Rachel (TheShadesofOrange)'s Reviews > Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow

3.5 Stars 
As a huge fan of Christina Henry, I was incredibly excited to read her newest release. 

The best aspect of this novel for me was the main character. Specifically I loved the trans representation. While not an own voices story, I can never get enough queer horror and this is a kind of diversity that seems to be particularly underserved by the genre.

I have always praised Christina Henry as an amazing storyteller, but I did not find this one to be her strongest narrative. I absolutely loved the premise, but the actual story did not resonate with me. I just struggled to become fully immersed in the mystery. 

Unlike her other retellings, I feel that readers should read the original story in order to fully appreciate this one. That is partially because this novel is not exactly a retelling but something a little different (which I don't want to spoil). The novel begins with a brief overview of the narrative, but it was not enough to replace understanding the nuances of the tale. 

Usually retellings modernize the story, but this one is still in the past. For this reason, it read more like the original classic than I expected. I often struggle with the prose in classic fiction,  so it's not surprising that I struggled a bit with the narrative voice.

While this one did not completely work for me, I know that this narrative will work better with other readers. I would recommend this one to those that love the original horror classic and love that traditional narrative style.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.