. The lead girl sometimes garners sympathy but mainly not, when she ought to feel empathy she never does. She most always chooses cruelty over kindness. Its hard to feel sympathy for anyone in this book but the horses & thats what makes it hard to read....rarely do the horses get treated like anything but crap. I read this thinking itd be similar to "chosen by a horse" and I got more & more horrified chapter by chapter. By the last few pages I knew nothing good was to come but I kept reading bc HEY, you never know!! I dont WANT to give anything away but if you LOVE & ADORE animals like me, this book will break your heart. You will HATE all the characters but one kind hearted soul & the torture inflicted upon the animals in this book will be hard to read about. Also....I used to think that I LIKED sad books, regardless of if they were about humans or animals, I changed my mind. I wish Id never read this book. The torture of horses told about in this book make me wish Id never picked it up.
taaza avatar reviewed The God of Animals on + 56 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 9
Debut book by a new author - kept me riveted until the very last page. Told from the viewpoint of a 12 year old girl and the trials and tribulations of her family's struggling horse farm in rural Colorado. At times shocking, at times touching, this book covers many emotions. Not what you might expect. It's better.
MaGee avatar reviewed The God of Animals on + 43 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
Twelve is an odd age. It is the start of the time between child and adulthood. For each of us there is a of memorable events that impact us forever. For Alice Winston that life effecting year is her twelfth year. Sometimes very mature, sometimes childish, sometimes insightful, she relates the impact these events had on her life.

I read mixed reviews on this book but read it anyway. I am glad I did. There are funny moments, sad moments, poignant moments. There are times I wondered about her active imagination and where it would lead her. One conclusion to which she came was that, "Blame is, in fact, irrelevant, if only because it changes nothing." I wish I had learned that in my early teens!

This is a coming of age book that all ages can enjoy.
reviewed The God of Animals on + 173 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
You will be sucked into Alice's life, a sad one on the family's horse farm. She's adrift with the loss of her one friend, the departure of her sister and the virtual death of her depressed mother. She's a seeker, looking to fill the emotional emptiness in her life through a number of misguided channels. Captivating!
bookluver-in-sc avatar reviewed The God of Animals on + 229 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
I really enjoyed this book. It's the story of a young girl who when her sister leaves home to get married has to take on the job of helping keep the horse ranch running, with her father. It is a moving story of a young girl and the trouble with growing up, learning of life and how the world works.
Read All 29 Book Reviews of "The God of Animals"

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reviewed The God of Animals on
This would make a good movie. It is a good story well told.
reviewed The God of Animals on + 636 more book reviews
I really enjoyed this book. Of course, I do love child narrators and like a lot of girls, I went through a horse phase. It was an interesting setting, too, giving the book a sort of timeless feel - making it difficult to pin down the year of the book. This really added to the feel and flow of the entire story. There were a few things that I was surprised didn't turn out to be more of the plot - Polly Cain's death did not have much of a resolution (and I had been so sure she had been murdered...) and the relationship between Alice and her English teacher. Both of those subplots really added to the overall tension of the novel, and they were interesting, but I was surprised at my own wasted worry. The end was a bit of a disappointment, as there was an attempt to make a sort of grand summary that fell a bit flat and left some pretty gaping holes... still it was a very good, surprisingly sad, story.
pj-s-bookcorner avatar reviewed The God of Animals on + 885 more book reviews
There were moments when I really liked this book, but overall wasn't excited about it. Good story concept. Just didn't feel involved with any of the characters. I think the characters could have been revealed a little more in depth.
reviewed The God of Animals on + 5 more book reviews
I found this a strange book. I couldn't really identify or empathize with any of the characters, but couldn't put it down either.
Tunerlady avatar reviewed The God of Animals on + 581 more book reviews
What a wonderful book! It was a rather unusual tale told from a 12 year old girl's point of view. It is a heartwrenching story but very well written so that the reader can actually feel the feelings of this young girl and her loneliness and pain. Loved it!
rubys-reads avatar reviewed The God of Animals on + 9 more book reviews
Wow. Quite possibly the best book I've read in a long time. I could hardly put it down.

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