Download PDF The Scorpio Races Maggie Stiefvater Books

Product details Paperback 416 pages Publisher Scholastic Paperbacks; Reprint edition (April 1, 2013) Language English ISBN-10 0545224918

The Scorpio Races Maggie Stiefvater Books Reviews

• What a great story. I love horses and just had to see what this was all about.
  
  The water horses are a race of beings that live in the water, emerging to feed on flesh or drag you to a watery death. The thought makes me shiver.
  
  Every year, riders mount these monstrous beasts for the Scorpio Races. It’s hard enough to win a regular horse race. In this race, you have to worry about surviving as much as winning.
  
  The character’s are numerous and very genuine. Puck is a young lass willing to risk her life in the races. She lost her parents to the water horses, and now her older brother is leaving her and her younger brother Finn to fend for themselves. The money from the race would help save their home.
  
  Sean and his stallion, Corr, are four time winners of the races. He’ll ride again this year, but the stakes are much higher.
  
  Puck and Sean have a growing attraction for each other. But both must win the race.
  
  I so loved this world and the character’s that galloped through the pages, human and other. I wanted this one to win. And that one to win. This one to stay. That one to stay. I feared the worst and hoped for the best.
  
  This story is so much more than a race. I struggle to even tell you about it. There’s desperation and hope, bravery and honor, magic and danger. And I couldn’t have asked for a better final scene.
• I have lived a good long time...longer than I will admit to here, and I have been reading voraciously since before kindergarten. I have read a lot of books. Many of them have been good, and a precious few have been great. The Scorpio Races is as good a book as I have read in many years. It was so good, in fact, that once I finished it, I mourned for a few minutes and then promptly started re-reading it.
  
  The story is intriguing...the Scorpio Races are races set on a small island (fictional, but it feels a lot like an Irish offshore island) between Cappaill Uisce, the water horses of Celtic folklore. These are no Disney water horses...they eat meat, drink blood and kill. Each other, and humans. But the island, Thisby, and the horses are connected in ways modern man has trouble understanding. They have ancient blood ties past remembering. Two of the contenders in this years race are Sean Kendricks, and Puck Connelly.
  
  Sean has been working with the Cappaill Uisce since he was a boy. Described by the islanders as having "one foot on land, and one in the sea" he has won the races for the past four years on a stallion named Corr. He loves Corr deeply, and the horses in his charge love him and his magic.
  
  Puck is an orphaned girl who is riding in the races for the first time, as the first woman to compete. She is also riding her mundane island horse, Dove, rather than one of the Cappaill Uisce...another first. She is hindered in her efforts by almost everyone on the island. Everyone but Sean, who is drawn to her for reasons he cannot explain.
  
  The two face many obstacles. Chief among them is Mutt Malvern, the cruel son of the richest man on the island (and Sean's employer). Another hurdle they must face is that each has desperate reasons for needing to win the race, but to do that, they must beat the person they are growing to love. The love story is awkward and terribly sweet.
  
  I can't really put my finger on what I find so compelling about this book. The story is unique, and the slight tinge of magic over everything on Thisby adds a delightful air of mystery. Its written by a YA author, which may be the reason the love story is so muted and delicious. We don't have sex to rely on making the story interesting. The writing must carry the story.
  
  And the writing is superb. The suspense simply never lets up. One is completely drawn in by the two immensely likable main characters, and many of the lesser characters deserve their own book Finn and George Holly are two I would love to read more about. The rituals and traditions surrounding the races are unsettling, yet have the feel of ancient rhythms and rites. Stiefvater has an unswervingly deft hand in her timing and the pace of the story feels just right. The conclusion is a surprise, albeit one that satisfactorily resolves the dilemma of the two protagonists.
  
  I was rather haunted by the story. I found myself thinking a lot about the story and the characters during the first read, and even the second. Sean, in particular caught my imagination. He is mysterious and magical and immensely attractive. Again, Ms Stiefvater reveals just enough of his background to help explain him, but we never fully understand him.
  
  I will definitely read more by the author. I don't usually read YA novels, but this one is so exceptional that I too will make an exception.
• This book was highly recommended to me by a friend who is very well read from young adult literature to the high-brow classics. She told me she has read this book about 4 times and never gets sick of it. As soon as I started reading it, I realized this is not really my “type” of book – it’s kind of a fantasy type book with mythical horse-like creatures. I soon got past that prejudice as I realized it’s a story about our complex relationships with animals, family, neighbors, and the community we grow up in. The community is shown in all it’s complexity – how some long to escape, others find ways to shine in it, and many just struggle with it. A community that generally stands still in time, the Scorpion Races brings in people from all over to mingle with the locals once a year to watch the event – a dangerous race on water horses that often results in the death of the human rider. The cash prize that the winner receives is ostensibly enough for one to risk it all – but the prize alone is not the only lure for all the racers. The book is a compelling glimpse at culture, poverty, competition, and gender that does not speak down to young adult audiences. It’s a book that can be enjoyed by teens and adults alike and both boys and girls. Whenever I read this book, I had the most fantastically magical dreams about the horse creatures in the book – and I don’t usually remember dreams. Something about this books sparks your imagination because it is so unique, but has an archetypical, universal quality to it as well.
• What. A. Good. Book. Thoroughly fascinating. For several months, I've been searching for a book to read that would keep me utterly engaged and invested in the story. This book delivered on every premise. As a lifelong reader, one of the most important aspects to a story--for me--is that it be told in an intelligent manner. I want the characters in the story to be able to speak to me, know their own mind, and to be as real as possible. This book really hit it out of the park in that aspect. I absolutely love the spitfire heroine that is so perfectly flawed and full of piss-n-vinegar, that I imagined she and I could be the very best of friends. The only drawback to the story of Puck and Sean is that the book ended far too soon, and I am still wildly curious at how their story will play out. Maggie, if you are reading this, PLEASE write a sequel. I want to know of Puck and Sean's life and marriage and any babies they will have. I want to know what happens. Thank you.