Pony Confidential - Christina Lynch - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Christina Lynch

NARRATORS: Erin Moon and Blair Young

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: November 5, 2024

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A book about a pony out for revenge, first against Penny and then on behalf of Penny. Quite funny and entertaining, as long as you don’t question the proceedings too much. A bit too preachy (though the points it makes are valid). Somewhat longwinded. Supposedly a ‘horsey’-retelling of the Odyssey, which I learnt only on reading the author’s note. Recommended to those who read after throwing aside their thinking caps.

Plot Preview:

Thirty-seven-year-old Californian teacher Penny is taken aback when she is suddenly arrested for a murder committed twenty-five years before in Ithaca, New York. Imprisoned with no access to her family and no money for a personal lawyer, all Penny can do is think about better times, especially the days when she had her beloved pony with her.

Ever since the girl he loved sold him without second thought, Pony has only one thing on his mind: revenge. He keeps going from owner to owner because of his aggressive I-don’t-care attitude, but his yearning for vengeance doesn’t change. His only hope as he moves across places is to find that evil Penny who destroyed his faith in humans.

The story comes to us in the alternate perspectives of Penny and Pony, written mostly in third person for Penny and in first person for Pony.

PSA: The blurb is very misleading. Unlike what it suggests, this book isn’t about a horse who learns that his beloved ex-owner has been accused of murder and sets out to find the killer. What I have written above is a more appropriate representation. So if you are looking for a story of an equine detective, you will get it but not in the way you think. Pony is looking for Penny for his own selfish reasons, and not for the “real killer” to clear Penny’s name.

One of the prompts in a reading challenge I am participating in needed a book from the perspective of a pet other than a cat or a dog. I went through many book descriptions, but couldn’t decide which one to pick. When I saw this blurb, my heart knew that my quest was finally over. I hadn’t wanted to read a children's book for this prompt, so this was the perfect choice. Unfortunately, its execution is just above average, though still entertaining.

Bookish Yays:

🐴 The very first paragraph in the “Pony” narration introducing himself. Hilarious!

🐴 Pony. Most ponies in fiction are sweet and caring and loveable. Pony is the contrary! He is boastful, irritable, aggressive, and rude. Of course, his fury feels somewhat justified considering how humans have treated him. I did know that this would be an emotional POV, but didn't expect fury and revenge to be the dominant sentiments. 😅

🐴 Pony’s POV has several animal characters, almost all of whom are interesting. Every animal's voice - dog, horse, goat, sparrow, butterfly,… - sounds authentic to their personality (as guesstimated by us humans.)

🐴 Quite a few funny scenes and dialogues in Pony’s perspective, partly thanks to his mildly egocentric attitude.

🐴 Several disturbing facts about animal abuse. Not a happy Yay, but a deserved one as the book is informative in this regard.

🐴 Many good pieces of wisdom coming as advice to Pony by the other animals, especially a wise philosophical cat. These are quite insightful, and relevant even to humans.

🐴 The way the two perspectives intersect. Cleverly done!

Bookish Okays:

🎠 The blurb makes this feel like a detective mystery. However, the dominant tone is more like a general drama. The murder itself isn't given priority as the focus is more on Penny and Pony. Even the identity of the murder victim doesn’t come out till the second quarter.

🎠 Penny’s character development. I liked her character, not because how she was sketched but despite it. Her behaviour is not written in a sensible way. Like, it is weird how she thinks more about a pony from her childhood than about her own family while she is in jail. It felt like the book was trying to forcefully establish a connection. But her few attributes that we do get to see make us want to root for her even when her personality is confusing.

🎠 The fact-dumping. The book has quite a few facts related to environmental damage, animal abuse (especially of horses & ponies), legal and penal system issues, and so on. While all the facts are definitely true and justified, the result is that the book sounds too preachy.

🎠 There are several logical loopholes in the book, mainly in Pony’s POV, especially in one in-between scene where he doesn’t recognise Penny. Then again, how much logic can one expect in a book where a pony is holding the reins of the narrative? Suspension of disbelief greatly required!

🎠 While it is amusing to read Pony’s perspective, it is definitely farfetched. He has some improbable knowledge of topics such as guerrilla warfare and the statute of limitations and uses words like ‘gaslighting’ and ‘charlatan’. The same applies to the awareness demonstrated by the other animals. But as we have already opted for suspension of disbelief, we can just take these in our stride and consider them creative license.

🎠 This is supposedly a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, with Pony being Odysseus. I didn’t even realise this as I have not read (and don’t intend to read) the classic. So the mention of this point in the author’s note took me by surprise. It’s a creative and ambitious idea, but also with the inherent downfall - it feels as longwinded as the Odyssey. Pony’s perspective drags a lot in between as he seems to go on one misadventure after another without taking the story ahead.

🎠 The ending, though satisfactory, left me with mixed feelings. Given the larger-than-life nature of the story, I expected a bit more dramatic finish. But some key scenes don’t happen on the page.

Bookish Nays:

🏇🏻 Penny’s POV is surprisingly monotonous. For a major chunk of the first half, her perspective is devoid of any interaction from her family, which is strange given her circumstances. We don’t even see much of her experience in or feelings about prison. The writing is quite flat in this regard.

🏇🏻 The few child characters in the book always sound too mature for their age in their dialogues.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 11 hrs 29 min, is narrated by Erin Moon (voicing Penny) and Blair Young (voicing Pony). Moon is good, but Penny’s perspective is devoid of much drama despite the potential, so she doesn’t really get a chance to *perform* in the true sense of the word. Young, on the other hand, has a cantankerous and melodramatic pony as his character, so he neighs his way to perfection. I absolutely enjoyed his performance, especially the way he voiced the goat by incorporating bleats into the dialogues. There is one chapter where Pony and Penny share the stage. Here, both the narrators come together, voicing their respective characters in turn. I appreciated this so much. It was a great way of seeing (ahem… ‘hearing’) Pony and Penny interact.

Overall, while the book turned out to be somewhat different from what was promised in the blurb, it was still entertaining enough. Penny’s POV was a tad disappointing at how shallow it felt, but Pony’s chapters, even with their heavyhanded social commentary, made the book fun.

Despite the pony perspective, this is not for children due to kid-inappropriate language and disturbing scenes. Officially, this is adult fiction, but it might work well for young adults too.

Recommended to those who can read without overthinking and enjoy animal narrators. Better to treat this novel as a light entertainer with some tense moments instead of as a murder mystery.