This is one of those stories that I've always had a fondness for despite the emotional toll it takes on me.

It's obvious that the main purpose of this book was to convince Victorian people to treat their animals with more kindness, and at times it reads like a laundry list of the sufferings of horses. But it's more than that, too. It highlights the desperation of poverty, the power of kindness and compassion, the naivety of youth, and the sorrowful decline of age. You don't have to be a horse owner to learn something from this story; it has lessons for readers of all ages and from all walks of life.

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n  nOkay the title of this blog post actually has nothing to do with the review, but I thought it might encourage you to read it. Did it work? Anyway, let me tell you how to turn me off from a book: Call it "Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse." I can't even type that without laughing out loud because it sounds so dorky. I really had zero interest in reading this book, because a) I'm not a huge horse person (they scare me, and vet school was enough torture thank you very much), and b) I don't really like books narrated by animals. Buuuttt I've been trying to get through all my children's classics, and this one came highly recommended by some friends, so I decided to listen to the audiobook.




n  Why I Enjoyed Black Beauty:n
1. The excitement of reading a well-loved classic for the first time cannot be underestimated. Not only is it fun to finally be able to say you've read the book, too, but it's also fun to uncover all these things people have known all along. In this book, the biggest surprise for me was finding out that Black Beauty was a boy. I mean, what? Who names their male horse Black Beauty? But whatever, I guess that's beside the point. Most of you out there already knew this fact. I found it mind-blowing. 

2. In all seriousness, this book was written with an unexpected sophistication. I thought reading a book from a horse's perspective was going to be the dumbest thing I've ever done in my entire life (LOLZ, dramatic much?), but Sewell did an excellent job. From the very first sentence, you're seeing world from the eyes of a gentle creature, and it's beautiful. 

3. The narrator of the audiobook, Ralph Cosham, was fantastic! He really classed the whole story up, too. Perhaps it is thanks to him that I enjoyed this story so much. I would encourage you to consider listening to the audiobook narrated by him if you haven't yet.

4. The anthropomorphizer in me appreciated Sewell's observations. Seriously as a vet I feel like half of my job is trying to envision and assume what an animal is feeling. How else can I convey the importance of diagnostics and specific care without explaining to owners that this is painful, this is scary, etc. Sewell did such a believable job with that in horses. It actually made me appreciate their role in our life even more.

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n  I encourage any animal person to consider reading this novel if you haven't yet. It's definitely a lot more poignant and sophisticated than you would expect!n  
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n  What's your favorite animal story?n

This book probably deserves 5 stars or at least 4, and I do recommend it to everyone, especially to girls who love horses. I’m giving it only 3 stars, however, not because I wasn’t one of those girls who were big horse fans (which I wasn’t really), but because for me it was just too emotionally harrowing. This might have been the first book I ever read that made me sick with depression. The horse goes through a lot of suffering in this book. Not for the overly sensitive but a beautifully told story. Terrific one for teaching empathy for non human animals.

There are so many books that I read as a kid that I have not reviewed on Goodreads as an adult. This is one of them.

Black beauty was a favorite of mine as a kid.

Oh that gorgeous black velvet horse!

Is there anybody who could read this and not fall in love with horses? I loved them then and I love them now.

I went through a big period in time Not that long ago where I set out to discover classics I had never read before like East of Eden and the stranger, But I also reread some that I had read as a kid.

I should have included in my rereading.

I did not, but perhaps one day I will.

In the meantime, if you’re someone who hasn’t read black beauty, you really should read it. I really can’t think of too many classics that are as universally loved as this beautifully told evocative story.

"We shall all have to be judged according to our works, whether they be towards man or towards beast."

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Ralph Cosham 5hrs 21 mins

I decided to try and read Black Beauty at leadt once a year, since this is my nanna's favourite book. She recieved a copy as a young girl at Christmas in her stocking. Before anyone else was up, she had already read the whole thing. I think since I have always known nanna to have a book, this has helped me growing up to always have a book in my hand.I now take over nanna for the amount of books I read.

The story is told from the perspective of Black Beauty, a horse. (You see this done again later on with War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.) You see the life of Black Beauty from a young foal to retiring as you read, you get to see what he learns and gains in life.
"It is good people who make good places."
The story makes you question and think about your own views towards other people and animals.
"What right had they to makeme suffer like that?"

من الرائع حقا رؤية البشر وتصرفاتهم من وجهة نظر حصان خلال أحداث الرواية كلها وأيضا علي لسانه
لا أعتقد اني رأيت الفيلم من قبل ولكن اتمني رؤيته قريبا لأشاهد تجسيد الحصان الجميل "بلاك بيوتي" في الواقع


تلك الحيوانات الملوكية الحساسة التي تحتاج لعناية وفهم خاصين جدا


شعرت مع كل كلمة أن الكاتبة أصلها حصان وليست إنسان الطريقة التي تعبر بها عن إحساس "بلاك بيوتي" ومعاناته وآلامه كإنها عانتها من قبل

استغرب حقا كيف يستطيع إنسان معاملة هذا الكائن الرقيق بشكل خاص بتلك الوحشية ولجميع الحيوانات بشكل عام
وكإنهم لا يشعرون ولا يحسون طالما لا يتحدثون باللغة البشرية

