Teodora’s Book Reviews: “Apley Towers – Books 4-6” by Myra King (Sweet Cherry Publishing, Leicester, 2016)

The Apley Towers collection by Myra King is back with three new stories from the lives of the Lost Kodas. The four girls are constantly on the road to success, and they also make sure they always support each other and have fun even during their most difficult times.

The fourth book of the series, Restless Warrior, talks about some of the girls’ typical teenage problems. Angela goes through two unexpected experiences. She is being interviewed for the first time by an animal magazine, Pet Talk, and finds out what it’s like to have a secret admirer and to randomly come across his surprise gifts. Meanwhile Kaela is jealous of Trixie for having her own horse and worried that her mother, Felicity, might end up being replaced by someone else. As for her love life, she knows she has a special connection with Bart Oberon, but she’s not sure whether they’ll end up together one day. Finally, Trixie finds herself in the same situation as a character from her favorite TV show, The Wild Homeopaths. Russell, one of her friends, doesn’t seem to be interested in her anymore. The girl feels guilty for treating him unfairly for the past two years and doesn’t want to accept the idea that he has found someone better than her.

Kaela, Trixie and Angela feel confused and lost in their own thoughts until Phoenix, their Canadian friend, steps in and reminds them the reason why their club, The Lost Kodas, was created. The purpose of the club is to bring the girls together and encourage them to be open to discussions and talk about their problems. Although Phoenix doesn’t appear too much throughout the story, she plays an important role in her friends’ lives (and happens to be perfectly aware of that, too): “There. Sorted. Native Canadians should run the world – we get stuff done.” (page 107) She is clearly the best thing that happened to the three riders in a very long time.

As the title suggests, the girls want to become “restless warriors”, people who fight to make their lives spectacular and push themselves to achieve anything they set their heart on. At the end of the book, the three friends find their inner peace and accept life as it is:

“Sometimes being a restless warrior meant deciding to take a step back to recover from mistakes, or accepting that you had made mistakes to begin with.
Sometimes being a warrior meant living and learning and walking away from the lessons a much better person. Restless warriors expected only the best, and that included the best from themselves too.” (page 174)
“Sometimes, being a restless warrior meant understanding that it was the journey and not the destination that held all the magic.” (page 176)
“Sometimes being a restless warrior meant letting go and being calm.” (page 180)

In the fifth book, Bringing Out the Best, the plot is mainly focused on love and new relationships. Just when you think that Kaela and Bart will get closer, Bart is out of sight and appears only by the end of the story. But the readers will definitely enjoy the adorable scenes with Trixie and Finley, a new friend of hers. It all starts from an interesting friendship with a lot of laughing and teasing each other. Angela has another intriguing experience. When she agrees to give a new interview for the Animals and Us magazine, she gets to meet her idol, the lead singer from her favorite band, Savage Voodoo. All her friends join her to the concert. Each girl has a partner and together they discover how they bring out the best in each other. The concert scene is beautifully described; it is actually one of the best parts of the story. Myra King highlights the importance of having your loved ones around you. Even the characters make you realize how truly amazing it is to love and to be loved by the right person:

“Finley kept dipping and twirling her and telling jokes and using his mobile phone to take photos of the two of them. He knew the words to all the songs, and sang along with Darwin Curry as often as possible. Trixie thought his version of the song was better. Even when his voice croaked. (…) So far her non-date had been everything she had hoped for. There was no awkwardness between her and Finley; there was just music, laughter and dancing. ‘This is amazing!’ Angela screamed again. Finley twirled Trixie around, she couldn’t agree more.” (pages 174-176)

Another thing I particularly liked about this book is the close-up on the South African wildlife. Meerkats invade bathrooms and monkeys keep stealing soaps… But on a more serious note, rhinos are going extinct, so that explains why Savage Voodoo comes to South Africa, in order to give a charity concert. Such campaigns specially made to protect animals are very common nowadays, therefore the story gains a more realistic touch.

The sixth book, Good Enough, features four worried kodas, who are put under pressure due to many reasons. Predictably, in the end they all manage to find their silver lining. They each receive a letter and are being congratulated for who they are and what they do. To make long story short, the letters actually reveal the girls’ best sides and successes.

Kaela is known for inheriting her grandmother’s writing skills and her mother’s deep passion for horses. Leo, her father, also encourages her to step out from the shadow and create her own path in life. The girl always wants to be proud of herself and I have to admit that I highly appreciate her determined personality: “ ‘I am going to be a writer,’ she said unapologetically, ‘And if I am not as successful as you or Lavinia, that is perfectly okay. Because I am also a rider, and if I am not as successful as Felicity Willoughby that is okay too. As long as I am good enough for me, that is all that matters.’ ” (page 143)

Meanwhile Trixie shows everyone that Siren’s Song, her horse, is the best choice for her, as the two of them make a great team at a dressage competition: “Your freestyled routine showed us what a marvelous relationship you have with your horse. Indeed, Siren seemed to be playing along with you. It reminded us of the freestyle routines done by Felicity Willoughby all those years ago.” (page 186)

Angela, the bravest rider at Apley Towers, becomes quite stressed out at a show jumping competition, proving that she is not always as perfect as others think. She has to deal with many frightening things, such as being put into the spotlight more than ever or facing one of her former enemies, Gemma Larkin, from her old school, Sagittarius Stables. At first Angela wants to beat Gemma, but her thoughts change during the competition, as the jumps keep getting higher and more dangerous for Dawn, her horse. Her final decision makes her stand out: “After your stunning performance at the Superius test and your interview on Sports Masters (plus a great review from Gary), we feel that there is no one better suited to teach South Africa what competitive riders are really made of.” (page 190)

As for Phoenix, she has a huge success with her play, The Battle for Bellatrix, after a series of amusing “facepalm” events. One thing I learned from her experience is that green is considered to be bad luck in the world of theatre. During a Lost Kodas meeting, Kaela, Trixie and Angela wish Phoenix good luck with her play. Ironically, they all keep their fingers crossed while wearing green clothes. As I see it, green actually brought Phoenix tons of luck. I guess her play wouldn’t have been so successful if she hadn’t experienced so many unfortunate events: “The all Native Canadian cast and crew came together to create a truly memorable piece, which I could easily see on any stage anywhere in the world.” (page 185)

The four kodas are all lovable characters. Kaela reminds me of Rory Gilmore, from the Gilmore Girls TV series, because she loves reading and writing more than anything. Trixie tends to be different than the others. She is full of energy and ideas and comes up with brilliant sarcastic answers. Angela is born to be a champion. Even though she is homeschooled, she clearly knows more than anyone else. She may seem tough, but she’s definitely got a soft side and always wants to be surrounded by her family and friends and spend time with her horses. Phoenix is the heart and soul of the club. The Lost Kodas wouldn’t have existed if Kaela hadn’t found the Canadian girl on the internet. She is a sweet girl who gives great tips and supports anyone at all times. It’s impossible not to want to be friends with the four girls (and I think any reader would agree with me).

So far, all the Apley Towers books have sent powerful messages. After reading these stories, three questions have instantly popped into my mind. Am I a restless warrior? Who or what brings out the best in me? Am I good enough at what I’m doing? It’s up to the readers to answer these questions for themeslves. I’m really looking forward to the next collection!