Reviews

Summer at Hope Meadows by Lucy Daniels

rebeccadanielle's review

4.0

As a kid I was obsessed with Animal Ark. When I stumbled across this series featuring an adult Mandy Hope I felt like a child again. Summer at Hope Meadows introduces Mandy as an adult and has her returning back to her childhood home. What I really enjoyed about this book is that it allows those who never read Animal Ark to enjoy this series but it also doesn't forget about those who were like me and read just about every single Animal Ark book they could get their hands on. Something else I noticed was that Mandy still felt like Mandy.

khrys's review

hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

sarah70's review

emotional lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

frenchspark's review against another edition

4.0

Lecture super agréable, j’adore ce genre de livres qui ne prennent pas la tête même si il traite de moments durs d’une vie (j’ai versé une larme oui…). Sachant que c’est une série j’ai adoré comment ce premier chapitre se termine! Qu’est ce que le personnage de Simon m’a énervé tout le livre!! Mais bon il faut bien une personnage comme cela pour rendre la lecture plus intéressante.

celine_lacosse's review

lighthearted relaxing

3.25

gemimasheila's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

pageturner92's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, and Death

katy_readsbooks's review

4.0

I genuinely really enjoyed this (and it's got me wishing I hadn't given up on my vet dreams when I was younger!)

Super comforting, with enough drama in the story to keep it interesting, just like the original kids novels. Marking it down because the writing is a little clunky and the dialogue often strays into the unrealistic, but generally this is a warm hug of a book and I'm gonna download the sequel to read on my holidays!

evefaith's review

3.0

It felt really comforting and nostalgic to be back with Mandy, James and the animal ark crew. I think if I didn’t have an invested interest in the characters from reading the animal ark series as a child I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed this book or even stuck with it. It was an easy read with a cute storyline, although touching on some darker issues, and was quite heartbreaking at a point. I related to Mandy’s situation of being torn between her childhood village and the excitement of a bigger city she more recently called home. However I read a few reviews before reading which mentioned the dialogue being unrealistic, I am afraid I have to agree! Simon referring to his girlfriend as his ‘long legged girl’ and then answering her call with ‘What can I do for you?’ seemed a bit odd and not very believable. Another point I read in another review was the overly repetitive use of ‘Vet’ terminology and practices. At first I thought this was unfair, this is a book about a family of vets after all! However by halfway through I couldn’t help agreeing with this. It seemed to describe the vetinary procedures in minute detail which could alienate the regular reader. Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy learning a bit more about how a vetinary practice is run and understand this is a big theme of the book but it was just a bit too much, and knowing it was actually written by a vet, I understand how this has happened. Another thing was there were quite a few characters mentioned that I did struggle to keep up of who was who a couple of times! I am not sure if I will continue with the series, I do have some unanswered questions and would like to continue with Mandy and James on their journey into adulthood but I don’t feel overly excited about the prospect of several more books like this! Having said all this I did devour it in two days so it wasn’t all bad and I did like the fact it felt like I was reuniting with some old friends. Overall I would recommend this to people who, like me, grew up with the animal ark series or have a particular interest in animals or vetinary practice otherwise I can’t promise you will love it.

cem_214's review

4.0

As someone who was a big fan of animal ark as a kid and now works in a veterinary hospital, I loved this! Okay, so it reads a little simple at times with the relationships, but it's a lovely easy read with a lot of realistic animal care. Very enjoyable and I'm looking forward to more.