[ 451 ]

[katara]

Raising the Horseman by Serena Valentino

Genre:
Retellings, Disney, Headless Horseman, Washington Irving, LGBTQIA+, Fantasy, Romance, Horror, Ghosts, Paranormal, Supernatural, Fiction, Dual Timelines, Folklore, Halloween, All Hallow's Eve

Publication Date:
September 6, 2022

Rating:
2.5 out of 5

Blurb:

From the New York Times best-selling author of Disney’s Villains series comes a ghostly new stand-alone novel that reimagines The Legend of Sleepy Hollow through the eyes of a modern teen.

The two-hundredth anniversary of the Headless Horseman's legendary haunting of Sleepy Hollow is approaching, but Kat van Tassel wants nothing to do with the town's superstitious celebrations. As a descendant of the original Katrina van Tassel, Kat knows she’s expected to fulfill her ancestor’s legacy by someday marrying her longtime boyfriend and running the prestigious family estate. But Kat dreams of a life outside Sleepy Hollow.

Then Kat meets Isadora, a new girl in town who challenges Kat to reexamine those expectations, opens her eyes to the possibility that ghosts are real, and makes her question who she truly wants to be . . . and be with.

When Kat is given the original Katrina’s diary, a new legend begins to take shape, one that weaves together the past and the present in eerie ways. Can Kat uncover a two-hundred-year-old secret, and trace its shocking reverberations in her own life, in time to protect what she truly loves?

Fans of Serena Valentino will delight in this supernatural coming-of-age tale that finally gives the women of Sleepy Hollow a chance to tell their side of the story.

Review:

I have spent an hour trying to decide exactly how I am going to rate and review this book. I have always loved the tale of The Headless Horseman as far back as I can remember and the Disney classic cemented that love. I even have the VHS copy edition put away.

This story follows two hundred years after the original story of the Headless Horsman's spectral ride that drove away Icabod Crane from Sleepy Hollow, leaving behind Katrina Van Tassel to marry Brom. But what exactly drove Icabod Crane from Sleepy Hollow? And was the Headless Horseman actually real? All of these things are contained within the diary of the original Katrina Van Tassel and it has been handed down to her namesake in the present.

Katrina or Kat as she is known has felt she did not want to live forever in Sleepy Hollow. Her love for books and her desire to branch outside of the town has made her clash with her parents. On top of that, she has missed out on the Twilight anniversary making both her parents disappointed. It is not until she is handed Katrina's diary that she realizes how similar they are. And even more, she feels that Blake is no longer the boy she once fell in love with. But when she meets Isadore Crow, she feels something for her, and the two of the grow close reading Katrina's diary.

This book was definitely different. Although it did not stray completely from the tale, it did get further into the reason for Icabod's disappearance (and it is definitely not what you think!). I liked how it played out. I was not a fan of the repetition nor how the characters managed to lack any depth to them. There was no connection I could feel to the main female character. I loved how the bonding between Isadore and Kat came through and how it did not feel rushed since it was such a short story. It was nice and sweet. I just wish the characters were more three-dimensional.

This book had a lot of potential that was lost.