The Scorpio Races

Okay, let me start by saying one thing: I love Maggie Steifvater. I truly, completely, wholly do with my entire being. She is the queen of YA literature in my world of books, her along with Leigh Bardugo are my two favorite authors and I eat their books up like a bad addiction (aka red wine and cheetos). 

Which is why, of course, it makes no sense that I waited so long to read The Scorpio Races. One of her only stand-alone novels, along with All the Crooked Saints, that was published in 2011 and it’s expectantly full of Steifvater goodness, namely, richly driven characters, magical yet odd descriptions, and figurative language that makes me want to speak only in poems and sing everything I say using explicitly her quotes. 

This book was odd, but it was odd in the way that I’ve come to expect every Maggie creation to be, which is wonderfully imaginative, creatively detailed, whimsically written, and characteristically focused. 

This book in particular I found to be more so than most, and if you don’t believe me then perhaps you will once I say that this book is primarily about an island town named Thisby in which there are Scorpio Races every year that involve magical deadly horses by the name of capaill uisce that rise up from the sea and eat human flesh and yet islanders ride them in races in which you’ll either be devoured by a horse or taken hostage into the ocean and the winner receives money. All the while, tourists from the “mainland” come to watch and bet on the racers and treat horses chomping on humans as an entirely mundane experience. 

Do you believe me now?

Other than the interesting plot, the story, is, as always with Stiefvater, focused mostly on characters. In this case, our two main characters come in the form of an angry redhead by the name of Kate “Puck” Connolly and Sean Kendrick, a dark silent brooder who has one foot in the ocean and one on land.

The two enter the races for different, albeit just as emotionally driven reasons, and need to win, Puck so she can convince her brother Gabriel to stay home and to save their house and Sean so he can keep his beloved capall uisce Corr, who is the only family he has left. 

The two characters are amazingly well written. Puck is angry but determined, she has a lot to lose after having lost much and she’s not sure how to deal with it emotionally or psychologically. She loves her brothers fiercely and her love drives her to sometimes irrational actions (like joining the races and using a regular pony by the name of Dove to do it).

Sean, on the other hand, is used to being alone. All he has is his water horse (until Puck enters his life like a wildfire) and his dedication to the things he loves is perhaps the only two things these riders have in common. 

Their love is unexpected, but somehow makes so much sense to me as a reader. Their lives are connected as much as the sea and the land are connected on Thisby and the environment and the animals and the sky are all so interwoven in the novel that it makes me want to book a flight to fly to this imaginary place because it is so real and visceral. 

This book has so many things going for it. The themes are huge and wonderful and yet not in your face like so many YA books try to be. There is a whole plot point about loss, and how to deal with grief and loss. There is another plot point about poverty, and how poverty can affect your life both physically and mentally.

There are plot points about belonging and a sense of home, plot points about environment and animals, plot points about religion, gender, blood and violence.

There is so much commentary in this book, but it is quiet, it allows you as a reader to determine how much you want to pay attention to it or not. For example, how tourists come to watch the Scorpio Races and the gluttony that comes with it, the sensationalism and dehumanization of watching others be killed for enjoyment and money. It speaks so much to our world that we live in and yet it does so using fictitious horses and characters that feel more real than most people. 

That being said, the only thing about this book that I would consider a negative are the actual action scenes. I thought this whole book would be about the Scorpio Races, but it’s really not, not entirely. It’s more about Puck and Sean and their desires and actions and feelings, and the Races, while being the whole catalyst for everything, is really just the backdrop for these two characters to interact and grow. 

It’s not a true criticism, it was just different than what I was expecting. If you’re expecting heart-pumping action and horse races up the yin-yang then this is not for you.

This is a more introspective piece than any of her other novels, and while I did really enjoy it, I did find it a bit disappointing that the actual races are at the very end of the book and essentially finish right afterwards, with build-up taking most of the front seat. I would have liked to see more action and more of the Scorpio Races as is its namesake, but that is not the novel that Maggie set out to write. 

Recommendation: Maggie Steifavter is life. She truly is. All of her books are such an experience. It felt like I was truly there with Puck and Sean, racing on a water horse, smelling the ocean with salt and brine in my hair. All of her writing is so real and raw, it takes you there and steals you away. If you haven’t read Steifvater, this is a great one to start with. 

Bonus! Maggie Stiefvater included a recipe for “November Cakes”-made-up cakes only available in her imagined world of Thisby. Here is a link for the recipe below. Eat and enjoy and be transported into the lovely and mad world of a Maggie Steifvater invention. 

http://www.fiction-food.com/2013/11/november-cakes-salted-butter-tea-from.html

Score:8/10