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.
I want to preface this review by saying that Maggie Stiefvater is a very talented author, and while the Mercy Falls trilogy wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea…they were well written. Now, on to The Scorpio Races.
I think that the concept of this novel is very ambitious, and it is fascinating. I would have never thought of horses coming viciously out of the water and being used to race. Stiefvater never really gave a clear description of these horses, except that they look somewhat similar to regular horses, but are larger and more powerful. This caused me to try to picture a supernaturally large horse, when I really just kept picturing hippos with large teeth. (Was I the only one?)
The characterization is strong, not only of Puck and Sean (the two main characters), but of the island itself. The island of Thisby seems to have similar magic to that of the water horses–either you love living there or you despise it. Either you feel grounded and at peace on Thisby, or you feel restless and unfulfilled. I liked the atmosphere that Stiefvater created for the island.
Puck and Sean are both strong characters with strong convictions, and I understand why Sean loves to do the races and to be around Corr because it connects him with his father. Puck, however, simply just wants to race on the whim that she can convince her brother Gabriel to stay on the island. But neither Puck nor Sean will be what I remember from this novel, it will be the water horses and the island.
Speaking of Gabriel, he has to be the most selfish character that I have despised in Young Adult literature so far this year. I realize that his leaving is the turning point for Puck and for the narration to turn to the Scorpio Races, but Gabe never gives a true reason behind wanting to leave. He comes off as just abandoning his little brother and sister, which did not sit well with me.
The other main issue I had with the novel was the exponentially large number of secondary characters. They were hard to keep track of, and many of them were eventually killed anyway. Why spend so much time on characters that are tools to be disposed of? All of these characters bogged down the narrative and took me out of the story instead of giving me the “down home, small island” feel about everyone.
I’m assuming this is a stand alone novel, and I think the ending was fitting. It proved that the water horses were not just mean beasts, but that with the proper care they too can come to love.
I’m sticking with 3 Bards because I didn’t love it, but I did like it.
Moving! 