Reviews for Ashleigh's Dream

The average rating for Ashleigh's Dream based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-11-30 00:00:00 G F Willmetts Let me admit right up front that this gets four stars more for sentimental reasons than for being in any way an accurate portrayal of a Thoroughbred stud farm or life in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. The Thoroughbred series is more of a Fantasy Island for my mind and battered spirit. I was not too impressed with this particular book the first time I read it in my 20s but quite enjoyed it now in my late 40s. I particularly liked that this book refers to Campbell's first book about a racehorse, Battlecry Forever! It's not absolutely essential that you read that book before Ashleigh's Dream but it sure fills in a few gaps. This book continues in the grand Thoroughbred series tradition of having titles that are less than accurate or downright puzzling. Just what is Ashleigh's "dream"? That's never gone into. The reader just has to make his or her own mind up what the "dream" should be. Very little information is given about Wonder's first foal except for the act of foaling. Wonder then fades into the background as Fleet Goddess comes into the foreground. I did find Wonder's sudden departure from prominence in the series a little bothersome but I did enjoy Fleet Goddess as a character. She's got a lot of class but is nowhere near the perfect racehorse. This book introduces Samantha who winds up taking over as the series' focus from Ashleigh in the next book, Wonder's Yearling. Ashleigh's point of view still dominates the book, but there are short passages where we get to peek into Samantha's mind. Samantha is much more of a troublemaker here than later on in the series. Some minor mistakes are made in this book, showing that Campbell isn't quite an expert on Thoroughbred racing. The late great Alydar is mixed up with a fictional daughter called Alidame that races against Fleet Goddess. Alidame is also not to be confused with real racer and top broodmare Alidiva, one of the matrons featured in the excellent non-fiction book about life in a Bluegrass stud farm Kentucky Derby Dreams by Susan Nussar.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-03-13 00:00:00 Hursell Dolly 4.5 I've always enjoyed the Thoroughbred books, which turned into a rather epic saga spanning more than one generation and more than 70 books. This book reminds me how much I enjoyed the series, and I'm now going to try and track all the books, so I can finally read the entire series in order, with no gaps! I'm pretty sure Thoroughbred gives us a fantasy version of horses and horse racing, though it seems fairly accurate in the areas that count (Joanna Campbell does know her horses, so there aren't any clunky errors dragging things down) and it's a fictional series, so it works. Ashleigh is a great character, but this book features the introduction of Samantha, who goes on to be the 'main' character -- Thoroughbred has a few of those over the course of the series, allowing for more growth and the option to take the books in various directions without it feeling out of place. I'm not sure anything tops the books that were just Ashleigh and Wonder, with a healthy dose of Charlie, but I appreciate the way the series evolved and kept things interesting for so long. I'm excited to get reacquainted with this world and it's cast of characters! 🏇