I saw Hope Larson’s graphic novel Gray Horses pop up on a few blogs over the past month or so, all praising the story and artwork, so of course, I had to get my hands on a copy and anxiously awaited the arrival of a copy through inter-library loan.
Gray Horses is a quiet, understated account of a French exchange student’s experiences living in the United States. By day, Noemie is an art student, finding her way in a strange town, alone and without the comforts of home. By night, she dreams of a young girl and the horse that helps her along a journey.
The tone of Gray Horses is soft and dreamlike, with subdued colors and simple drawings adding to the book’s otherworldly feel. The smattering of dialogue contained within is a mixture of English and French (with translations), a neat touch that felt true to how the character of Noemie would think.
Although I can see what appealed to other readers, it was a little too quiet and whimsical for me to connect to the characters or really be drawn into the story. That said, her new book, Mercury, looks quite interesting and perhaps would better fit my reading mood, so I’m definitely up for reading more from this obviously talented artist.
Applicable Reading Challenges: Support Your Local Library, 100+ Reading Challenge, Graphic Novels Challenge
Book Rating: 3: Decent, but didn’t grab me in a big way.
FTC Disclosure: I borrowed this book from the library.
Aw, shame it wasn’t better for you! I hadn’t heard of this before, but I love the cover. I’ll probably still check it out if I can find it – I’ve heard good things about another of Hope Larson’s books, Salamander Dream I think? My library doesn’t have that, but it does have this one. Life’s such a compromise.
Yeah, I was disappointed that I didn’t like it more, but perhaps it just wasn’t the right time for me and the book to click.
I’ll be curious to see what you think of it if you get it!
I had considered this book. I can’t decide if it is for me or not. I read something else by her, but it was okay… Nothing fantastic.
I’m afraid for me it may be one of those books where I just don’t get all the hype surrounding it. But it was universally praised and won an Eisner so what do I know?
The other one I mentioned (Mercury) is set in Nova Scotia so I’m keen to read it and hope I like it more than my first foray into her books.
I’ve seen this one popping up a lot, too, and I need to ILL it. I’m really attracted to the cover, and I typically like whimsical, so we’ll see if it’s a good fit.
I’ll be curious to see what you think of it, Andi. Maybe you’ll sway my opinion.