Review by delvie - The Scorpio Races

delvie 's review for:

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

3.0

adventurous emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Scorpio Races is a book that takes place on a fictional island on which the men race water horses, once a year. For a book entitled Scorpio Races though, the actual races last not even 10 minutes out of the 12 hour audiobook. It would be more appropriate to call it Thisbe, after the fictional island on which the book takes place. I'm fine with 12 hours of world building, I'm fine with the book setting being mostly set in the real world, save for one fictional island, but I am not fine with both of those things at once.

I think this book could have cut down on the clutter. It feels like it introduces side-characters for no other reason than literal kelpie fodder to remind the reader about how dangerous the water horses are. Other than that, it's just an insider's guide to Thisbe: a fictional island where life is rough, the people are poor, and the men are misogynistic (groundbreaking territory, really).

Here's the thing: I'm a horse girl; this book should have been a slam dunk. The fact that it isn't, and that I only consider it to be "alright" speaks volumes, I think.

Content Warnings