Review: The Scorpio Races

The Scorpio Races

by Maggie Stiefvater

published by Scholastic Press

404 pages

Reviewed by: Kristy

One of the main things I enjoy about reading a Maggie Stiefvater book, are her characters. The characters aren't plastic, wearing their feelings on their shoulder and extremely shallow. Stiefavter's characters have a depth about them that even towards the end of the book they manage to reveal one last trait or maybe even leave you feeling that there is more to know about them that would take a lifetime to discover. I like that her books always leave a bit open at the end for the readers to finish. To me she weaves literary magic.

The Scorpio Races is based on fairy tales of water horses from Ireland and Scotland. Instead of going with the mythologies for these stories and working around their restraints, Stiefvater wove her own story about water horses, capall uisce, who emerge from the sea, are captured, restrained and tamed just enough to compete in the big November Scorpio Races of Thisby Island. The races are brutal for horse and rider. The capall uisce just want to return to the sea...it calls to them, they yearn for it and seek it with every breath.

Add to the horse dynamic, two very interesting characters: Kate (Puck) Connelly and Sean Kendrick. Kate is determined to hold her family together, save her family home and possibly win the Scorpio Races. Kate will be the first female to ever enter, let alone compete in the Scorpio Races. She has so much to lose, to include her life to a capall uisce.

Sean Kendrick has lived around horses his whole life. His father competed in the Scorpio Races for years until one took his life. Sean is a four time winner riding a capall uisce, Corr. If he can pull off one more win he can buy Corr from his employer and go back to his home. There is such a strong connection between Sean and Corr, it drives the book forward until we are left with a heart wrenching ending that will leave you breathless.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from cover-to-cover and rated it 5 stars!