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allisonjpmiller 's review for:
The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Stiefvater
I grew up on horse stories. The first novel I ever read was [b:Misty of Chincoteague|17461|Misty of Chincoteague (Misty, #1)|Marguerite Henry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388279096s/17461.jpg|847402], and I proceeded to devour everything Marguerite Henry ever wrote shortly after. Walter Farley's Black Stallion books weren't far behind. As a kid, my philosophy was pretty much that animals were way cooler than people. It was a long time before I grudgingly admitted that people could be interesting too... occasionally.
Many years later, along comes The Scorpio Races: evoking the wind-tossed island life so reminiscent of Misty along with the timeless horse-and-rider connection that Alec and the Black shared. Instant nostalgia! Except Stiefvater deviously crosses these familiar elements with the Irish/Scottish water horse myth (killer horses that come out of the sea, and might just take you back with them). The Scorpio Races contains the thrill, perfected by Farley, of an impending high-stakes horse race, but here it's amplified by the fact that these horses could very well decide to kill you instead of carry you across the finish line.
This alone would be a special kind of kryptonite for me, but it's all told through the eyes of two expertly-drawn lead characters. Puck and Sean give the story voice, life, and purpose. I cared as much as they cared about Thisby, about Corr and Dove, and their personal stakes in the races. Stiefvater's prose is fashioned beautifully here; Thisby truly feels like a world, with its own history and logic and heartbeat. And everything ends on just the right note, without pandering or convenience.
At some point while reading, I thought: this book loves me. I loved it right back.
Many years later, along comes The Scorpio Races: evoking the wind-tossed island life so reminiscent of Misty along with the timeless horse-and-rider connection that Alec and the Black shared. Instant nostalgia! Except Stiefvater deviously crosses these familiar elements with the Irish/Scottish water horse myth (killer horses that come out of the sea, and might just take you back with them). The Scorpio Races contains the thrill, perfected by Farley, of an impending high-stakes horse race, but here it's amplified by the fact that these horses could very well decide to kill you instead of carry you across the finish line.
This alone would be a special kind of kryptonite for me, but it's all told through the eyes of two expertly-drawn lead characters. Puck and Sean give the story voice, life, and purpose. I cared as much as they cared about Thisby, about Corr and Dove, and their personal stakes in the races. Stiefvater's prose is fashioned beautifully here; Thisby truly feels like a world, with its own history and logic and heartbeat. And everything ends on just the right note, without pandering or convenience.
At some point while reading, I thought: this book loves me. I loved it right back.