"The A Circuit is the top of the top when it comes to horse showing. It's a world with its own rules and super-privileged lifestyles. Teens employ private tutors so they can travel the circuit all year showing horses that cost as much as some people's 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?" ~Amazon Description
Brittney Joy's Review ~ Not my favorite horse story, but there were definitely things that I really enjoyed about "The A Circuit"-- I really liked that this book was told from different perspectives of three teenage girls from different backgrounds. The three story lines added interest to this story and kept me turning the pages. I didn't read many reviews on this book until after I read it, but now I can see why readers labeled this story a combination of "Gossip Girl" & the horse show industry -- lots of teenage drama! However, I do wish the writers had dug a little deeper into the drama. A lot of it felt like it was left "on the surface."
The horse and riding terminology is correct and the chaos of the horse show industry is true to form. Kate was definitely my favorite character and easiest to relate to. I also started to warm up to Tommi towards the end of the book.
However, I had a real problem with Zara and, most of the time, I wanted to slap her. Her character is very shallow...and angry. And, I didn't see her as a true horse-lover. I won't give away any spoilers, but it REALLY made me mad what Zara ends up doing to a horse towards the end. It made me cringe. And, I felt like she should have "paid" for this decision.
The other thing I was hoping for was to see more "character" out of the horses. The horses had their own unique personalities, but I don't feel like I got to know them in detail.
The ending felt unresolved, but it is a series and the story continues in three more books. I would call "The A Circuit" a light read and it was fun to follow the drama mixed into the horse show world. I will be putting the second book on my "to-read list."
On a side note, this book was written by two authors -- both of which have equine experience. That's very interesting to me! I wonder how they wrote the book together -- if they took turns writing chapters of the story? Or if they represented different characters?
