tweetybugshouse
Written on Sep 27, 2014
A stunning new novel from the bestselling author of SHIVER, LINGER AND FOREVER. Stay alive, stay astride, stay out of the water...Every November, the Scorpio Races are run beneath the chalk cliffs of Skarmouth. Thousands gather to watch the horses and the sea that washes the blood from the sand. The mounts are capaill uisce: savage water horses. There are no horses more beautiful, more fearless, more deadly. To race them can be suicide but the danger is irresistible. Sean Kendrick knows the dangers of the capaill uisce. With one foot in the ocean and one on land, he is the only man on the island capable of taming the beasts. He races to prove something both to himself and to the horses. Puck Connolly enters the races to save her family. But the horse she rides is an ordinary little mare, just as Puck is an ordinary girl. When Sean sees Puck on the beach he doesn't think she belongs. He doesn't realize his fate will become entwined in hers. They both enter the Races hoping to change their lives. But first they'll have to survive.
- ISBN13 9780545224918
- Publish Date 1 April 2013 (first published 1 October 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Scholastic US
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 448
- Language English
Reviews
nitzan_schwarz
Written on Sep 26, 2014
Originally posted on my blog.
I find it fairly difficult -- perhaps even impossible -- to form my thoughts of this book in a coherent manner. It's a book that's hard to describe, with prose that's hard to find words for. It's a book that is both beautiful and terrifying; enchanting and brutal; apathetic and raw; violent and majestic.
It's hard to describe such a book.
I can tell you people don't talk a lot in this book. Not with each other; sometimes not with themselves. There's value in silence in Thisby, and it is weighed with much meaning. But sometimes, I wished they'd just speak and hash it up. Less glares, more words.
I can tell you the main characters, Sean and Puck, were hard to connect to at first - they are both kind of antisocial. Focused on themselves and those they love, and not much else. But their voices worked together. They fit, and because of that you'll scream at the book for them to meet already, to see their interactions.
And once those interactions start, you'll be wanting for more. Waiting for some progress. And it's understated - there are no grand gestures or declarations, no discussion on their feelings between them. Just the way the act, and think, and move along each others rhythm. It was kind of lovely, while at the same time I wanted more. I wanted after.
I can tell you this book lives and breaths death. It is disturbing and harsh and difficult and people die, and it's not really anything out of the ordinary in this book's reality, and people will gamble over their corpses, and no one will bat an eyelash at it.
I can tell you it's more "adult" than The Raven Cycle, the only other books I've read by Maggie. There are innuendos in the book - not by our MCs, but by the adults around. Words of beds and doing and it generally doesn't shy away from the fact people have sex. It's not crass, and we've nothing even remotely close to actually it in the book, but it's open about it.
And I can tell you that whatever you're thinking you're getting into with this book - you don't really know anything. It will take you by surprise. Hopefully, a good surprise, but I can see why for some it's not.
This is not a book I'd give to my mother. She won't be able to bare the brutality of it.
(P.S - I tried giving it to her. As expected, she gave up after three chapters)
Originally posted on my blog.
ladygrey
Written on Apr 3, 2014
Just based on the description I expected the story to be like Hidalgo with the big sprawling horse race. It's not. So, that took a bit of adjustment. I liked that the story was a lot about the choices these characters had to make and how they brought themselves to that place. How they had to reconcile what they needed to do and what they wanted and what they were forced into and what it cost them. It wasn't a fast story but it would have been to flat and hollow if it was.
[a:Maggie Stiefvater|1330292|Maggie Stiefvater|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1587234813p2/1330292.jpg] is so good with tone that it penetrates into the marrow of the story. And this is such a Maggie Stiefvater world - rough and hard and bloody but also strong and strangely beautiful if the magic calls to you the way it does to the characters. I liked that it's a very haunting sort of magic.
And the characters... it was easy to like Sean Kenndrick right away. Puck Connelly took a little bit, partly because Puck is just such a not-girl's name. I liked her better once she was Kate Connelly for a while and I liked when Sean Kenndrick knew her as Kate Connelly. And I'm curious why Maggie Stiefvater insisted on full names through so much of the story but I kind of liked it. I hated Gabe there for a while, but then I forgave him, like I knew I would eventually. Because Maggie's characters are also, almost always, redeemable. Even, somehow, the bad guys. Because I didn't hate Mutt in the end either, though I never really hated him the way I despised Gabe.
I loved, loved the slow burn of the romance. And the way it took me by surprise even though it was totally obvious. The way it wasn't full of what [a:Robin McKinley|5339|Robin McKinley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1314406026p2/5339.jpg] would call silly sweethearts kind of love but was deeper than that - this connection of these people drawn to each other who trust each other more than they trust anyone else and those quiet moments - those sparse words that have so much more impact than something as simple as a kiss.
KitsuneBae
Written on Mar 27, 2014
tellemonstar
Written on Feb 3, 2014
Alexandra
Written on Sep 24, 2013
lizarodz
Written on Aug 20, 2013
Once upon a time, back in 2011, I went to my first book signing. I had just stared my blog and I was beyond excited to meet Maggie Stiefvater. I love her Wolves of Mercy Falls series and the signing was for Forever, the last book in the series. Maggie talked about her next book, The Scorpio Races, and as any good fan would do, I purchased it right away. Sadly, it sat on my shelf unread for a couple of years. A few months ago I decided to purchase it in audio book, and the rest as they say, is history.
There are many reasons why I love Maggie’s writing and this couldn’t be truer in The Scorpio Races. All the elements of an imaginative plot, world building, outstanding writing and amazing characters are all here. It was magical to listen to these talented actors read the book. It took me a bit to get used to their accents, but it was so worth it.
