This is a middle grade book. This book as only 72 pages, so it is a short to the point middle grade/children's book. I found the pictures cute, but they are very simple. I found the book short and to the point, so I wanted more details/a little more from the book. I did like the message of the book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Jolly Fish Press) or author (Whitney Sanderson) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

The Great Unicorn Race (Unicorns of the Secret Stable #8). By Whitney Sanderson, Illustrator: Jomike Tejido. 2021. Jolly Fish Press (ARC eBook).

Unicorn Guardians, Ruby and Iris, argue over who is the better rider. Ruby and Tempest can go really fast. While Iris and her unicorn, Lyric, are more tempered. When Cole, a dragon rider, suggests a race that he can oversee from above, the two rivals decide it is time to determine who is the best once and for all. As the two girls and their unicorns take off for their destination they find danger in the Diamond Desert. With Cole unable to help, the girls and unicorns must work together to get back home.

The Great Unicorn Race is about friendship and teamwork. While it is short, the illustrations are great and the real-life lesson in recognizing and utilizing strengths applies to both the rider and their equine companion.

Interesting premise. Likable/hated characters. Cool plot. I would recommend this story to others. Some spots I found that didn't hold my attention, but overall, I still liked it.

I love the concept of the book and I think that there was a great plot idea. I struggled because my daughter struggled. It didn't hook her from the beginning and that makes finishing a book tough. By the end of the book she loved it and if anything, it taught her that you can't always judge a book by the first few pages, sometimes the best part of the book comes toward the end.

My Review: Even as an adult I am still instantly attracted to anything to do with unicorns, so of course I had to read this book. This is definitely a book that younger 3rd grade me would have been obsessed with. This is the 8th book in the series but even having not read the previous books, it was still super enjoyable. It is pretty easy reading and would be appropriate for young readers getting out of those beginning reader books and wanting something a little more advanced. There are a lot of illustrations throughout the book as well. Think along the lines of Kingdom of Wrenly or Magic Tree House books. I really liked the message in the story about there being an time and a place for both speed and careful control, all wrapped up in quite the adventure. I think I want to go back and read the rest of the books, and share them with my nieces.

My Rating: Just reading this book brought me back to being the unicorn obsessed girl, adventure and lots of riding unicorns were everything I lived for as a kid. I really appreciate how this story gives adventure while providing a good message to the readers. It is easy to read even without the whole series behind it, so readers can pick up the book the find and can still enjoy it. I give it a rating of Four Paws.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

The Great Unicorn Race is the first book in this series by Whitney Sanderson that I have read from this series so far.
This book didn't have a great start and I was unsure of what the book would be like from this first impression, but the book got better after the race began.
The characters were a little wooden and so was the the first chapter but it did get better thankfully.
The illustrations were nice and the story had a lesson to be learnt from it which was good too.

This is a fast fun read with beautiful illustrations. It teaches teamwork and friendship. Wonderful children's book. Thank you Nor---Jolly Fish Press for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

The book didn't started well and yes, it matters. Till the end, I felt like the book didn't start well and I couldn't feel the depth of the characters and the plot as a whole.

The writing is fine. There's adventure and fun.

But the characters didn't quite work out.

Even the unicorns appeared a little out of place.

I find the illustration not upto the mark. Maybe it's an ARC copy, but I didn't like the hurried artstyle. It seems so unprepared.

The story seems repetitive. The writing seems fragmented. For a children's adventure read, I need a flow to read out to the audience. Sadly, I couldn't enjoy the book.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

The illustrations in this book are so gorgeous, I wished there's more of it. A great book for a middle-grade audience and teaches a lot about teamwork and friendship.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and North Star Editions/JollyFish Press for the earc to read and review.

What an adorable book, it was so much fun to read.

I loved that the girls were so different that they were clashing against each other’s personality but then in doing the race they learnt that the differences were a good thing. I loved the whole concept of the race too, going from the geodes to where a magic gem was was so wondrous, then when things don’t go as planned they had to figure it out.

It’s such an adorable book from an adorable, creative and well written series, that comes with beautiful illustrations.