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The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Stiefvater
Each fall, the waterhorses emerge from the sea around the island of Thisby. Although the horses are incredibly dangerous and want nothing more then to eat humans or drag them to the depths of the ocean, the islanders capture and train them so they can be ridden in the annual Scorpio Races.
When she learns her oldest brother is moving to the mainland, Kate Connolly enters the races in the hopes of winning enough money to support herself and her little brother. No other girl has ever raced, and while most of the men of the island want her disqualified, she finds an unlikely ally in Sean Kendrick, a four-time winner of the Races, whose whole life revolves around horses.
On the surface, The Scorpio Races is an atmospheric retelling of a Celtic myth, but below that, it's about the choices people make and how we create meaning and magic in our own lives. There's a part somewhere in the middle of the book where a character says 'If these are just horse races, then everyone who's died throughout the years died for nothing.' And yet most of the islanders and tourists who watch the races do not feel the magic in them or pay respect to the myth that started the races in the first place. To them, the races are just something to bet on, not a sacrifice to ancient gods, or the island itself.
Despite a number of deaths and good use of suspense, this isn't an action-packed book, and some readers will be turned off by the detailed descriptions. It would be a good choice for fantasy readers (both adult and teen), fans of [b:Daughter of Smoke and Bone|8490112|Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1)|Laini Taylor|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1338613368s/8490112.jpg|13355552], and readers who want to be transported somewhere else.
When she learns her oldest brother is moving to the mainland, Kate Connolly enters the races in the hopes of winning enough money to support herself and her little brother. No other girl has ever raced, and while most of the men of the island want her disqualified, she finds an unlikely ally in Sean Kendrick, a four-time winner of the Races, whose whole life revolves around horses.
On the surface, The Scorpio Races is an atmospheric retelling of a Celtic myth, but below that, it's about the choices people make and how we create meaning and magic in our own lives. There's a part somewhere in the middle of the book where a character says 'If these are just horse races, then everyone who's died throughout the years died for nothing.' And yet most of the islanders and tourists who watch the races do not feel the magic in them or pay respect to the myth that started the races in the first place. To them, the races are just something to bet on, not a sacrifice to ancient gods, or the island itself.
Despite a number of deaths and good use of suspense, this isn't an action-packed book, and some readers will be turned off by the detailed descriptions. It would be a good choice for fantasy readers (both adult and teen), fans of [b:Daughter of Smoke and Bone|8490112|Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1)|Laini Taylor|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1338613368s/8490112.jpg|13355552], and readers who want to be transported somewhere else.