Horseman Review

I have mixed feelings on Horseman. Let’s talk.

Synopsis

Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Brom says that’s just legend, the village gossips talking. 

More than thirty years after those storied events, the village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play “Sleepy Hollow boys,” reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods near the village, and the discovery makes Ben question everything the adults in Sleepy Hollow have ever said. Could the Horseman be real after all? Or does something even more sinister stalk the woods?

My Thoughts on Horseman

Horseman started out great. I predicted it would be a five-star read. It brought back the gothic, gloomy feeling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In the book, Ben said the town doesn’t change and that’s what it felt like. Ichabod Crane was a distant memory, but the Horseman lingered.

Our main character, Ben, brought more insight to the classic story. As the grandson of Katrina van Tassel and Brom Bones we get to see the other side of the story. Brom was abrasive and dislikable in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; but since horseman was told from his grandson’s story, we saw a gentler nature than you would expect. Unfortunately, that’s where my main issue with this story begins.

Ben hero worshipped his grandfather, which is fair. However, that can’t be the entire plot of the story. From page one to the end of the book there were paragraphs and paragraphs of how wonderful Brom is. It got repetitive and dull. I liked the mystery itself, but it was overshadowed by the magnificent specimen of a human that was Brom Bones.

Another thing that bothered me was the point of view. It was obvious from the beginning that it was trying to be a coming-of-age story, but it wasn’t exactly fleshed out. Generally, in a coming of age you could see growth in the character by the end. However, I didn’t get that with Ben. He seemed to be the same person in the end as the beginning, just older. It made his character seem flat.

Ultimately, despite the repetition of several things that didn’t advance the plot, the mystery finally came together and I enjoyed it. It was a solid folk horror that would have been better served if that had been the focus of the story. And as I wrap up this review I’m going to have to think long and hard about my rating.

My Rating: 2.5/5

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