The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

[Sashia18]

This post contains spoilers! I paid for this book with my own money, and this my honest (and short) review.
In the Scoprio Races, a young girl nicknamed Puck lives on the island Thisby, where vicious, man-eating water horses run. Each year, there are races for these horses. In order to participate, people have to capture a water horse as it emerges from the waves, and then break it in order to ride it. The races are life-threatening, because the water horses are hard to tame, but the monetary reward is large. Puck decides to enter with her own horse Dove, who isn't a water horse. The Scorpio Races follows Puck and a water horse racer named Sean as they train for the annual races.

The Scorpio Races is a very innovative novel. Even though many books have been produced focusing on the partnership between horse and man, like Black Beauty, King of the Wind, and The Black Stallion, Stiefvater introduces an element that makes her book feel fresh. The deadliness of the man-eating horses is a pretty intriguing premise, and Stiefvater's prominent characters Puck and Sean are likable. She twines their stories together in a way that is natural and doesn't just fling the two together haphazardly. She uses fresh descriptions to make her world feel real to the reader. I really enjoyed her plot-line as well, because none of the points felt contrived to me. The entire book flies along at a smooth pace that never jars the reader from its reality. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an exciting young-adult novel.

[roughink]

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater is a one of a kind read, in my opinion. It stands separate from her other works to date, but brings her signature take on the supernatural, as well as her thorough research and her painstaking detail in world creation. It is a haunting read, following you long after the pages are gone, and has this intrinsic wild and melancholy beauty that the island of Thisby creates.

Our heroine is Puck, a girl who simply wants to save her house, and keep her brother from having to venture from their home island of Thisby to the mainland for work. She is a relatable, genuine, and heartfelt girl, and like all girls, thoroughly in love with her pony. The pretense for saving her family centers around the legendary race that occurs once a year on Thisby: but with water-horses. The hero, Sean Kendrick, is a trainer and rider of water horses who takes a liking to Puck, as together they flout tradition and try to survive one of the deadliest of events with their steeds.

Life on Thisby is hard, but can be won from the sea and the unforgiving landscape. Stiefvater does an excellent job of providing a cast of characters, interesting and sincere, all fitting in with their strange and harsh setting. Her writing is descriptive without being exhausting, and the pace of the novel draws the reader in continually throughout.

This book is incredibly well-written. The fantasy of kelpie lore is well-rounded, and abundant, but Stiefvater takes it to new heights here. Her detail, from physical description, to little hints at control (such as tying knots and braids into the mane in certain configurations, bells, and ribbons) is exquisite. The island of Thisby itself is a place that easily leaps to mind, and all the cast of characters do as well. The book is everything that Young Adult Fantasy should be: solidly written, graced with memorable characters, and in the end, bittersweet.

Four out of Four Stars - the Scorpio Races was truly worthy of the word Amazing.

[mnm1246]

I don't have much of an opinion of this book. It wasn't bad by any means, but it wasn't at all what I had imagined. It was...unique. An odd combination of devil horses and other random things. Give the book a try maybe?

[KitKat_Reader]

I personally loved this book. The two main characters were given their own stories in the book and she didn't focus on the romance between the two like a lot of books will do now a days. She focused more on Puck's relationship with her family and Sean's with his water horse named Corr. It was different from anything I had read and it had me crying at the end to be honest.

[gali]

I have read it and liked it, but found it tedious to read at times.

[krood10]

I enjoyed this book. I did have to start and stop it twice before I finally got into it. I enjoyed the new element of the flesh eating horses and I'm a sucker for a strong female character. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but it was a good read.

[Sarah_Khan]

I really loved this book! The descriptions were extremely well-written and Maggie Stiefvater did an amazing job creating a whole new world. I loved how the characters were teenagers but the author made sure they were mature, they didn't seem annoying and young. The plot was very interesting and unique from start to finish. I also liked how there is only one book, Maggie Stiefvater didn't feel the need to drag on the story and make 2 or 3 more books just to make more money.
With this book and the Shiver series, Maggie Stiefvater is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors.

[rls1226]

Each time I pick up a book penned by Maggie Stiefvater, I think that I could not possibly regard her writing in a higher light than I already do. Once again she has proved me wrong. The Scorpio Races is a unique story unlike anything I've ever read before. It's an amazing tale of a girl's courage to save her home and her family, a boy's determination to win an annual race and the love of his water horse, and their journey together to discover first love. I highly recommend this novel, as well as any other novel written by Stiefvater.