The Scorpio Races

The Scorpio Races
Maggie Steifvater
407 pages
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: ARC sent by publisher
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.


Every year in the island town of Thisby there is a water horse race.  A race in which several may die and only one can win.  Desperate to save her family home and to prevent her brother from leaving for the mainland, Puck becomes the first female to enter the race.  She soon befriends Sean, a regular in the races who also has something important riding on his winning.


What a fantastic novel.  The story was based on a myth but I want to state for the record that there is nothing paranormal about this book, contrary to the way some people are classifying it on Goodreads.  It's a solid story with realistic characters and the plot line is not at all sullied by magic or vampires or anything cliche like that.  There is nothing cliche about The Scorpio Races.  In fact, I found it to be refreshingly unique in the YA genre.


I will admit that the plot started out a little slow (hence my four stars instead of five).  There is a plot and a definite movement to it, but there isn't a lot of action until the end of the book.  Despite that, it was a page turner and I devoured most of it this afternoon while tackling my laundry. 


Really, the whole book lead up to the very end and it was the ending that was the absolute best part of the book.  I really liked the whole thing, but I fell in love with it because of the last forty pages.  The last few chapters that take place after the race really made my heart swell with happiness.  The Scorpio Races is about so much more than a race.  It's about family, friends, connections, and knowing what's important in life.  It's about knowing who you are and how that can make you a better person.  


I love Puck so much.


Not to beat the dead horse of YA comparisons (pun intended) but The Scorpio Races really did evoke some of the same feelings in me that The Hunger Games novels did.  The element of suspense was huge and and the ending climax of the book was amazing.  I can see The Scorpio Races becoming a classic in the future. And I would just like to add that I want to see this made into a movie.  I want to see those horses stampede across the beach on the big screen and I want to see a dainty red-head play Puck and I want to see (don't judge) Taylor Lautner play Sean.  The Scorpio Races would make such an amazing movie.


The Scorpio Races comes out Tuesday.  Read this book!  Read it!!