4/5 - Full review at emileereads: http://emileereads.com/blog/2017/2/4/... 
 This was a solid read and I'm happy I finally made time for it. I often stopped to re-read parts and fully soak in the great satire. 
 I think the thing I liked the most about this story - at its face value - was the personalities all the animals had. The cat could only be found when it wanted to be, the horse was loyal and hard working, and the pigs were impressively smart. The interactions between the animals were exactly like you'd expect and perfectly natural. (view spoiler)[Boxer the horse was my favorite of all the farm animals (I especially loved his friendship with the donkey) so when he was taken away I was bummed. (hide spoiler)] 
 Going deeper into the story - and the real reason Orwell wrote it - I loved the ease with which I knew what Orwell was saying, even though animals were the characters. I'm no history buff and I don't know much about Soviet Russia, but it's not hard to see the warnings. Power corrupts. It corrupts everyone who has it. Animal Farm's system worked at first, and then was subtly changed and one day the animals realized they were just as bad off as when man ruled. 
 Animal Farm is not my new favorite classic but I appreciate it because it's a living, breathing story that keeps showing truth to new generations of readers. Read it, stop and think about the events of the world around us today, and take the time to wonder who's really in charge...is it the animals? We The People? 
 I think even Orwell would be surprised at the current world affairs.