The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater + Giveaway (CLOSED)

Published October 18, 2011 by Scholastic Press - ARC
5 Stars

Goodreads Review
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.

Review:  This review is very hard for me to write.  There are so many aspects that I love.  The Scorpio Races is an amazing book that really shines with the world building and setting.  It really stands out with the mythology of the water horses and the subtle story telling.  The writing is absolutely beautiful and the ending completely took my breath away.

One of the best parts of the book was the setting and the capall usice (pronounced CAPple ISHka) mythology.  I absolutely fell in love with the island and the beautiful and deadly water horses.   The island is described so well I actually thought the island of Thisby and the Scorpio Sea were real places.  I even googled them because I was so convinced that island was real and I wanted to know exactly where it was.  I think that alone is testament to the amazing writing and world set up.

I really liked the relationship that developed between the two main characters.  The two protagonists really drive the story, but I found myself liking Sean a little more.  They both had to overcome hardships and both really need to win the races, but I really enjoyed Sean and I could relate a lot to his desire to be an independent person in charge of his own destiny but not having the means to make it happen.  I also think that this story was more than just about the romance between the two viewpoint characters.  I loved the family relationships between Puck and her brothers and how not having parents changed the family dynamic. 

My favorite relationship though was between Sean and Corr, his capall usice.  They had a sort of tenuous relationship where neither could fully trust the other, but they loved each other so much they were willing to make sacrifices for the safety of the other. The ending with Sean and Corr had me welling up with tears, it was so touching and so real. 

Overall The Scorpio Races is a novel unlike anything I've read before.  It covers a whole spectrum of topics from fairness to poverty to fear to respect to love and it does it seamlessly and flawlessly. 

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