Triple Fault (4) (Canterwood Crest)

This series could be summed up by writing that it's about sleazy, trampy, sassy, nasty, jealous girls who ride around on horses. Here's a description from the website for this series: "ONE: Heather pretending to date Jacob, just to mess with Sasha. TWO: A new girl who is so competitive, she makes Heather look tame. THREE: A former BFF with a new hobby: stealing boyfriends." Now, is THIS the kind of book you'd want your daughters to read? Is this going to help raise the kind of girls we want in the world? What are people who read these kinds of books going to contribute to the world other than fodder for stories like the Amanda Knox trial? Is the only purpose of teenage girls to date and be mean to other girls? Is that all they have going for them? The books in this series seem to suggest as much.

Sasha's still reeling from the Callie/Jacob news. She's hurt beyond belief and she can't deal with looking at them, let alone talking to them. Plus, she's still not able to ride thanks to the stunt the Belle's pulled on their team. With nothing left to do, she's been groom Charm like crazy and paying attention to her school work so she won't fall behind again. A bonus to hanging around the stable -seeing Eric. When he confesses that he wants to date her, she's over the moon. But she's unwilling to take their relationship public after what happened with Jacob and the Trio. But the Trio have their hands full with newcomer Jas. Jas has pulled too many tricks on them to bury the hatchet and no one on the team trusts her. Does she have another trick up her sleeve? Once riding starts up again, Sasha's pulled in all directions - Callie wants to patch things up, Eric wants to take her out on a date, and Paige's TV debut is just weeks away. Can Sasha juggle everything and keep everyone happy?

I devoured this book! The covers rock - so fresh and fun and featuring cute riding gear. The books always make me want to go riding. I adore these books - an incredibly sweet and perfect blend of friendship, horses, drama, and romance.

Here's the thing: When TAKE THE REINS came out, I picked it up for one reason, and one reason only: I read Jessica Burkhart's blog, and she was so excited about her début novel that *I* was excited about her début novel. I'm not really into horses, not into the new-girl-clashing-with-the-popular-mean-girl plot, not into middle-grade novels. But I really enjoyed the first book, so I kept reading the series.

In TRIPLE FAULT, Sasha still isn't speaking to Callie and Jacob, too hurt by their betrayal. No matter that she like-likes Eric. She wants nothing more than to be his girlfriend, but she's sure that keeping their relationship secret is the key to making sure nothing happens to ruin it. More than that, Jasmine King--who makes Heather look très sweet--has transferred to Canterwood with an "I'm so innocent" act that fools everyone, and no one on the seventh-grade advanced team is going to give her a chance. Too bad this is Jasmine King, who won't take no for an answer.

I think that this series is getting better and better. In the first book, Burkhart jumped from scene to scene a lot; there didn't seem to be a lot of connectedness. In TRIPLE FAULT, the fourth book, the storyline read more smoothly. The characters are growing more and more distinct; Burkhart's characters aren't incredibly nuanced, but she adds layers here and there. Like Jasmine? In the previous books, I hated her, but in this book, some of her "shy new girl" act might have fooled me. Sasha is far from perfect (her big problem with Callie dating Jacob is that Callie didn't tell her, yet Sasha is now doing the same thing; and she doesn't give Jasmine another chance), but she's an extremely likeable protagonist who usually acts her age. And I love that Eric and Sasha have a solid friendship that developed over the two previous books; I liked that it took time for Sasha to realize which guy she really liked.

If you want your tween daughter to be reading something "wholesome", CANTERWOOD CREST might not be the series. The characters--including Sasha--have their good and bad moments, and there's no moral imparted at the end of the books (just cliffhangers). But in my opinion, CANTERWOOD CREST is definitely a great series for tween girls, especially those who like some drama in what they read.

good quality as expected

Awesome book series.

Granddaughter loved it

Item arrived on time, as described. Daughter loved it!

My daughter loves this series!

ok

My daughter has "graduated" from Pony Pals and Pony Days, Magic Ponies and Magic Pony, etc, but not yet ready for some of the older series. She is in 4th grade and around an RL 5.6, so we wanted more challenging but not grown up. The manager at Barnes and Noble recommended Book 1 to her and she read it and was hooked, so we got the rest of the series for her for Christmas. She is on book 5 and I imagine, since it a new series, that the books will retain resell value, although she plans to keep this series to re-read again whenever she wants to. The nice and not-so-nice thing about this series is that it does deal with real life bullying, mean girl and social issues, which is a big step from the fluffier children's pony books of 1st-3rd grade that she was reading, but since she has had to deal with some issues at riding school, she likes to bury herself in these books as a way to unwind. I like that she talks to me about what is happening in the books.