Review: The Scorpio Races

by Maggie Stiefvater
publisher: Scholastic
date of publication: October 18, 2011
format: ARC
pages: 416
source: from the publisher for review
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N

From Goodreads:

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.

What I Thought

I thought that everything I had previously read from Maggie Stiefvater was fantastic, astounding, and hard to beat. However, I was in no way prepared for The Scorpio Races. This is Maggie Stiefvater at her best and I can not even begin to know how to best write this review. However, I will give it my best shot, because I want you all to know just how great it is so that you will go out and read a copy, yourselves. This book is simply the best thing she has ever written, hands down, and that is saying something given how much I loved The Wolves of Mercy Falls and Books of Faerie.

The Scorpio Races is a take on a bit of mythology that I have always found fascinating: kelpies, shape-shifting water horses that lie in wait to drag their victims into the bodies of water they live in to be eaten. The carnivorous horse aspect is as far as similarities go, however, as Stiefvater has taken a new direction and created a fearsome, challenging creature that is to be ridden... if you can avoid its teeth, that is. The capaill uisce are the stars of the annual Scorpio Races in this stories, but they are also otherworldly beings with strong magic and voracious appetites. The descriptions of these animals are chilling yet vivid. They take on personalities of their own and are as any other character in the book. This is an especially appealing characteristic of this book, one which I could not get enough of and became thoroughly engrossed in.

This book is written in Stiefvater's multiple p.o.v. style, much like The Wolves of Mercy Falls and Books of Faerie. There are two characters through whose eyes we see that action that takes place in this story: Sean Kendrick, orphan and premier horse & capaill uisce trainer on the island, who also happens to be a four time winner of the races; and Kate "Puck" Connelly, herself and orphan, who sets out to race in this dangerous event for reasons of her own. The interplay between these characters is absolutely breath-taking. It comes across as very well thought-out and is conveyed beautifully. Their back stories are moving and lend further evidence to their individual personalities and reasons for racing. Their shared interests also play well together and make for a moving story overall, one that made me smile, gasp, and sit up straight at several points. Further more, their love for their horses is tangible and make them all the more lovable. I absolutely loved these characters.

The island on which this story takes place makes for a breathtaking backdrop. It reminded me very much of Ireland and Scotland in its terrain and situation in the middle of the sea. In addition to that, hazards such as fierce storms and the hungry capaill uisce that threaten its citizens and livestock add some definite punch to the story. It was all at once picturesque and foreboding, a combination that I thought to be very well done and much needed for this story. I doubt that there could have been a better setting to be had for a story such as this.

To go any farther with praising this book would be to risk giving away too much, so here is where I leave off. Suffice it to say that I adored The Scorpio Races and that it is a contender for one of the best books of the year in my eyes. You simply can't go wrong with this book and I urge you to give it a read, yourself, when it hits the shelves. I, probably unsurprisingly, give The Scorpio Races 5 hoots.






Obligatory legal statement: This ARC was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. No monetary compensation was received in exchange for this fair and unbiased review.