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The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

23/04/2015      7 Comments

The Scorpio Races by Maggie StiefvaterThe Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Magical Realism
Release Date: 22 October 2011
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: Bought
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: two-stars

Every year, the Scorpio Races are run on the beaches of Skarmouth. Every year, the sea washes blood from the sand. To race the savage water horses can mean death, but the danger is irresistible.

When Puck enters the races to save her family, she is drawn to the mysterious Sean, the only person on the island capable of taming the beasts.

Even if they stay together, can they stay alive?

I’m about to upset so many people. Ha. Hahaha. Don’t kill me.

I was told by a once trusted friend and co-blogger that I would enjoy The Scorpio Races the most out of all of Stiefvater’s books. I had been commenting on how The Raven Cycle seems a little too try hard quirky with not enough plot, especially after Blue Lily, Lily Blue, and Tatum said I would probably like The Scorpio Races more if I’m not into quirky reads. WELL YOU WERE WRONG WEREN’T YOU TATUM.

My main issue with The Scorpio Races is that I was bored throughout. I tried really hard to get into it but by page 50 I was so exhausted by it because, like with Shiver, it was slow going. Terribly slow going. To the point that I couldn’t tell what the plot was meant to be, because I THOUGHT it was about horse racing turned deadly, but most of it was a girl trying to talk to this guy who is a champion horse racer. Or something.

It’s a very quiet plot, which was not what I expected from a book about murderous water horses. So that was strike one.

Strike two was that I couldn’t connect with any of the characters in the slightest. Puck and Sean sounded exactly the same on the page, and I had trouble telling them apart when I was in the middle of chapters. Especially since there were no distinctive plot points and so I had no idea who was doing what.

Another thing I have noticed is that Maggie Stiefvater’s books (those that I’ve read so far) feature very few significant female characters in comparison to the amount of significant males. Her books seem to be overrun with boys, and The Scorpio Races is no exception. I’m not going to lie, now that I’ve read more of Stiefvater’s books, this is starting to get on my nerves. Where are my awesome female friendships?! Or awesome female villains.

I started skimming The Scorpio Races at about the halfway point because it was sending me to sleep. I am so incredibly disappointed in this book, and I have been BETRAYED by my co-blogger, so this wasn’t a fun experience at all. Maybe it’ll get more entertaining when the mob comes to burn my house down for my blasphemy .

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Aimee @ Deadly Darlings says

    23/04/2015 at 1:41 pm

    I actually had the same issue with The Raven Boys! I had a really hard time getting into the writing, and I couldn’t connect with any of the characters at all. :/ I’ve only read Shiver (just the first) and The Raven Boys (just the first as well), so I don’t know about the other books having a lot of guys, but surely that’s going to bother me too. Thanks for the heads up Amber; fabulous review!

    Reply
    • Amber says

      24/04/2015 at 8:32 pm

      Yeah her writing is definitely an acquired taste! I thought it was a lot better in The Raven Boys though, maybe because I really liked how different each of the perspectives were. Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Tatum says

    23/04/2015 at 9:45 pm

    you’re a gigantic butt you know that

    Reply
    • Amber says

      24/04/2015 at 8:10 pm

      yeah well your recommendations are subpar

      Reply
  3. McCallum J. Morgan says

    25/04/2015 at 12:02 am

    Hilarious review, enjoyed it. Feeling sorry for Tatum

    Reply
  4. Cynthia says

    26/04/2015 at 8:05 am

    I loved Maggie Stiefvater’s Wolves of Mercy Falls series, but I haven’t read anything else by her. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this one more!

    Reply
  5. Dreams says

    27/04/2015 at 3:08 am

    Don’t tell me it was slow! Overall I liked The Raven Cycle books, but I was bored and DNF the Shiver series. I own this book so I will read it eventually….but now I’m nervous.

    Reply

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