(5/21/2024)
I thoroughly enjoyed Pony Confidential. It is promoted as a humorous mystery novel, but the novel is a lot more than that. Through the perspective of a once-beloved pony that has been passed around from owner to owner, Pony Confidential addresses the relationships humans have with animals, the disposable nature of society, environmental destruction and the need to feel safe and protected. Through the eyes of Penny, the book addresses childhood trauma, the burden of mental illness, and the classism of the penal system. In short, this book is more than meets the eye and I enjoyed the two perspectives, though the "mystery" itself was not too difficult to figure out, I still enjoyed this playful but surprisingly deep book. The prose is deft, punchy and often laugh-out-loud funny, and the supporting characters (particularly in the animal world), flesh out the narrative.