The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Scorpio Races
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 401

Summary: 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.

This review may contain spoilers. If you don’t want to know, don’t read it.

I’ve been a huge fan of Stiefvater’s work since reading the Mercy Falls series, and I absolutely could not wait to see what she had for us next. Getting my hands on an advanced reader copy of The Scorpio Races was like Christmas in June!

Going in, neither voice (as is the norm for Maggie’s novels, there are multiple POV’s) grabbed me at first. I was like okayyyyy, what’s the point here? Do I even like this? OMG I’M BORED. Yes, I get distracted easily. Whatever. What I’m trying to say is: it wasn’t until about halfway through that I finally reached that high and wanted to continue reading, reading, reading until it was finished.

I have to say that when I sat down to finish, I came away with tears in my eyes. There’s just something about a man and his animal that just gets to me, and Sean’s connection to Corr was beautiful. If you’re an animal person like me, you’ll understand that some bonds like that are stronger than those you share with humans. They’re our greatest companions at times.

For Sean, that was all the time…until Puck. Sadly though, the bond he shares with Corr was more captivating to me than his budding attraction to Puck. If you’ve read any of the Mercy Falls series, you know Maggie has the ability to bring the major swoons… I guess that’s what I was expecting here, too. But there were very few.

As for Puck, she remarked often about how ornery she was supposed to be with the spitting and the biting, but I never really saw that in her character. I wanted more. I wanted her to punch Gabriel in the face like she threatened. I wanted her to stand tall and just be proud of herself. She made a huge decision, she changed that island forever by doing what she did and I needed her to own it!!

Overall, it was an interesting story—certainly not like anything I’ve read before. But I just needed more. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Puck, and I liked Sean. And as I said before, the bond Sean shared with Corr (and all the horses he worked with) was truly amazing to read. But as far as the rest went, it fell a little below my expectations.

I would recommend this if you have a love for animals (horses especially) or if you’re looking for something original to take a bite out of, you won’t be disappointed.

But if you go in (like I did) hoping to find the next Sam Roth…

and

[dcs_p][/dcs_p]