The Scorpio Races (ARC)

We have a review of a very action packed, anticipated book, The Scorpio Races. by Maggie Stiefvater!

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.

My review: I was really looking forward to this book. I loved Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy. The idea of super dangerous water horses really sounded cool and original. And I was surely not wrong!

For me, the setting was the most outstanding aspect of this book. It takes place on an island where some of their ways seem from an earlier era, although they do have cars. I really enjoyed that steampunk-ish style of the book.

I also loved how the relationship between Puck and Sean was always in the background and not the main premise of the novel. Unlike a lot of YA, they're is no instant love. Puck and Sean weren't from the second they met soul mates. It developed over the story but never took the front seat. It added a sense of realism to an otherwise totally fantasy world.

Puck and Sean were both very interesting main characters. Like The Wolves of Mercy Falls the book switches narration between the two. Puck was a very strong and stubborn (in bad and good ways) heroine. And though Sean seemed a little boring and he got much more interesting in the second half of the novel that made me root for him all the way! The antagonists in this book were also very well depicted.

The water horses were amazing. Horrifying yet beautiful. These horses had me on the edge of my seat, during the race and at all parts of the novel.

My favorite part of the novel was actually hearing about Puck and Sean's day to day lives. From the summary it sounds like the book is going to take place mostly during the races, but I was surprised to find out that it takes mostly during the build up apposed to the actual event.

The Scorpio Races is supposedly a stand alone novel, which is uncommon these days in YA. Even though Stiefvater's said that, I'd enjoy a sequel and there would be plenty of room to build the world bigger and more detailed.

The Scorpio Races takes a mixture of horse raising, man killing, realistic life stories and blends them all into one stunning novel of beauty and action. This book will appeal to fans of a wide mix of genres.

5/5

Cover Comments: It looks very dashing, I love the red and gold.

Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Scorpio Races is out now. Hurry to the stores to get your hands on it!

This book counts in the following reading challenges:

111 in 2011: 85