The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races

by Maggie Stiefvater

 


A breathtaking novel set in the wilds of Ireland, 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.





Romantic and steeped in legend

Maggie Stiefvater is a master at writing both romance and heart-pounding
action

Her books have consistently debuted at #1 on the NYT bestseller
list




PRAISE FOR SCORPIO RACES


"If The Scorpio Races sounds like nothing you’ve
ever read, that’s because it is. The capaill
uisce are exhilarating, frightening creations... Stiefvater has
successfully plumbed lesser-known myths and written a complex literary
thriller" - New York Times


The bestselling author of Shiver (2009)
and Linger (2010) turns the
legend of the water horse into a taut, chilling, romantic adventure. The
water horses are breathtakingly well-imagined, glorious
and untamably violent. The final race, with Sean and Puck each
protecting each other but both determined to win, comes to a pitch-perfect
conclusion. Masterful. Like nothing else out there now.
- Kirkus Review

Reviewed by Amber on

2 of 5 stars

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I’m about to upset so many people. Ha. Hahaha. Don’t kill me.

I was told by a once trusted friend and co-blogger that I would enjoy The Scorpio Races the most out of all of Stiefvater’s books. I had been commenting on how The Raven Cycle seems a little too try hard quirky with not enough plot, especially after Blue Lily, Lily Blue, and Tatum said I would probably like The Scorpio Races more if I’m not into quirky reads. WELL YOU WERE WRONG WEREN’T YOU TATUM.

My main issue with The Scorpio Races is that I was bored throughout. I tried really hard to get into it but by page 50 I was so exhausted by it because, like with Shiver, it was slow going. Terribly slow going. To the point that I couldn’t tell what the plot was meant to be, because I THOUGHT it was about horse racing turned deadly, but most of it was a girl trying to talk to this guy who is a champion horse racer. Or something.

It’s a very quiet plot, which was not what I expected from a book about murderous water horses. So that was strike one.

Strike two was that I couldn’t connect with any of the characters in the slightest. Puck and Sean sounded exactly the same on the page, and I had trouble telling them apart when I was in the middle of chapters. Especially since there were no distinctive plot points and so I had no idea who was doing what.

Another thing I have noticed is that Maggie Stiefvater’s books (those that I’ve read so far) feature very few significant female characters in comparison to the amount of significant males. Her books seem to be overrun with boys, and The Scorpio Races is no exception. I’m not going to lie, now that I’ve read more of Stiefvater’s books, this is starting to get on my nerves. Where are my awesome female friendships?! Or awesome female villains.

I started skimming The Scorpio Races at about the halfway point because it was sending me to sleep. I am so incredibly disappointed in this book, and I have been BETRAYED by my co-blogger, so this wasn’t a fun experience at all. Maybe it’ll get more entertaining when the mob comes to burn my house down for my blasphemy .

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 8 April, 2015: Finished reading
  • 8 April, 2015: Reviewed