Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

36 reviews

sleepymiracle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

The synopsis sounded really interesting and it had been sitting on my shelf for a while, so I went ahead and read it.

Overall, I think it was pretty good. The writing was beautiful, the flow of events were somewhat interesting, and the setting was great. Additionally, the pacing is slow, taking place over the course of a few days, but I think it's well-written; it created a lot of tension and suspension befitting of the events. We get a lot of focus on the two main characters, as well as a strong focus on their relationship and their character development, which I think is nice.

However, with such a big focus on the two main characters, I feel like the supporting/side/minor characters got shoved aside. They were easy enough to tell apart and were distinctly different, but I just think that they really just faded away or died after being introduced a few chapters ago; something that really pisses me off in stories of all sorts.

Moving on from the characters, I felt the ending was a little messy. From my point of view, the author knew that this book was getting pretty long for covering the events of a couple weeks and wanted to get this wrapped up quickly. The plot, for the most part, was covered up. What I'm considering "messy" is the relationship between their characters and

what happened to Sean's horse.

So, was this good?
It wasn't bad.

Would I reread it?
Perhaps, but I very likely won't.

Would I recommend this?
Maybe.

At best, it was good; at worst, it was rather dull. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, and Classism

Minor: Death and Death of parent

babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book so much. I'm 32 and haven't had feelings over a horse book like this in decades. It was exactly what I needed right now and scratched my kelpie itch perfectly. The ending also

healed my White Fang wound from decades before

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness and Alcohol

Minor: Colonisation

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Classism

billyjepma's review

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of those books that sweeps you into a world you never knew you longed for. It revels in the folkloric—yet no-less believable—place it creates and breathes life into every one of its characters, no matter how fleeting their time on the page might be. Stiefvater's writing is just gorgeous, too, and her voice is poetic without being distracting, blunt without feeling shallow, and so precise that there were countless lines or turns of phrase that stopped me in my tracks. She has this way of describing things in a way you've never heard before and yet somehow feel like you grew up hearing them. I relished every moment spent in the story, every tensely held breath, every embarrassing gasp at the warm embers of an emerging romance, every profane word I shouted when the book threw another heartwrenching twist at me. I’m going to be coming to this one for a long time. 

Update (12/28/23): Somehow, it might be even better on a re-read? It’s such a rich, ferocious, and lived-in story, with a vividly persuasive sense of place that I can’t help but get immersed in. I love how genuine the nervy, anxious relationships are, and how much restraint Stiefvater shows in a lot of the pacing. It’s a patient, rewarding book with a raw, earthy quality that occupies you as much as you occupy it. I’m glad I went for the audiobook this time, too. Both narrators are perfect and give the characters the exact voices I always imagined. Love, love, love this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

ronan_lesh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual content and Religious bigotry

vhispas's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A ver solid 3. I struggled to get on board. It might be a little long. But I really love how the author builds and describes the evironment, small detalls about the charcaters and the water horses. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny

seforana's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

dananana's review against another edition

adventurous emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexism

claire_b322's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

lovely_warrior's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Lovely book! I recommend reading this during autumn to get the right feeling. I love Maggie, she’s a very good writer and has several nice books published :)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death