Title: The Scorpio Races
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic
Pub Date: April 1, 2013
Format: Paperback
Pages: 435
Source: Library
Genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads || Buy on Amazon

---

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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:

“It’s easy to convince men to love you, Puck. All you have to do is be a mountain they have to climb or a poem they don’t understand.”

Maggie Stiefvater is a storytelling queen. Forget the fact that I’ve never read anything like The Scorpio Races before. Forget the fact that I’ve never heard of these myths about water horses. All you need to know about this book is that the magic is in the details.

It’s that time of year again, when preparation for the races takes precedent over everything else in the small town of Thisby. Other than that, there’s not much in the ways of plot. It’s about the capaill uisce, and November cakes, and family. About happiness and love.

I told myself that I wasn’t going to mention The Raven Cycle in this review… but I can’t help it! Many people felt underwhelmed by the plot in TRC. I suppose those people failed to see that it wasn’t just about the search for a dead, Welsh king. It was about Blue, and Gansey, and Noah, and Ronan, and Adam, and the other ladies of 300 Fox Way. It was about Cabeswater, and Aglionby, and Nino’s Pizza. It was about the dream thieves and their desires.

The Scorpio Races is more than just a story about races. That is the point I was trying to make with The Raven Cycle. Maggie has once again taken a fictional place and made it a home. She’s invited us into the houses and minds of characters like Sean, and Puck, and Finn, and Gabe, and Tommy, and Malvern, and Mutt, and George Holly. She is the only author I’ve come across who is able to convey every character’s true essence, regardless of whether they are a major or minor character. It’s amazing. I don’t know how she does it.

Slow-paced and spellbinding, The Scorpio Races invites you into a world you never knew existed, and one that you’ll never want to leave.

*4.5 stars