Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer

This reads like a fantasy adventure novel but it's actually a memoir.  Take an adventurous young soul who wants to get away from home and do something challenging and unique and put her in a horse race in Mongolia and you've got a book that's entertaining, interesting, and holds your attention.

Catapult sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published May 7th.

Lara is nineteen.  She does love riding horses and thinks this will be a grand adventure.  She signs up for the last minute and finds out she doesn't have the shots she needs, the clothing she needs or even the stamina she should have built up prior to the race.  So what?  She spends all the money she owns on getting there and into the race.  She's really not interested in winning, she just wants the adventure.  And, boy, is it ever an adventure!

Most everyone rides alone because it's a race and they don't want anyone else holding them back.  Lara isn't good at directions and her GPS doesn't always work.  She ends up backtracking every now and then.  The horses change at each stop.  They check the horses pulse rate and if it's too high and doesn't come down soon, you get penalized.  You have to stop riding at 8:30 PM or you get penalized.  She gets fast horses, cranky horses, and slow horses.  She tries to get them to maintain good speed and not shake her up too much.  That doesn't always work.  And she's changing along the way, too.  She's learning to be more focused and more responsible.  Friendships come and go.  She persists and she gets her reward in the end.

This book kept me reading about the landscape and people of Mongolia, her horse troubles and the odd food, and as I read I was cheering her on.  I bet you do, too.