Book Review / The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

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.


Published:     18th October 2011
Publisher:   Scholastic Press
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source: Owned

After reading the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy (and loving it!) a while ago I remembered that I had this one on my shelf that I had not read yet (too many books on shelves, books hidden behind books = bookgeek problems!).  The only book that I hadn't been able to get through by this author is The Raven Boys but its on my list to try again soon.  This story just sounded so different, I can't remember whether I have ever read a book that was mainly about horses so this was a new reading experience for me.  

I loved this book so much.  It was very slow paced so this was one of those stories that you could really sit back, relax, read and enjoy the story.  It does have an added 'supernatural' style twist in it with horses that come from the sea who seem to feed on blood.  Every year there is a race with the horses and this year Puck decides to ride.  Being that she is the first female to ride in this race she does come up with some resistance from the others.   There is a lot of back story with Puck and her family and also with Sean.  Although there is a hint to romance between Puck and Sean, I didn't really see much of that - the main story was the horse race and what was happening in the village at the time.

I loved this story.   If you are already a fan of Maggie Stiefvater and haven't picked this up yet you should.  If you haven't tried her writing yet this is definitely a great one to start with.