Raising the Horseman by Serena Valentino

The Tim Burton adaptation of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, is not only my favorite Sleepy Hollow adaptation, but also one of my favorite movies. Because of that, I have pretty high expectations of Sleepy Hollow retellings.

I started Raising the Horseman with great enthusiasm. How could I not? Just look at that cover.

But unfortunately, for me, this one didn't live up to its potential.

Part of it was the writing itself. There were too many grammar issues, clunky sentences, and awkward dialogue, and they continually pulled me out of the story. That's not entirely the author's fault. It should've been fixed in the editing stage.

The story itself didn't quite do it for me, either. It focused way more on romance than I was expecting, and ended up being the central plot of the book.

As I've said before, I have nothing against romance novels. I just like to know that's what I'm getting into when I start a book. For this one, I expected a ghost story, and that part of it turned out to be fairly light, not fully manifesting until the climax.

Overall, this book was just okay. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, but it wasn't the greatest, and had a lot of room for improvement.

If you're looking for a Sleepy Hollow retelling and don't mind a heavy romance plot, maybe give it a try. If you're looking for something much creepier, try Horseman by Christina Henry.

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