Review of The A Circuit by Catherine Hapka & Georgina Bloomberg

Synopsis from Goodreads: "The A Circuit is the top of the top when it comes to horse shows. It's a world with its own rules and superprivileged lifestyles. Teens travel the circuit all year, showing horses that cost as much as some homes.

Tommi, Kate, and Zara are all elite competitors on the circuit, but they come from totally different backgrounds. Tommi is a billionaire heiress trying to prove she has real talent (not just deep bank accounts). Kate puts the working in working student—every win has been paid for with hours of cleaning stalls. She's used to the grueling schedule, but Fitz, the barn's resident hot guy, is about to become a major distraction. And then there's Zara. She's the wild child of a famous rockstar, but she's ready to take riding seriously. Can a party girl really change her ways?"

My Review: Well what can I say I had really high hopes for this book but it just didn't live up to them. The characters of The A Circuit seemed a little to valley girl and clueless to me. The only characters I seemed to enjoy were Kate, because she reminded me of myself (down to earth, and working her toosh off in order to ride) and Grant, who had such a minor role. It really bothered me the way the authors treated serious risks and injuries to the horses, granted I know from experience this does happen in real life. Also, nothing really gets resolved in the book, it just builds issues and issues and they all seem just to get swept under the rug. I am sure they will be resolved in later books but I don't think I will be reading the rest of the series like I had hoped.

The one good thing was that Georgina Bloomberg is donating a portion of the proceeds from this book to the Equestrian Aid Foundation.

My Rating: Unfortunately I have to give this one a rating of One Paw and a Stump Wag.  Its very hard for me to give this rating because I wanted to love this book so much, I was hoping for a more young adult version of my beloved Saddle Club books from when I was a kid but it just didn't live up to that series.