Like all books, I heard about this one through Figment. I had wanted to read Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Linger, and Forever, as I believe they are called, but I never got around to it. The Scorpio Races had received such praise through Figment that I just had to read it. At first, it was just sort of like "Ooh! Figment told me to read this! Let me get it!" but as time progressed, I became more and more interested, until it was more like "BOOK! BOOK! Let me get my hands on that book!". Finally I entered a fabulous Figment contest and somehow I managed to place in the top three and win the book. Sometimes I think the world has halted it's ceaseless conspiring against me. It is a relief. Anyway, I got the book on Christmas day (and it came in a super mega fabulous package, but that is not involved in this review) and I was overjoyed.
The Scorpio Races started out with the words "It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die." It may only be the opening to a prologue, but it is impossible not to be drawn into such a statement. I feel like it would be impossible to give a short, concise summary of this book, since the impeccable details and innumerous plot twists take the story places that no one would have foreseen. I feel as if I could never do it any amount of justice with a proper summary, so I think I'll give what I can.
At the start of each November, the Scorpio Races begin. Races in which riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to reach the finish line. Sean Kendrick has won the Scorpio Races four years in a row. Kate "Puck" Connolly has never entered. No girl ever has. She is, on top of everything else, entering on her island pony. She never chose to enter the races, but life threw her no other option. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen. There can only be one winner. And then she becomes closer to Sean Kendrick.
I feel so cryptic. The story is a delicious mix of love, athletics, scenery, with the bitter taste of blood coating it all. While I was reading it, I felt as if I could almost taste the salty water that surrounded them at all times, from which the water horses appeared, where Kate's parents lost their lives. The November Cakes leave their sweet taste on my tongue, and I can almost smell the stables in which Sean works.
I almost drew blood the way I was biting my lips through the last hundred or so pages. I can already tell that this book will not rest on my bookshelves for long, and the pages will be well-thumbed by 2013.
You can find more about Maggie Stiefvater on her website and her blogs! The Scorpio Races can be bought here at Barnes and Noble, or at multiple other places, I just wanted to have somewhere certain.
The Scorpio Races earns a well deserved 5 out of 5 stars on Eleven's scale of awesome!
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Hope you're all enjoying the new year as much as I am!
x
Eleven
p.s. Please don't ask why my awesomeness scale is out of five and not eleven, like my name. I don't really know either.
-Eleven
