When Rosie Macalister returns to Yale and her spot on the equestrian team after a year away, she finds out she is rooming with Annelise Tattinger, who turns out to be a very talented rider who reads tarot cards for the other girls in her spare time. Rosie has fought very hard for her place in the team’s inner circle, which is no easy feat since she is from a middle-class background. At first, she is resentful of the idea of having a roommate, but she soon becomes friends with Annelise and realizes there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.
This is a very realistic look at class differences and how the upper elite class treats everyone else. The attitude that the rules don’t apply to the rich is very evident. There were some hidden secrets that I didn’t see coming, and the characterization of the very rich and entitled Cressida is well done. The old cliche that “money doesn’t buy happiness” rings true in this book, but would be better defined as “too much money doesn’t buy happiness.” While some of the characters use their trust funds to sink deeper into despair, others just want enough money to fulfill their dreams.
Each chapter was headed with the description of a tarot card, which was not my cup of tea at all, but the way Annelise used fortune-telling in this book was interesting. For me, it was the relationships and class differences and how this affected the characters that truly made this book shine. Honest, sobering, sad, and heartbreaking, this book shines a light on the elite class and on struggling to belong in a world that is only set up for a few to succeed.
I enjoyed both the ebook and audiobook versions. The audiobook, read by Stephanie Cannon, is well done and completely captures the personalities of each character.
I received a free copy of the ebook from St. Martin’s Press and of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RACHEL KAPELKE-DALE is the author of THE BALLERINAS (St. Martin’s Press 2021) and coauthor of GRADUATES IN WONDERLAND (Penguin 2014), a memoir about the significance and nuances of female friendships. The author of VANITY FAIR HOLLYWOOD’s column “Advice from the Stars,” Kapelke-Dale spent years in intensive ballet training before receiving a BA from Brown University, an MA from the Université de Paris VII, and a PhD from University College London. She currently lives in Paris.
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Question: What books about horses, riding, or fortune-telling have you enjoyed?
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