Chloe Ryder

Well, I did not enjoy this book at all, to be honest. My daughter chose it at a book fair, and I read it aloud to both my girls every night until it was finished. It was a daunting task. The story is set on a magical island where the horses talk, live in castles, and rule the land. I can't help but think the premise of the series was inspired by the popular My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic series. However, while I am a huge fan of that cartoon, this book series falls flat for me. The world is too saccharine sweet, I think, with none of the humor needed to balance the rather outrageous idea of a world run by horses.

This book picks up in the middle of the series, but it is easy to catch up on the overarching storyline. The princess ponies are searching for their magical missing horseshoes, stolen from their sacred wall, because without those horseshoes the pony's magic will eventually disappear. Fortunately, Pippa, the human girl who was magically whisked into the pony kingdom, is still staying with the horses and helping them with their search. In this adventure, Pippa and Princess Stardust (Pippa's particular friend) see Honey, Stardust's sister, sneaking into Cloud Forest and decide they have to follow her. The forest is infamous for being filled with dangerous creatures and deadly traps. However, in their pursuit of Honey, Pippa and Stardust discover that Honey has made a friend in the frightening forest - a unicorn! Not only that, but the unicorns that secretly live at the center of the woods have a magical tree that recently receive a boost of magic. When Pippa sees the tree, she realizes that the change is the result of one of the missing horseshoes, which has turned up in the tree's branches. Now Pippa needs to convince all the ponies, starting with Stardust, that the Cloud Forest isn't as fearsome as it seems, and persuade them to enter the woods and meet the unicorns for the sake of retrieving another precious horseshoe.

As briefly recounted above, I am not the biggest fan of this series. I felt like someone took many elements that are popular with young girls - horses, magic, a land of magic horses, unicorns, singing! - and mashed it all together with a predictable plot. In my opinion, this is the type of kids series that is made to capitalize on popular trends, and not because the author has a creative idea she needs to write down. Nonetheless, my girls enjoyed listening to it, even if I struggled through my read aloud. So I will give it two stars, for holding my girls' interest; and since many things can hold their interest but still be lacking in quality, I will give it no more than that.… (mais)