Far Turn (North Oak, #5)

by Ann Hunter

[chymerra]

Far Turn is one of those books that left me going “Wow” at the end of it. I was warned, by Ann, that this book was a bit darker than her other ones but I wasn’t expecting what I read. When I finished the book, last night, I turned to BK and went “This book just blew my mind“. I actually couldn’t get this book out of my head for the rest of the night, it affected me that much.

Alex had kind of a rough start to the book. Promenade was brought home from his last race and almost immediately fell ill with a deadly virus called EHV (click for definition). EHV spreads through North Oak like wildfire, taking horses out left and right. Alex lived at the stables, leaning on Hilary and Dejado for support when he was struck with a different strain of the virus that was brought back by Morning Glory (aka Mags). Horses are dying from this virus and both Alex and Brooke are willing to do anything to help their horses survive. I was so upset when Chauncey was put down and when Venus Galaxies foal died.

Alex’s friendships with Katie, Carol, Brooke, Laura, and Dejado were put to the test also. Her friendship with Katie because of Katie’s confession that she liked Alex in a romantic way and there was another confession that honestly made me very mad…considering the events later in the book. Alex’s friendship with Carol because of Carol visiting her grandmother over the summer and again, another confession that actually took me by surprise because I didn’t see it coming. Her friendship with Brooke because of Prom getting better and Mags was doing bad but that righted itself. Her friendship with Laura because well, Laura was being emotional and there was other stuff going on that I can’t get into without revealing stuff (read the book). And lastly, her relationship with Dejado because of his feelings for her.

The whole bullying situation with Brad, which goes back to book 2, gets worse in Far Turn. I do admire that Alex was secure enough with herself to not let Brad’s bullying affect her. I also thought that school’s handling of Brad was very realistic. I have 2 kids, one which was relentlessly bullied from 1st grade to 3rd grade and I can tell you, the school did jack and actually made excuses for my daughter’s bullies (it was a group thing)….like the principal did for Brad. Her bullying ended when we moved but in Alex’s (and Carol and Katie’s) case, moving wasn’t an option. And unfortunately, his bullying and harassment of Katie took a very tragic turn. I will include a link to an antibullying site at the end of the blog (if you are reading this on Amazon….sorry it won’t show and just google).

I also liked how Alex’s sexuality was handled. For the last couple of books, I did have questions if she was a lesbian or if she liked guys. Her summertime romance with Dejado and her feelings for Carol now point at maybe her being bisexual. And like I said with the other books, her sexuality is not the focus of the book. The focus is on the horses, Alex, and her friendships. That she has strong feelings for Carol and Dejado is just another aspect of the story that actually flushes Alex out as a character.

Alex’s jockeying journey was never its end. I can’t wait to see if/when she’ll get her license and I can’t wait to read about her riding. The training sounded very painful (this is coming from an overweight, middle-aged woman….lol) but it was worth it for her. She lived and breathed horses and jockeying was a natural next step.

The ending of the book was very unexpected and to be honest, I cried. Now, I was warned by the author that something was going to happen but I wasn’t expecting that. While it was very dark, it actually fit with this book and I can’t wait to see where the books go from then on. The only small complaint that I had was that the book ended on a cliffhanger. Like I said above, I closed my Kindle and said “Wow” because the ending just blew me away.

I never do this but the author’s note at the end of the book took my breath away. Again, to reiterate what she said, no one deserves to be bullied. Please, if you are being bullied, tell someone. A friend, a parent, a teacher or a trusted adult. You are not alone and you do not deserve to be treated that way. No one does. If you witness bullying, do not stay silent. Tell a trusted adult what is going on or report it. You can make a difference!!

StopBullying.gov

How many stars will I give Far Turn: 4

Why: Relatable characters and great plotlines.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Older Teen

Why: Violence. This is a dark book that has some triggers in it: Bullying and suicide are the two main ones.

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**