Book Review: The Scorpio Races

Summary from Publisher:

Some race to win. Others race to survive. It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen. As she did in her bestselling Shiver trilogy, author Maggie Stiefvater takes us to the breaking point. 

 My Take : I read this because I liked Shiver, Linger, and Forever, Stiefvater's werewolf trilogy, but this book reminded more of her other two Ballad and Lament, probably because of the setting. It's modern times or somewhat near (Puck's brother owns a Morris car) on an island off the British coast. The water horses, vicious, carnivorous, and beautiful, set this island apart. Sean saw his father killed in the Scorpio Races and Puck's parents died when water horses swamped their boat. The development of the characters, the pacing of the plot, the vivid descriptions all make this a great book to read, especially this time of year with its hint of winter approaching.