Author: Maggie Dana
Genre: Middle Grade Sports/Equestrian
Length: 182 Pages
Release: September 2015
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Review
This is yet another great installment in this middle grade horse series. The girls are back from England, have survived a wedding, horse camp, boy drama, horse drama, and are now onto more pleasant things. Or so they think.
One thing that I really like about this series is how real the characters are. They all frustrate me in their own ways, some just a little more than others. But that makes them real and I love it. Out of the two main characters I relate to Kate the most. I practically was Kate as a teenager. Holly, on the other hand, is a bit more of a challenge for me. I do enjoy her, but her boy crazy, girly-girl attitude can sometimes drive me crazy. The side characters, including the girls' parents, are also equal parts endearing and frustrating. It's brilliant.
This installment adds some new elements to the series. Kate and Holly have a new relationship and you get to see some of the stresses this is causing on their lives and friendship. There's also a bit of mystery included when someone starts stalking Holly. And of course there are horses and the crazy things they throw into life. The girls are growing up and you can see that through the story. They're having to ask themselves and each other hard questions, questions they might not want to answer. And their horses are there every step of the way.
Many old characters continued to make appearances here, including the bratty Angela and her mother Mrs Dean. Aunt Bea (who I'm sure is a fan favorite), was around doling out her advice to those who would bother to listen. Adam (and even Nathan for a little bit) was back, being just as silly as ever. And of course there were some new and exciting additions to the cast of characters that I'm excited to see more of in the future.
This is the first of the novels that I've read that I really felt like the ending was very open. Not in a bad way, just that the mystery/story for that particular novel (and not the series overall) wasn't complete. There is definitely room for more exploration in the next installment (how many are there going to be? will it continue forever? I hope so!) and I'm excited to see where this goes.
I don't feel like I can give you a lot more information about the story without ruining the reading experience for you, so I'll just say go and read this series if you like horses and girls finding their way in life.
Thank you, Courtney, for this great review. I hope to keep this series going for a very long time, and I am so glad you like my ever-expanding cast of characters. There are days when I wouldn't be surprised to see one of them walk through my front door ... horse and all!
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