كنت أفرح كثيرا عندما أجد بعد الشخصيات تعاملهم بشكل رائع كإنهم أفراد من العائلة مهمين


واحزن حزن شديد جدا لوصف الحصان للإناس الذين يتعمدون أذيتهم بشكل أو بآخر سواء بلاك بيوتي نفسه او أصدقائه من الخيول الأخري الجميلة


حقا الكاتبه عبقرية لقدرتها علي التحدث هكذا ووصف حتي ما يعانيه الحصان من الكابح او اللجام وايضا شعوره بمن يركبه هل محترف ام مبتدئ وسيتسبب في المشاكل
قربتني تلك الرواية من هذا الكائن الجميل أكثر وزادت حبه في قلبي أكثر وكرههي لبعض انواع البشر الذين يجب ان ننفي عنهم صفة الآدمية أكثر وأكثر وأكثر

n  n    “We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.”n  n

~ First Read- 2013 ~
~Second Read- 2021 ~

~First Rating- 4 stars ~
~Second Rating- 5 stars ~

Content / Trigger Warnings- Animal Cruelty

Note- I have tried to include all the content warnings that I noticed, but there is no guarantee that I haven’t missed something.

-Mention of some of these in the review-

n  n    “There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham - all a sham, James, and it won't stand when things come to be turned inside out and put down for what they”n  n

Black Beauty, a beautiful horse, has spent his youth in a loving home, surrounded by friends and cared for by his owners. But when his circumstances change, he learns that not all humans are so kind. This book, told from the perspective of a horse, is about Black Beauty's experiences in his different homes.

n  n    “It is good people who make good places.”n  n

I read Black Beauty for the first time when I was a kid. I recall picking up a dusty old copy from my school library, and finding the idea of a book told from the perspective of a horse intriguing. I remember being enchanted by the story, flipping through pages with curiosity, and being very interested in what Black Beauty had to say. I was horrified by the wicked way he was treated, and my face burned with fury at every monstrosity he went through.

n  n    “Do you know why this world is as bad as it is?... It is because people think only about their own business, and won't trouble themselves to stand up for the oppressed, nor bring the wrong-doers to light... My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”n  n

On my reread- around seven years later, I still felt the same way, but I also felt so much more. I noticed how despite this book being a book about animal cruelty, it was a also a display of society, as most classics are. It shows us that if are 'different' in any way, we will be belittled and mocked. We will be criticized, our ideas will be dismissed and we will be considered 'separate' from the rest, for no reason other than just existing. We will be the Black Beauties of the world, and everyone else will disregard us. They will not see our strength or our courage. They will think of us as unimportant. As weak. Or at least, that's my interpretation of it.

n  n    “What right had they to make me suffer like that?”n  n

Black Beauty made me question and think a lot about animals. I've never been a huge animal lover, but I'd never thought much about the struggles animals go through before reading this book. It enlightened me on several things, and even though this book was written years ago, I believe it is relevant even today.

n  n    “Master said, God had given men reason, by which they could find things out for themselves; but he had given animals knowledge which did not depend on reason, and which was more prompt and perfect in it's way, and by which they had often saved the lives of men.”n  n

Maybe if I revisit this book in a few years, my thoughts will change. Or maybe they will remain the same. But there is no denying, that Black Beauty is an impactful story, in spite of being a simple tale. Most importantly, its a reflection of how some humans treat animals. It provides an insight on how we sometimes ignore the feelings of others for our own selfish needs. It is in my opinion, a masterpiece.

n  n    “This horse has got a good master, and he deserves it.”n  n

n  n    Review written on 21st January, 2022.n  n

DISCLAIMER-All opinions on books I’ve read and reviewed are my own, and are with no intention to offend anyone. If you feel offended by my reviews, let me know how I can fix it.

How I Rate-
1 star- Hardly liked anything/ was disappointed
2 star- Had potential but did not deliver/ was disappointed
3 stars- Was ok but could have been better/ was average / Enjoyed a lot but something was missing
4 stars- Loved a lot but something was missing
5 stars- Loved it/ new favourite


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5 stars again. Loved my reread. Review to come.

Beautiful tale of the life of a horse in old England. Definitely a classic for good reason.

All time favorite, still is. Really enjoyed this reread and old as it is.... It keeps being accurate, even after 150 years. When you do good to others, man or animal, they'll do you good in return.

Very cute story and who wouldn't enjoy a story told from point of view of a horse. It brings animal abuse to the light of day which is a good thing.

I was so in love with horses from a young age and I remember crying my little eyes out when I read this book. It broke my heart when poor Black Beauty was abused and broken. I was elated when Beauty was reunited with a former caregiver. This classic story is great and a must for anyone who cares for animals.

It's a shame that I didn't stumble upon this book earlier, because this little novel is full of wonderful and calming sentences, even when I was reading about mistreatments and sad destinies of these gorgeous animals. Black Beauty's story is full of colorful characters and, in my opionion, the author succeded in making this book interesting for people of all ages. It's written in 19th century, when people lived differently and had more connection with horses, but I'd say it's still relevant and fresh.