Dark Horses

Description

Merritt Wenner has been self-destructing ever since the tragic deaths of her grandmother and her horse. Her parents, looking for a quick fix, ship her off to a residential equine-assisted therapy program. At Good Fences, Merritt meets Red: a failed racehorse and a terror in the barn. Red has never bonded with anyone, but Merritt is not afraid of him, which makes all the difference. Against the cutthroat backdrop of competitive riding, Merritt finds herself unexpectedly attracted to Red's groom, Beatrice. But in Red's mind, Merritt belongs to him alone. Anyone else poses a threat...

Cecily von Ziegesar is the author of the worldwide bestselling Gossip Girl book series. Her notorious satires of life on the Upper East Side were adapted for TV and aired for six seasons. Cecily grew up in Manhattan, kept horses in Connecticut, and has lived in Italy, Maine, Arizona, Budapest, and London. In each of those places, she found a horse to ride. She now lives in Brooklyn with her family and other animals. From the Hardcover edition.

Praise for Dark Horses "A compelling story of love and fixation . . . The twisted tale of Merritt and Red has the power and mystery of myth." -Eliot Schrefer, New York Times bestselling author and two-time National Book Award finalist "Move over, Black Beauty. Cecily von Ziegesar has brought the classic horse novel into the twenty-first century with an alluring, heart-wrenching, and nail-biting look at an elite and tumultuous world. The relationship between Merritt and Red is haunting and powerful. I devoured this book to its very end." -Sara Shepard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars "Told in dual perspectives of a troubled teen and the difficult horse she's paired with, Dark Horses is an exciting new addition to YA you will not want to miss! Von Ziegesar has created a world so utterly unique, compelling, and at times heartwrenching, it stayed with me long after I turned the last page." -Alyson Noel, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortals series and Unrivaled "Dark Horses is a slightly bizarre spin on Black Beauty, about characters who go to desperate lengths to find control, purpose and love in their lives. In an unusual viewpoint, Red shines as a tragic victim of human whim." -Chico Enterprise-Register "This page-turner will draw in a whole new audience with just the right blend of glamor, scandal, and horses." -School Library Journal "The competitive riding world is always a draw, and this is an intriguing look into its dark side. If that weren't enough, von Ziegesar's (the Gossip Girl series) name alone will spur readers." -Booklist "Von Ziegesar, known for her Gossip Girl series, nails teen dialogue and horse-show society." -Kirkus Reviews Praise for Cecily von Ziegesar "The heartlessness of youth is von Ziegesar's double-edged theme . . . Her designated reader is an adolescent girl, but the reader she seems to have firmly in mind as she writes is a literate, even literary, adult." -The New Yorker "Sophisticated. Von Ziegesar takes seriously the inner lives of characters who in any other teen narrative would be stock villains." -New York Magazine