Wednesday Riders by Tudor Robins

Another throwback review!!  Loving rereading these stories — they are everything I love about a great YA story, all the trials and tribulations and growing up.

Synopsis:
The island.

Meg can’t wait to get back. She’s excited to see her new mare kick up her heels in Salem’s old paddock. She’s impatient to run on country roads between breeze-blown hayfields.

Mostly, Meg longs to be back with Jared again.

It’s going to be the perfect summer.

But can real life live up to Meg’s huge expectations?

When Jared makes a heart-wrenching confession, Meg has to re-evaluate everything. If perfection’s not possible, can Meg find a way to build happiness for herself?

Fans of Appaloosa Summer will welcome the return to familiar places and characters, with the chance to be captivated by more of the beauty, romance, and dreaminess of Meg’s summer island life.

Find it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24968475-wednesday-riders
Order it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/22wHK1i

My Review:
4.5 stars — I was lucky enough to receive an ecopy of this book from the author!!

This was a SOLID followup to the first book — both books felt very much like coming-of-age tales, but this one was NOT a repeat of the first book. This was Meg growing even more, struggling with new and different challenges. From the synopsis, I knew this was going to be a hard book to take, and I wasn’t disappointed. Ms. Robins gives us heartbreak, but it’s so real and multi-dimensional and takes us through the ringer with Meg. I’m finding it extremely difficult to write this review without spoilers….and still say something meaningful. I guess I just really liked that the characters aren’t perfect, and they don’t always behave the best, and that things actually take time to resolve and accept and move on from.

I enjoyed the development of her relationship with her mother as a result — I always found it intriguing reading about their not-overly-affectionate relationship (since that’s kind of foreign to me), so it was nice to see them grow but stay true to their own characters at the same time.

The side plot with the girls and the musical ride was a nice relief from Meg’s troubles…. I kept thinking it would be too much to draw me away from Meg’s story, but she ends up learning and growing through her relationship with the girls as well.

I have NO IDEA where the 3rd book is going to go, I just hope for slightly less heartbreak. I will be watching for the last book though! It’s been fun watching Meg grow….