Book Review: the Scorpio Races by Maggie Steivater
Kate (aka Puck) Connolly and Sean Kendrick live on an island famous for The Scorpio Races. Every November people from everywhere gather at Thisby for the event. The Scorpio Races is famous because of the horses that race against each other: they’re capaill uisce, dangerous horses that come from the sea. They eat flesh and the race is so brutal that pretty much every year someone dies during it. The capaill uisce are interesting creatures, they are drawn to the sea, but not everyone understands them. Sean is one of the few who can deal with them, so whenever there’s something going on with the sea horses someone will call him.
Puck is the only girl at home. She's lived with her two brothers, Finn and Gabe, ever since her parents were killed by the capaill uisce. When Gabe says he’s leaving the island, Puck decides to race, so he would stay at least until the race is over. She doesn’t really think much about it, saying she’s gonna race is her first reaction. Later on, she realizes it isn’t going to be that easy. First, because she is the first girl ever to race, second, because she decides she’s going to race with Dove, her horse. Dove is not a capall uisce, another reason why she may not have a chance. The locals are not happy with her decision and try everything they can to stop her.
The Scorpio Races is everything you could hope for in a book and more. Although it was a slower paced book than some of Maggie Stiefvater's others, it made up for it in depth. Maggie intertwines reality and fantasy perfectly in this tale of struggle and hope, and a little bit of love. Her characters entrap you in the web that is there lives.
I would recommend this book to anyone between the ages of twenty and twelve, or anyone who likes reading in general. Both guys and girls will be able to relate to this book, as it alternates between Sean's and Puck's points of view.
Some other books by Maggie Stiefvater are The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Boys, and The Books of Faerie.
Puck is the only girl at home. She's lived with her two brothers, Finn and Gabe, ever since her parents were killed by the capaill uisce. When Gabe says he’s leaving the island, Puck decides to race, so he would stay at least until the race is over. She doesn’t really think much about it, saying she’s gonna race is her first reaction. Later on, she realizes it isn’t going to be that easy. First, because she is the first girl ever to race, second, because she decides she’s going to race with Dove, her horse. Dove is not a capall uisce, another reason why she may not have a chance. The locals are not happy with her decision and try everything they can to stop her.
The Scorpio Races is everything you could hope for in a book and more. Although it was a slower paced book than some of Maggie Stiefvater's others, it made up for it in depth. Maggie intertwines reality and fantasy perfectly in this tale of struggle and hope, and a little bit of love. Her characters entrap you in the web that is there lives.
I would recommend this book to anyone between the ages of twenty and twelve, or anyone who likes reading in general. Both guys and girls will be able to relate to this book, as it alternates between Sean's and Puck's points of view.
Some other books by Maggie Stiefvater are The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Boys, and The Books of Faerie.