I loved everything about this book.

The author has said that this is her favorite book she has written, and as much as I enjoy her other work, I think I might agree. I really liked that the romance was slow burn - it felt very true to the main characters. The book's characters as a whole felt real and interesting. As harsh as the island is, I want to live there - the setting is atmospheric and moody and beautiful. As someone who grew up with horses, you can tell that the author knows and loves them too. Steve West and Fiona Hardingham were excellent narrators and fit the characters wonderfully. I completely recommend this audiobook.

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One of my Favourite Books!

“Shhhhhh, shhhhhh, says the sea, but I don’t believe her.”

I was a literal puddle of tears after I finished THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater. I went in expecting it to be good (because Stiefvater is bae) but I didn’t realize HOW good until I actually started it. I listened to this as an audiobook, ps. and I do recommend you do that. The narration was really good and I didn’t think it took away from the story at all. The narrators didn’t try to really mimic other voices, but made them different enough that you knew who was talking. Anyway, this is a story about people who love horses and the horses that love them back.

This one just had so much goodness to it. If you like Stiefvater’s writing style in THE RAVEN BOYS, then you will enjoy her writing in this one as well. I find her writing to be very unique to her character’s voices and I think that Puck and Sean were just beautifully constructed. They were two halves of the same whole while still being their own individual selves. I think I really liked that neither of them wanted to leave the island because I don’t like stories where someone gives up what they want for the other person. They both had end goals that were complimentary, which is nice (and rare in real life, but shhhh).

I loved the world building in this. It had enough fantasy elements to keep me interested, but also grounded enough in reality that I could picture it all very easily. I liked that everyone was aware of the “magic” surrounding the island and came all over to see it, but didn’t necessarily try to take it away from the island. I also liked that it felt like the sea itself was a character in this story because I think too often people forget that you have to treat the elements with respect or they will come back to haunt you for the rest of your days.

“You leave nothing to assumption,” Dory Maud says. “You swallow her with your eyes. I’m surprised there’s any of her left for the rest of us to see.”

THE CHARACTERS WERE JUST SO GOOD. Even the side characters served a purpose in this and weren’t just sounding boards for Puck and Sean. I also liked that Puck and Sean had some overlapping story arcs but that they also had their own direction and path to take. I think what I liked most is that Puck wasn’t doing this just to say she could do it and it didn’t become an “issue” book even though other characters tried to make it that way. She was just trying to do the best she could under the circumstances to keep her way of life. As I said in my status updates: Puck is bae. Sean is bae. They were both just GREAT characters. I hope you all get to know them soon.

“I didn’t know,” I start truthfully, “that it was the hard way when I started on it.”

Best Stiefvater book? Best Stiefvater book! This one has the delicacy and intrinsic nature of The Raven Cycle but with more romance and horses. And Puck. And Sean. So there’s that too. PS I CRIED AT THE END. Does that surprise you? It doesn’t surprise me.

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Five stars!

Been meaning to read this for sometime and may I just say: Amazing story, Amazing narrators!!!

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My new favourite Stiefvater

Dark magic is afoot (ahoof?) in Maggie Stiefvater's take on the kelpy/water-horse myth. I have previously read The Raven Cycle and fell for Steivater's dark and luscious world-building. I loved that The Scorpio Races is:
a) a standalone novel, which is so rare in YA these days;
b) not entirely driven-by or focused-on romance. Yes, there is some romantic tension, but the other factors are really what drives the action;
c) set on an invented island in an unnamed time period (we get hints but no outright declaration);
d) about monstrous horses. I was never a horsey girl myself, but there's something undeniably compelling about them;
e) dual-POV (you know I love a good book with multiple narrators!)
e) cliffhangery, without being manipulative. That being said (view spoiler)

For all these reasons, I would say that this is by far my favourite Steivater novel, no matter how much I enjoyed The Raven Boys. The voice actors were perfect and the author contributed a fantastic afterword, as well as scene-setting music. I highly recommend listening to it.

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imagination fully captured!

Love this book! fantastic story! the ending makes me cry each time I read It!

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Very entertaining!

I could not stop listening. I had to know how things would fair for Kate and Shawn during the race. Who would win? Would either win? Would one of them die or would one of their mounts die?
Maggie Stiefvater did a great job bringing her characters to life. The performance of the characters, especially Kate, were perfect.
I would love to read a sequel:)

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wow!

this one really took me by surprise. such a beautiful story! I wish there was more, my only complaint is that it's a stand alone book. I wish there was a sequel.

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Loved it.

I loved the story and I loved the narration. Would definitely recommend to my friends and family.

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Enjoyable

This book was recommended to me and I’ve listened to it multiple times and have enjoyed it.

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Hear me out...

This book was beautifully written and really pulled me into the world of Thisby and the Scorpio Races. I thought the characters were interesting, and the slow build of a relationship made me swoon. The water horses? SO cool.

However, the pacing of this book felt off to me and I felt my mind wandering at times. I thought the race would be more front-and-centre in the story, but this was mainly about the characters leading up to the races. I found things didn't pick up until Chapter 40, and then the races didn't start until around Chapter 60 with only 20 minutes left of the audiobook. I would have just liked there to be a bit less build up and for the races to take up more time in the story. I also would have loved to learn more about the history is Thisby and the Scorpio Races, as this wasn't really touched on.

In the end, I wanted to love this book more than I did. However, the setting and characters made up for the slow pacing a bit.

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