We picked this book up from our local library.

K and I both found this book to be so funny especially since K's little sister will be starting Pre-K and he is going into fourth. Will's little brother Steve is going to school and that means both will be in the same school. Will is not looking forward to it especially when his little brother does things that are crazy (like letting the mice out), among other things. This is a step four into reading so there are more words on the pages, though that shouldn't deter kids from reading. 

I think the humor that is within this story was great and the pictures were awesome. K hopes his sister doesn't get any ideas from Steve and embarrass him in schoo

Well this was slightly better than the previous book, but still.... Kate....

Really, there is this blog, full of rumours, and as soon as there is a rumour that Kate might get a job offer due to someone's pregnancy she immediately DROPS everything and just purely focusses on that. *rolls eyes* Even putting down an offer by an amazing stable, an amazing chance to show off her skills. But of course little girl Katiewatie believes everything that a rumour (look at that word and think what that means) blog says. *sighs* This girl is just so stupid. I already knew this from the previous books and the way she acts, but really, she needs to stop doing shit like this. Sure some of the stuff on the blog is real, but most if rumours. And really, girl, you are freaking 16, you are not even legal and you think that a big shot trainer will just offer you a job and forgo your chance at school? HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHHAH. NO.
And then that ending and with the reaction of Kate. Seriously, girl, how stupid are you. *sighs*At times this girl doesn't seem 16, but rather 10.
Also sorry, I just had a small laugh at what happened with Fable and how Kate reacted to it. Call me mean, but this is how your best friend (or should I say ex-best friend) is feeling. Hope you enjoy the feeling girl. This is the same thing that happened to your friend when Fitz that thing for you. And sure, Nat is a total bleh bleh about it, but I do hope you can now closer understand why she is not forgiving you so easily.

There were various other parts in which I totally disliked Kate and how she acted. At least she did act normal around Fitz this time so she got that going for her. I was delighted to see them getting along and being super cute and sweet together.

Zara and Tommi's POV definitely were my favourites. Zara's because she was being sweet and caring + also trying to figure out the blogger's identity (which was really a lot of fun to read about). Tommi's because of the horse riding, because of the sweet (but short) romance with Scott. I also liked that this girl is changing her opinion on college. You can see that she is thinking about it. She is a bit amazed at her change, but you can see she is now really thinking about all her options.

This book was also chockful with horses, yes, really. We have several competitions going on, and we really get a lot of horse action. I just loved all of it, the other books focussed a lot on drama or romance, but this one focussed more on the horse riding.
After all that is why I read these books. The drama is fun, the romance is cute, but I still read it for the horse riding and the talk about horses.

I also want to congratulate Joy, she really got a bit of a spotlight in here and for a good reason. It was just so sweet. I hope she and her husband will be happy.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I do hope we will get a new addition to the series, though considering it has been 3 years now.... I know, there have been books that took longer, but all the other books came out in 2011, 2012, 2012.... I will just keep hoping, but yeah, I am not all to positive there will be more.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com

The girls are back, and there is so much drama, romance, and of course (duh) horses and competitions.

I was actually hoping (based on the preview in the previous book) that we would have an easy time discerning between our 3 MCs, sadly, it seems that the preview was a lie. The POVs are still done as they did in the previous book. A way that is at times confusing. You would be totally into Tommi's life, and then suddenly thrown into Kate's. Sure, there are *** or other breakers, but it is still a bit confusing.

This time each girl has their fair share of drama and romance in their lives.
Kate and Fitz, I am still amazed by their relationship, though they do make a very cute couple. I am really delighted that it seems Fitz is truly into Kate, and that he isn't treating her like another badge to achieve. Their romance is really burning, especially the times when they have time to seek a unoccupied part of the barn and steal a few kisses.
Then we have Tommi, who has a new boy in her life. I am still not so sure about Alex though, everything seems to be too good. Don't get me wrong, Tommi deserves some romance in her life, but with how Alex reacts to Zara, and just stalks after her all the time... I just hope that Tommi won't be hurt by Alex. *readies the pitchforks and torches*
And Zara is the last one, I am still not entirely happy with how shitty she treats guys. She is texting Grant, taking a serious interest in him, but if she spots a hot boy she will eagerly flirt and go with them. I do hope that Grant will notice before stuff really hits the fan. I don't like Grant that much, but I still don't wish this to anyone.

Next to this all the girls have their share of trouble/problems. Well OK, Zara's problems just pale in comparison to everyone else's.
I am worried about Kate, her family is falling apart (has been for the past few years, but it has been declining even more), and she really overworks herself to death. I already noticed her not eating, and I was wondering what would happen to her. I do hope she will find help. This is just not right, and sure, I can imagine she is pissed at her friends (because she thinks she can handle things), but I do hope she will realise herself that stuff is going south.
I also like the parts with her and Natalia/Natalie.
Tommi and her horse/future. I am happy for the decision she made in this one. It is a good one. I am not totally agreeing on her skipping lessons/other things for the sake of a boy. You want to go pro? Yet at the mere mention of one hot boy you drop everything? Even go to late-night parties and the likes? Are you really serious about this future? If you go pro, you can't just drop your horse stuff, you have to be responsible about it.

Of course there are a lot of horse stuff going on, but I felt that it faded away a bit with all the stuff that goes on in the girls' lives.
I would also like to see them actually win something. Yes, they win, but we barely ever see it from that character's POV. We just hear a quick mention about stuff. Oh yes, btw I placed in this and that. Or I got this and that place.
The barn sounds like an interesting place, though I am not sure if I would be there because of all the stress, all the drama that takes place there.
And while Jamie seems a bit bossy, he is kind, friendly, and he cares about his clients and their horses.

All in all, this was a great book in this series, and I can't wait to buy the other 2 books and read them. I am curious to see how everything will continue, and I do hope we will see more competitions and horse stuff.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com

I have found another fun horse book to enjoy. This one for a bit older audiences than the other horse books I have been reading lately. But I really liked that, it seems a lot of horse books are for younger audiences, and it is just refreshing to find one that is for YA and older. :D

Friends and Foes is a (mostly) complete recap of Dreamworks' Shrek the Third; I saw mostly because it is a bit more abridged than is justified by the length restriction, in my opinion--it cuts Fiona's pregnancy, the King's on-screen death scene, and Rapunzel's betrayal of the other princesses... the first two of which are pretty damn important to the movie's plot.

Cuts aside, the art is interesting. Instead of matching movie screencaps with words, like the other Shrek the Third picture books I've seen, Friends and Foes translates the 3D CGI art style of the Shrek franchise into a 2D traditional art style. It works rather well, but I noticed that the Ugly Stepsister gets unfortunately gussied up in the transition; she's much more feminine in Friends and Foes than in the movies themselves.

It's another one of those books/reviews when I want to just say, "Watch the movie!" because, frankly, this doesn't add anything to the experience of seeing the film (and it's not a great film to begin with). But I suppose it's a good way to reinforce reading skills for Shrek fans.