This story is the story of the unique and unforgiving island of Thisby where killer horses named capaill uisce (pronounced something like ‘capal ishka’) come out of the water every year around the month of October to hunt. This is the time where the men in the island try to catch the capaill uisce and ‘train’ them to race in the Scorpio Races, for a chance to glory and, of course, money. People come from all over to see the races, to bet, and to buy horses.
Our protagonists are Sean Kendrick and Kate ‘Puck’ Connolly. Sean is an orphan that was raised to love horses. He has a natural understanding for both land and water horses and he works as a trainer for Benjamin Malvern, the richest man in Thisby. Sean is a man of few words, he has an imposing presence and he is respected by all. Sean and his capill Corr, have won the races four times before and are getting ready to do it again.
Kate is also an orphan, having lost both her parents a year prior. She has two brothers, Gabe and Finn, and they are having a really tough time with surviving. Kate is so funny! Her mind is an amusing place to be indeed, luckily most of the time she thinks before she talks. Kate is very loyal to her family and the few people she considers friends, but in her mind it’s always the Connolly’s against the world. This world comes crashing down when her brother Gabe announces he is leaving the island, a desperate Kate enters the races to make a point and to keep him in the island a little bit longer.
Sean and Kate are different, but they have some things important in common, their love of horses and their love for the island they call home. This is not a flashy, instant or passionate love story, nonetheless, it is a sweet romance between two people that respect and understand each other. Do I wish for more time with Kate and Sean? Absolutely, but I trust that their lives will be better now.
Our villain is Mutt Malvern, the son of Sean’s boss and an awful human being that takes pleasure in tormenting Sean at all costs. The hatred between these two is mutual and palpable. Other characters are minor, but add a lot to the story, especially Mr. Holly who seems to act as Sean’s conscience and mentor.
The world building is exquisite. There is a lot of description of the cliffs, the beach, the horses, and so on. This world comes alive under Maggie’s pen and it’s one of the main characters. The crown jewel of the story is the writing. It is lyrical, almost like reading poetry, full of simile and metaphors.
The Scorpio Races is a truly beautifully written book, ideal for the romantic at heart, but with a strong stomach (after all they are killer horses). The only thing left is for me to back some November cakes (I will too!)
Here are some quotes for you:
“I think of Sean folded low over the red stallion, riding bareback at the top of the cliffs. Of the easy way they had with each other when I met him to look at the uisce mare. I think, even, of the way Sean looked when he stood on the bloody festival rock and said his name, and then Corr's, like it was just one fact after the other. Of the way he said "the sky and the sand and the sea and Corr" to me. And I feel a bite of unfairness, because in everything but name, it seems to me that Sean Kendrick already owns Corr.”
“I say, 'I will not be your weakness, Sean Kendrick.'
Now he looks at me. He says, very softly, 'It's late for that, Puck.”
“In the middle of all this, as Sean slips out of his jacket, he looks over his shoulder at me and he smiles at me, just a glancing, faint thing before he turns back to Tommy.
I'm quite happy for that smile, because Dad told me once you should be grateful for the gifts that are the rarest.”
“Happiness isn't something this island yields easily; the ground is too rocky and the sun too sparse for it to flourish.”
About the cover: I love the rusted red color- the color of blood. Puck is riding on Dove near the water; they both seem so free and fast. The brass color font of the title is a nice contrast.
Amanda
Written on Apr 10, 2013
I am fascinated by this world where the Scorpio Races happen and capall uisce are feared monsters. Nothing is a given—not for Puck and not for Sean. The two of them are driven to enter into the Scorpio Races, each for their own reasons and each for desperately fighting for survival in a world set against them.
Thisby is not a place one can survive in. If you’re not lost to the bloodthirsty horses, you’re escaping to the mainland. Staying isn’t for the faint of heart; you must love the challenge of a world set against you as much as you love the island. But against all odds (literally, in Puck’s case), both Puck and Sean attempt to make a go at it, drawn to each other by their similarities.
The Scorpio Races leaves me oddly unsettled even now, after finishing. But it’s the kind of the unsettle that stays with you, bringing the story back in your memory again and again, enticing you with its lyrical quality and haunting world. I want more.
nannah
Written on Oct 31, 2012
This book was beautiful and sweet and dark all at the same time. I love its atmosphere, the sheer simplicity of it as a whole, and the folklore that plays a vital role on every page. And the names. I mean come on: "Sean Kendrick, Puck Connolly," how can you not instantly fall in love?
I now know what all the hype was about. Honestly I was not at all a fan of Shiver and it made me hesitant to pick up The Scorpio Races, but boy am I glad I did anyways (though Stiefvater's description can still be a bit ridiculous--I think she used "It was a pink morning" or "The morning was blue" like 3 times each or something). This book's got heart and it's got danger, real character motives, it's got rivalry and family troubles--it's really just got everything. And it's not even bogged down under all of it, it's just a part of the whole story's big ol' heart.
I think what I loved most about this is how simple the story can be boiled down. Nowadays it seems like everyone's trying for insane plot twists or things for "sparkle" value rather than good old plot worth. The Scorpio Races has a beautifully simple plot that drives everything else. Everything relates to that bigger plot, every single event that happens. When you tear it apart detail-by-detail, this book's got a lot in its covers, but it's still so simple. It doesn't need to have so-called mind-boggling twists to keep readers entertained.
It's brilliant, that's about all I can say. I freaking loved it.
Linda
Written on Oct 26, 2012
This and other reviews can be found on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews.
I had no idea what to expect when I picked up The Scorpio Races, and I was completely blown away by it all! The characters, the vicious cappal uisce and the mystery surrounding both them and the race.