Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

My Review:

This was a book that had been on my TBR list for a while, and now I finally read it since it was my book club's selection for this month.  I really enjoyed this story.  There were many elements that made it a very well-written and enjoyable read.  

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

First, the idea of the water horses, or capaill uisce, was very well-developed.  I still do not know how to pronounce the name correctly, though.  Through Stiefvater's words she painted the water horses as deadly yet trainable.  For example, Corr killed Prince, but Corr seemed to love and care for Sean.  This was shown when Corr stood over Sean to protect him in the race.

There were many island characters shown in the novel.  All of these characters had their own stories and personalities.  There were the Malverns, Benjamin and Mutt.  I did not really like them because Benjamin would not sell Corr to Sean at first, and Mutt wanted to hurt Sean in the race.  There was the Gratton family.  Peg seemed like a strong and maybe cross woman.  Both of Puck's brothers had their own stories.  Of those two, I preferred Finn since he just seemed like a sweet younger brother.  Gabe had his reasons for leaving the island, but I feel he should not have wanted to leave Puck and Finn there on their own.

The story of Puck and Sean was wonderful.  At first, Sean did not really understand Puck since she was the first woman in The Scorpio Races.  Puck knew Sean had won the Races four times, but she knew little to nothing else about him.  As the story progressed, they began to develop romantic feelings towards each other.  These feelings developed realistically and slowly.

If you like YA paranormal stories with some romance, read this book.

Katie