Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately I have been unable to get into it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a free review copy through NetGalley.

This book started off giving me Narnia vibes, and I’m obsessed with old houses, family secrets and carousels but unfortunately the story and characters just didn’t click with me. I wish the siblings had been better developed and fleshed out, and maybe if there was less of them there would have been time but for me they all blended together.

Certain plot points are muddy and not well presented. At first it seemed like the book opens with the kids just moving in with their uncle but later we find out they’ve been living with him for awhile. The uncle’s refusal to explain anything in the first half of the book is frustrating and not the best way to pace the plot, because his silence makes little sense.

This book reads a little more like.a middle grade novel than a YA book.

Ultimately I wish I had clicked with this book because the premise really drew me in but I guess it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very charming. I loved books that include magic and mystery. The premise of the book was great and I loved that fact the book had a strong female lead. I do feel that the book was a little bit slow to start and that answers were dragged out to make the story longer and to extend the plot. The main character could tend to be a little childish sometimes, but again she was a child (teen). All of the action happened at the end, but this was because there was a lot of set up for the story. I’m guessing that there might be a continuation book. I did really enjoy this book, though.

This book was a really cute, fun read that I would recommend to true young adults like fifth to eighth graders. I have always been a sucker for any stories, movies, or books about horses so of course, I had to request this one!
Magical ponies, a mystery, and an adventure! What else could a teenage girl ask for? There are twists and turns that lead to deceit and life lessons as well. The only thing that I could see improved would be an overall more eclectic storyline that feels more believable. The delivery of the book fell short and the characters could have seemed more believable. Like why wouldn’t 5 teens ask questions about their situation instead of just immediately adapting to a new weird situation? Which is the reason for my three-star review.

Gutted.
This book had such potential but it just doesn’t deliver.
I loved the idea of the book – which is why I requested it in the first place.
Charlotte, the main character is horrible. A real pain in the ass. She’s an idiot that is always asking questions, but not really getting any answers but still accepting what she’s told.

The characters didn’t develop. The plot had massive holes all over the place and I can’t believe that I actually finished reading it. It was such hard work.

I received an ARC copy from netgalley for my honest review,  so thank you netgalley and publishers for offering me this book! ♡
The cover and title is what originally drew me to this book. I really wanted to like it, but I couldn’t get into it. It was so slow and I just couldn't do it.
This was my first book by this author, It was okay. It was slow paced but it was alltogether an easy read. ♡ I give this book a
2.5 star rating!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was great, it had magic, ponies, strong female lead and a little bit of love everything a YA book could want. Personally I struggled with it a little bit just because it took a while to get into the story and the actual magic stuff. I also found it very frustrating that the answers were being withheld from the main character as I felt it was just to extend the plot slowly.

As a book for a younger audience however it was well suited, and having the sibling and family unconditional love gave it a side that isn't often utilised quite as much. Charlotte really leans on her family at all times which is nice to see and not always the norm these days.

As for the main character Charlotte, yes she could be a little whiny in places as well as naive but let's not forget she is supposed to be a child (well 16 but still). She is not supposed to be as wise as Gandalf at this point. I didn't need the CONSTANT reminders that she was a 'geek girl' by referring to Doctor Who and Sherlock which by the way was at very thin depth and were she actually into those things would have known more about them, but that's another story.

There was so much set up in this story that all of the action (and some of the explanation) happened right at the end of the book and then it suddenly finished. The author is clearly setting up for more of these books, also the very close knit family suddenly had 3 of the characters just disappear and not be used for 40% of the book?

I did enjoy the book however and a good sign is that each night i wanted to read as much as I could and it was an easy read and refreshing read after a long slog with a previous book.

Let's see what happens with Charlotte and the ponies in the future..!

I received an ARC of this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book looked interesting and I initially requested it because I liked the cover. I was slightly disappointed though. The story seems to go around in circles with young Charlotte always asking people to share the secrets of her family’s legacy. It seems everyone always says they’ll tell her but no one actually does. The end result is a bit of a surly teenager trying to get a grip on her new reality of having flying carousel horses, a magical house, and a quest to somehow find some missing carousel horses. The plot was weak, the story dragged on and I didn’t enjoy the authors writing style. It just wasn’t for me.

I couldn't get into it. I was confused how a group of children could go to another state and not have demanded at least some answers as to why they were going there. Also one of the siblings is 18 so why didn't they make more fuss? I did like that the siblings seemed to truly care about each other. But overall this book did not work for me.

"This is a great read for young adult readers’. It's a charming read told through the eyes of the modern geek-girl teen. There are references to all the favorites -- Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter -- but Ransom does a fine job of relating to each of these without trying to be any of them.

I found the book an exciting read, full of adventure, magic, love and fantasy! If you like C.S. Lewis, you’ll love this book. This is the first installment of The Flying Ponies Trilogy and I can’t wait for book 2!

I was really excited to read this one based on the synopsis, but it did fall a bit flat for me. The characters needed more development, but the fantasy aspect was pretty good. It just didn't feel like a cohesive story, which continually pulled me away. It look much longer to read it than a book I'm really enjoying. I do appreciate the opportunity to read it!

It was a cute children’s story that reminded me of both The Little White Horse and The Mysterious Benedict Society. I loved the idea of a magic carousel, and some of the other magical surprises, but overall it was an underwhelming read. The characters were very flat, and there was far too much telling and not enough showing in the plot, which was all over the place. However, it was clean in content, and younger readers might be able to enjoy this story more than I did. 3 stars.

