Today's review will be about:
THE SUMMARY
SOME RACE TO WIN. OTHERS RACE TO SURVIVE.
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 choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
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 choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
MY REVIEW
The reason that I chose to read this book was for three reasons: I loved Maggie Stiefvater's work (I had read the Shiver series before this one), I love the ocean, and I love animals (horses are just too cool!) When you put all of that together, add a little bit of island tradition, romance, mythology, and family drama, well, there you have The Scorpio Races.
Before diving into the book, however, I want to give you a brief look at the mythology that this book was based on.:
Capaill Uisce (pronounced copple ishka) is a water horse that comes from Irish and Scottish myth. The horse is usually descibed to be made out of sea water and eat meat, and they don't discriminate, let me tell you. The racers in The Scorpio Races have to be careful because one slip-up can cause you to lose life, limb, or both.
Well, enough about that, on to the review!
One of the things that I loved first about the book was the island. I imagined it to be sort of like Ireland (even though I've never been there), with rolling green hills and water that splashes onto the rocks that line its beaches. True, Thisby is smaller than Ireland, but I couldn't get that image out of my mind. The island also has a sheer white cliff where the Scorpio Races take place, and I sort of imagined to look like the cliffs below, but smaller. Also, the entire book takes place on or near the ocean, and I think you can guess by my theme and blog name how much I love that. :)
I loved the main character, Puck (Kate) Connolly, not only for her I-don't-need-a-man charm, but for her overall rebellious and tomboy ways. Again and again Puck has to prove herself in this book, and where others may have quit, found some other way to fix their problem, she kept fighting.
She is the first girl to ever compete in the races, not because there was a rule that there would be no women there, but rather it was (quote unquote) "too dangerous" for them, and men just so happened to be the only ones who had ever wanted to race before. Not saying that this is sexism, just saying that it was tradition. By being in the races, she was breaking the tradition that was when the races first began. As you can imagine, the men who were racing weren't exactly happy about that.
Sean Kendrick was a good, strong character as well. A horse lover and trainer his entire life, he works for a horse trader and gets paid for every race that he wins from said employer. His father died in the races because, Sean said, he was scared, so when he goes on his capaill uisce Corr, he is fearless, taking him only as far away from the shore to keep Corr sane. In the beginning, you don't know much about him, but as you read on you begin to grasp at his personality. By the end of the book, you know him as well as you know Puck.
Another thing that I loved about this book was the relationship between the riders (mainly Sean and Puck) and their horses or capaill uisce. You could really tell just by reading how close Puck and her horse Dove are, and even Sean and his red capaill uisce Corr are closer than ever. Nothing needs to be said about their friendship, you just see it in the way that they talk to and act around their steeds. I think that this was a very important part of the story, and I'm glad that she took the care to add that in the book.
All in all, this book is a must read. You can probably tell how much I love it by how much I've typed above this, but I really think that you need to read this book. It'll make you gasp, it'll make you cry, and there are going to be some times that you are going to laugh and love the characters even more. And that, dear reader, is what makes a great story.
Before diving into the book, however, I want to give you a brief look at the mythology that this book was based on.:
Capaill Uisce (pronounced copple ishka) is a water horse that comes from Irish and Scottish myth. The horse is usually descibed to be made out of sea water and eat meat, and they don't discriminate, let me tell you. The racers in The Scorpio Races have to be careful because one slip-up can cause you to lose life, limb, or both.
Well, enough about that, on to the review!
 |
| Ta-da! Oh... Yes, I know, I'm a HUGE nerd for adding this in here but, you know what? I don't care! Sulu is too awesome not to share. ^OMGosh this rhymes^ Okay, now back to the review. ... Why are you still reading this? .... Get back to the review! ..... Rebel. I like you. :) |
I loved the main character, Puck (Kate) Connolly, not only for her I-don't-need-a-man charm, but for her overall rebellious and tomboy ways. Again and again Puck has to prove herself in this book, and where others may have quit, found some other way to fix their problem, she kept fighting.
She is the first girl to ever compete in the races, not because there was a rule that there would be no women there, but rather it was (quote unquote) "too dangerous" for them, and men just so happened to be the only ones who had ever wanted to race before. Not saying that this is sexism, just saying that it was tradition. By being in the races, she was breaking the tradition that was when the races first began. As you can imagine, the men who were racing weren't exactly happy about that.
Sean Kendrick was a good, strong character as well. A horse lover and trainer his entire life, he works for a horse trader and gets paid for every race that he wins from said employer. His father died in the races because, Sean said, he was scared, so when he goes on his capaill uisce Corr, he is fearless, taking him only as far away from the shore to keep Corr sane. In the beginning, you don't know much about him, but as you read on you begin to grasp at his personality. By the end of the book, you know him as well as you know Puck.
 |
| This is a picture of some fan-made November cakes that are sold during the Scorpio Races. The ingredients involve lots of orange, honey, frosting, and caramel, and they sounded SO sweet! The recipe is at the back of the book so that you can make them, but if you don't want to wait, Maggie Stiefvater posted a recipe on her blog: http://maggiestiefvater.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-name-is-maggie-im-perfectionist-and.html . |
All in all, this book is a must read. You can probably tell how much I love it by how much I've typed above this, but I really think that you need to read this book. It'll make you gasp, it'll make you cry, and there are going to be some times that you are going to laugh and love the characters even more. And that, dear reader, is what makes a great story.
 |
| This is a painting of a capaill uisce. |
A LITTLE EXCERPT
"SEAN
It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.
Even under the brightest sun, the frigid autumn sea is all the colors of the night: dark blue and black and brown. I watch the ever-changing patterns in the sand as it's pummeled by countless hooves.
They run the horses on the beach, a pale road between the black water and the chalk cliffs. It is never safe, but it's never so dangerous as today, race day.
This time of year, I live and breathe the beach. My cheeks feel raw with the wind throwing sand against them. My thighs sting from the friction of the saddle. My arms ache from holding up two thousand pounds of horse. I have forgotten what it is like to be warm and what a full night's sleep feels like and what my name sounds like spoken instead of shouted across yards of sand.
I am so, so alive."
It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.
Even under the brightest sun, the frigid autumn sea is all the colors of the night: dark blue and black and brown. I watch the ever-changing patterns in the sand as it's pummeled by countless hooves.
They run the horses on the beach, a pale road between the black water and the chalk cliffs. It is never safe, but it's never so dangerous as today, race day.
This time of year, I live and breathe the beach. My cheeks feel raw with the wind throwing sand against them. My thighs sting from the friction of the saddle. My arms ache from holding up two thousand pounds of horse. I have forgotten what it is like to be warm and what a full night's sleep feels like and what my name sounds like spoken instead of shouted across yards of sand.
I am so, so alive."
Well, that's all for now!
See you next time!
~Sea-Solo
EXTRA! EXTRA!
-Maggie Stiefvater
No comments:
Post a Comment