The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Stiefvater
Goodreads 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.
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.
Review:
Maggie
Stiefvater is one of my favorite YA authors, so when I heard she was
coming out with a book about water horses, I was immediately interested.
With all the good reviews I had heard, I had high hopes for this new
book. Unfortunately, I may have hyped it up too much for myself because
I was somewhat disappointed with it.
The biggest problems I had with the book was the pacing of the story and the lack of background of the capaill uisce . The beginning of the book starts off incredibly slow, and the main characters do not really begin to interact until halfway through the book. Stiefvater does not really explain the capaill uisce very well (which may be part of the mystery of these water horses, but I would have liked some explanation about what they are, where they came, why they are raced, etc.). And even though there is tension built up between the islanders and the main characters, there is not much action to go with it.
However, Maggie Stiefvater's writing did not disappoint. As with all her other works, it is lyrical and beautiful, and she has a gift for making any story very atmospheric. I liked Puck and Sean, mostly because they were not perfect. The romance is subtle, but well done. I only wish they had began to interact earlier in the story.
I can see how some people might find this boring, but it's also very lovely. If you don't mind slower paced books, this is definitely worth reading. I enjoyed it, just not as much as I thought I would have.
The biggest problems I had with the book was the pacing of the story and the lack of background of the capaill uisce . The beginning of the book starts off incredibly slow, and the main characters do not really begin to interact until halfway through the book. Stiefvater does not really explain the capaill uisce very well (which may be part of the mystery of these water horses, but I would have liked some explanation about what they are, where they came, why they are raced, etc.). And even though there is tension built up between the islanders and the main characters, there is not much action to go with it.
However, Maggie Stiefvater's writing did not disappoint. As with all her other works, it is lyrical and beautiful, and she has a gift for making any story very atmospheric. I liked Puck and Sean, mostly because they were not perfect. The romance is subtle, but well done. I only wish they had began to interact earlier in the story.
I can see how some people might find this boring, but it's also very lovely. If you don't mind slower paced books, this is definitely worth reading. I enjoyed it, just not as much as I thought I would have.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
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