For more reviews, follow me at gabriellenblog.wordpress.com.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-arc copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the idea of this book, magical ponies and a carousel, and a young girl’s quest to be special. However it
didn't live up to my expectations. The characters, Charlotte our main character is a young self-proclaimed geeky girl which meant a lot of reference to Doctor Who, Star Wars, Sherlock, etc, which could have made her likable. Except there a bit too much pointing out how geeky her tastes were. It was almost as if we were starting to see real development in her then “geeky reference” and she went back to a kind of childish character. Overall I felt the other characters were just not realistic, and were not well developed. The dialogue felt forced at times and there was too much repetition throughout the story.

I wish world building was solid and as a reader you actually understood what the world of magic means at the end of this book. The purpose of magic in this world is NEVER explained, just that IT IS. As the first book in a series there was too much repetition and not enough development of characters, plot, world, or anything that would have helped this book. Everything about it is rather ambiguous. You never really do get the full story, and no, it doesn't add to the mystery of the story. It's exasperating!! And there was no wrap up at the end. This book fell extremely flat.

This is not a series I will continue.

I liked the idea of this book, but it didn't live up to my expectations. The characters were shallow and just not realistic to me. The dialogue felt forced at times and there was too much repetition through. Over and over Charlotte feels she's not being told the truth, then someone agrees to tell her everything and then they don't. It just got old. End leads into book2. the story could have been told in 1/4 of the length. without suffering.

Full disclosure - I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A fantastical tale about magical carousel ponies coming to life? Yes, please! Such were my thoughts when I started to read this novel, which sits somewhere between middle grade and YA.

I think generally it is easy to identify with Charlotte, our main character, who is a young geeky girl who just longs to be special. Well, don’t we all! There were references to Doctor Who, Star Wars, Sherlock, etc, which did make her very relatable for . Was there a bit too much pointing out how geeky her tastes were? In my opinion, yes, a little, but I can get over that quite easily.

I did like the fact that Charlotte has lots of siblings that she shares some of her experiences with. They do not always get along, but they do rely on each other and I loved that dynamic (even if I sometimes got confused which brother was which!). The relationships between the youngsters and their uncle Baron sat more trickily with me. It just felt like an all too familar trope.

Also, the (little bit of) romance in this novel is on one hand quite cute, but when I think too much about it, a little creepy as well. This is also a trope that I have read a few times before and I have learned not to overthink it. Sometimes you should just enjoy a book for being a book.

I enjoyed meeting some of the ponies and I liked the idea of the magic system, though I have not quite figured out how it all worked yet. Sometimes it was a bit vague on that part. I feel there is much of this tale still to be told and I think I would happily continue this series when it becomes available.

For me this sits somewhere just under 4 stars, but I prefer to round up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-arc copy of this novel.
I thought that Lift was a sweet and wonderful story about a young girl who wants to save a group of magical horses. She faces danger, mystery, and adventures all while trying to understand her place in the world. I think the book would be great for children and teens, who enjoy horses and adventure, it has a great message about being kind and helping others.

Lift is the first book in the series. At least I hope it is because the storyline didn't have a conclusion. Charlotte and her 5 siblings live with her uncle. They move from the city to the country. Right away they notice that this place is gonna be different than the city. Charlotte hears carousel music on the first evening in the home. She's not sure where it's coming from until it's explained to her that she is the new Capal of the ponies. Oh, and that there is magic in the world that the ponies are a type of guardian of. What that all entails, she isn't sure. Some of the ponies have been stolen. It's up to Charlotte to get to the bottom of it and rescue the missing ponies. But things aren't as they seem. Her uncle has too many secrets.

I would like to tell you that this book didn't have huge gaping holes in the plot line. Or that the world building was solid and as a reader you actually understood what the world of magic means at the end of this book. I would even like to tell you that the book comes to some kind of conclusion. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you any of those things. The plot is lacking. You never really do get the full story and no it doesn't add to the mystery of the story. It's frustrating. The world building is extremely vague and leaves you with more questions about what the magic even does in this book. And alas, the ending. It's not even what I would call a cliffhanger. The final fight never happens. There was no wrap up at the end. This book fell extremely flat.

This story was good, but not at good as I had hoped. I liked the idea of a carousel with magic ponies, but I feel the story didn't live up to potential.

Thought this book has a lot of potential I ended up losing interest on it. The story about the magic carousel is great, I already had read a book with a similar story and loved it, but sadly this wasn't the case with this one, even though as I've sait it has alot of potential and strength.

On the things that I didn't quite felt fitted were the Uncle, which I think wasn't doing a very good job of taking care of the family and the way he kept pushing Char to go to the ponies without telling her the whole story... seemed odd to me. Also I would have liked more character and relationship development because I felt like the kids had just arrived to live with their Uncle after some immediate tragedy, and it turns out they had been leaving together for a bit, only in the city, but to me it didn't feel like they had a relationship or any kinship. I felt like the situation was new to every one by the way in which they interacted.
Also the characters seemed like they had a lot of potential but were left underdeveloped and fitted into cliches.

On the other side, the idea was great: a magic carousel full of woden ponies with their own personalities, needing magic to go on and claiming their own human to help them out. And all the things surrounding it were great.... hidden in the woods because some of the ponies had already been stolen, it passing from family member to family member skipping some in between...