The Scorpio Races // Book Review

It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Some race to win. Others race to survive.

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 choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Characters:

The main characters are Sean Kendrick and Puck.

Sean Kendrick is calm, cool, and collected through basically everything, even when things get truly crazy. And he just has this lovely dry deadpan humor.

Puck on the other hand is constantly on the defensive. She reminds me of a little cat that's all puffed up. She's extremely determined and won't let people tell her what to do. She's racing to save the family house.

Sean Kendrick is racing in order to save his own dreams.

And I just love how they both contrast each other and yet match so well.

“Do you know how to wrap a leg?'
'I was born wrapping legs,' I say stiffly, because I'm insulted.
'Must've been a challenging delivery,' Sean notes.”

Other Things:

The setting is MAGICAL. And I don't just mean that as "this is a fantasy book." There are a lot of magical settings where the settings just don't feel magical. And there are a lot of fantasy books where a character who doesn't usually interact with magic is and we see the world through their perspective. But in this story, the world is magical and it feels magical to the readers and yet the characters don't act as if anything is out of the ordinary. Horses made out of the ocean itself rise out of the sea and sometimes go eat things at night? Oh well, just lock your doors I guess.

And I love Stiefvater's descriptions. Her prose is BEAUTIFUL and just pulls you into the story.

“I'm quite happy for that smile, because Dad told me once you should be grateful for the gifts that are the rarest.”

5/5 Stars

MK