Summary:
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.
Release Date: October 18, 2011
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Review copy from publisher
Review:
I have so many feelings about
The Scorpio Races. On one hand, I enjoyed the book. On the other hand, I was still harboring disillusionment over the ending of
Forever that it tempered my enjoyment of
The Scorpio Races. I kept saying to myself: "I'm reading about horses that eat people and I
still don't know if the cure worked on Grace!!!" In the end, I was able to overcome my lingering negative feelings (no pun intended) about the end of Steifvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls series to really enjoy, and furthermore, appreciate
The Scorpio Races.
Going off of the summary, I thought that this book would be about horses and racing. For some odd reason, I thought it was a dystopia. It is not---I have yet to learn the actual classification--but for me, it was a paranormal fiction.
The idea of water horses is very unique. I have never heard of them before, with the exception of traditional sea horses with curly tails. But these are no benign, cute sea horses. These are normal looking horses, with the exception of square pupils, that live in the sea and once a year, come out of the water to live on land until the sea calls them back. The water horses are only found on the island of Thisby. The men of the island catch the water horses and race them every year. This is the main event of the island, but the races are dangerous: riders who fall from their horses are either dragged into the sea and drowned or they are eaten by the horses. The facts surrounding the sea horses were murky for much of the book. Steifvater clues you in bit by bit (something that usually keeps me interested but in this case made me want to stop reading in frustration).
At the end of the book, there is an Author's Note where Steifvater talks about why she wrote about sea horses and the mythology the capall usice are based on. I found myself wishing I would have read the Author's Note first. I think it would have made me like the book more. As it was, I kept stumbling over the words: capall uisce (the proper name for the water horses). I had no idea how to pronounce the words and kept wondering how I should be saying it, instead of just pronouncing it phonetically. Finally, a character sounds the words out and I learned how I should be saying capall uisce to myself. But, by then it was too late and I was already in the habit of mispronouncing the words.
The best part of
The Scorpio Races was the emotion. Similar to The Wolves of Mercy Falls series,
The Scorpio Races is highly emotional and intense. Stiefvater sets the scene so that you really feel like you are there. Everything was described in detail: from the water horses themselves, to the townspeople, to Thisby's beach and weather. This kind of description makes for an emotional and intense read. My most favorite part of the book was the very end. I love what Corr does!! It made me tear up. I also really liked that
The Scorpio Races was a stand-alone novel. I love having closure, not having to wait for months to years to find out what happens. Steifvater resolves the conflict in a way that satisfied me, and I was left feeling moderately happy (it's hard to feel 100% happy in the midst of people dying).
Fans of Steifvater will love
The Scorpio Races. People who are on the fence with Maggie's books will most likely enjoy this one.
Normally when I hate a book to movie, the casting is to blame. I really think they did a phenomenal job casting The Help. Emma Stone as Skeeter was spot on. My one gripe is her hair. It was too pretty. Skeeter’s crazy frizzball mess of hair played a major part in who she was, so for them to give her pretty hair was puzzling to me. Kathryn Stockett based the character of Minny on the actress who played her in the movie, so Minny of course was superb! I do wish a little more of Celia’s story was shown in the movie. Her storyline was one of my favorites in the book. Jessica Chastain embodied the ditzy naive Celia perfectly. I also wanted to see more of her interaction with Minny. Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly was perfection. I hated that snotty girl even more on screen. She makes me want to cuss! I’d like to feed her the whole dang pie! I loved seeing Aibileen with the adorable Mae Mobley, but there weren’t nearly enough scenes with them together. Now my one serious, serious gripe is the casting of Constantine’s daughter. I can’t figure out why they would change a detail so important as her skin color, especially within the context of this particular book. Overall though, it was a great movie!
