Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Scorpio Races
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published: Scholastic Press; Oct 2011
Number of Pages: 404 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Mythological

Plot: (Goodreads.com) 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.

Personal Thoughts: I'd been looking forward to this book for months - so I bought it as soon as I could on kindle. It only took me a few days to read it, but it did start off a little slower than I would have liked.

The story revolves around this teenage girl named Puck, that's not her real name though. The races are an annual event that take place in November in their island town. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses until they reach the finish line. Some riders survive, some die. It's tradition.

Puck was never meant to compete in the races, but it seems that fate has something else in store for her. She enters the races to win the money, to help her self and her brothers survive on the island with no parents. She's the first girl to ever enter the races and she has no idea about all the hard ships that will he laid out in front of her.

Sean on the other hand is the boy that has won for many years in a row now - he's trained these wild water horses and is not a man of many words.

Some how Sean and Puck form a connection, one that will either help them both survive the race or kill the both in the process.

I'd never read a book about the mythological water horses before - this one really caught my attention. The story was attractive in many ways and the characters added to the dynamic of the story well.

Suggested Age Level: 13+

Rating: 4.5
Reviews/Awards:

2012 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Children's Literature
2012 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production Nominee
2011 LA Times Book Prize NOminee for Young Adult Literature
2012 ALA Teen's Top Ten Nominee
2012 Printz Honor 

Book Signing with Maggie Stiefvater!

Yesterday one of my friends and I drove to Atlanta, well Decatur to be exact, to see one of our favorite YA authors and get our books signed! It was a lot of fun, we made a day of it, visiting local stores and had lunch at a diner!

The event was awesome - and Maggie is amazing, she's hilarious! She talked about how when her terriers sleep, they sound like star wars lasers. She talked about how her books were inspired by real life wolves and how she actually hates the idea of werewolves. (: I thought that was awesome! She said that if these books didn't involve the wolves, they would be about kissing, a girl who's really good at math and an emo boy who reads German poetry! So funny, but so true! I like what the wolves add to the story.

Waiting in line to meet Maggie! 

Getting my hardbacks signed! 

She talked about how just two weeks before the deadline for FOREVER she threw away everything she had and started over because the first book she had written for the readers, and not herself. She hated it. So she re-wrote it! I'm almost done with it and it's even better than LINGER and SHIVER! I love all three of these books and they keep getting better. I'm super sad that the trilogy is over!