Finally the day has come when Jess can bring home her filly Opal. But after Opal almost drowns in a flooded river, she falls ill and won't get better. Has Diamond's spirit abandoned her? This is the final book in the Diamond Spirit series.
Description 'What did you decide to call her?' asked Lawson, looking over Jess's shoulder. 'Opal,' said Jess, gazing lovingly at the little chestnut foal. 'Bad-luck stones,' grunted Lawson. Finally the day has come when Jess can bring home her once-in-a-lifetime horse. But Opal falls ill, the local vet just can't find a cure and Lawson casts her out onto his cattle station to 'do or die'. Wild with anger and refusing to give up, Jess heads west on an outback droving trip with her best friends - and Luke. Will she be able to bring Opal home? And could Luke be her once-in-a-lifetime boy?
Karen Wood is the author of the five Diamond Spirit books. She has an Arts degree majoring in communications and a diploma in horticulture. She has syndicated a gardening column in several newspapers throughout Australia, has published feature articles in various magazines and has published photographs in bushwalking guides. She is married with two children, a few horses, some dogs, chooks and a very cute rabbit. She lives on a small acreage on the Central Coast, New South Wales, where she spends as much time as possible with kids and horses or at her laptop, dreaming up a new book.
I love theses books they are so real and emotional. if your not a horse person then fyi this is how horse people are we see them not as animals but as something else. We feel free when around them and if you listen to them they will teach you just as much as we teach them it's an understanding that goes both ways. When you meet the right horse they're is nothing that will stand in your way
I read these books as a teenager and absolutely adored them. I came back to them in my mid-twenties and loved them even more! I read all three books in 5 days, and I was honestly so disappointed when I finished the series, I wanted to stay in that world a little longer. Very well written and captivating.
The further I get into this series the more I am enjoying it. Great to have some Australian horse adventures instead of American,, the characters and the emotions felt by them are instantly relatable to any horse mad girl, cant wait for more of the story to unfold. Well done.
I read this as a kid and don't think I read any of the others in the series. Still understood it pretty well and found all the outback stuff quite fascinating since all my other horse books were all uwu green pastures and all that. I just remember enjoying this one quite a bit.
This was a really good book! Now, I read quite a few horse books, but honestly, even with the four star rating, I don't think I'm going to read another book like this again. It's hard to describe, but the awful nature of the bush and the treatment of horses, combined with the live or die attitude had my back up throughout the book. I think I prefer to think of my horses as gentle loving things, and want to retreat back to 40s children books about horses and saddle club.
This book is a reality check, and the little girl who loves horses who still lives inside my 23 year old mind didn't like reading the darker side.
So, it's a good book, well written, it was just the subject matter that I didn't like. I recommend this for true horse lovers, but probably not for people like me who still think of the clear cut, safe and fun animals from old kids books.
Loved it loved it loved it. I have no joke read this book 25 + times. It's my absolute favorite book of all time! Personally I love horses but find reading horse books difficult due to that they get boring, Opal Dreaming and the entire Diamond Spirit series was captivating and still are 3 years later . It is relate able for all ages, even now as an 18 year old I regularly pull my now battered copy out to have a read, again.
I think the success with this novel is due to that Karen Wood takes real issues of a young horsey girl and writes them in a beautiful understandable way. Not to mention, Karen also uses real issues that strike home for many people, equestrians or not.
I love diamond spirit. It has saved my futer because I was going through a rough time but these books where a differ t world and you feel as though you are really in the book!!!!! So I would like to thank Karen for making the series and i hope there's more and hopefully a movie:) (p.s be careful when you read then you have to finish them you can't put them down I read the whole series up to golden stranger in one week)
This was amazing! I loved the romance between Jess and Luke, it was really sweet. I also loved the horses the book is based around: Dodger, Walkabout, Marney etc. Definitely worth a read and it's short enough that even unenthusiastic readers will enjoy it as well! I would recommend reading the first and second books before this one first because you get to know the characters better.