The Island of Lost Horses
Stacy Gregg
HarperCollins
Pub. 2014

April 19, 2022

Stacy Gregg’s The Island of Lost Horses has everything a keen reader could want: suspense, drama, and best of all, horses. It is about a girl named Beatriz who loves horses but has never actually ridden one. She lives on a floating boat with her mum, who studies jellyfish.

When they find an island with horses, Beatriz knows that something is different. Something is calling her to the island, drawing her in. She decides to go investigate more, and to her surprise, finds a sole inhabitant. Her name is Annie, and she is as old as the island.

When Annie was younger, she found a mysterious diary in a hole in a tree. Annie realises that Beatriz is connected to the horses. Beatriz reads the diary, and finds out that the girl described in the pages is her. But not modern day Beatriz. The girl in the diary’s name was Felipa, a 13-year-old who lived in Spain, and died over 200 years ago. Beatriz begins to live Felipa’s life, and realises that the horses were meant for her.

As Beatriz reads about Felipa and her love for horses, a storm arrives at the island, and the horses must be cared for. This part of the story is especially relatable, because Beatriz had developed such a special relationship with the horses, and as the reader, you can really see their special relationship unfold throughout.

Beatriz is a fiery and bold character, who will stop at nothing to get what is right for herself and the people around her. Reading this story will not only broaden your perspective on books, but on horses, and how quickly you can build a special connection with something or someone you have only known for only a short period of time.

Overall, this book is amazing, and nothing less than you’d expect from Stacy Gregg. All of her other books are awesome too, and I highly recommend The Island of Lost Horses.

• Grace is 12 and lives in Auckland.