Review: The Scorpio Races

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is, hands down, my most favorite book ever. EVER.

I can say that because it's true.
You will believe it because you can see I've read this book about five times.

I've never fallen more in love with the characters in a book quite the way I fall in love with Sean and Puck and Corr and Dove with each reading.

Each time I pick up this book or push play on my audio, I fall in love with something new. Whether it's the love Finn has for The Morris, or the way every single person calls Sean Kendrick by his first and last name, or how deeply Puck loves the island, I find something new to love. Something old to love.

I find myself, for the first time since encountering The Scorpio Races, reading this book at the most perfect time of year. It's the time the water horses come out of the sea. It's the time we start preparing for the races. It's a time when many will die. It's October. And on the first day of November, someone will die.

It is rare that I find a book that can continue to bring tears to my eyes. I've officially listened to this book twice this year and each time I find myself crying at the end. I find myself laughing when it is time to laugh, I find myself smiling, and frowning, and crying.
Every.
Single.
Time.
I.
Read.
This.
Book.

What kind of power is that? What kind of magical, lyrical prose does Maggie Stiefvater have that others do not? What does she do to make me come back time and time again?

Does she speak to me in the way the water horses speak to the people of Thisby? If I touch the book with bare skin, will I feel the pull of the world inside the pages? Is there a certain Island magic that brings out the courageous and the brave who are willing and ready to battle it out? Does the sea speak to me the way it speaks to Sean Kendrick? Will I find myself rooted to the ground with Thisby growing around me? Or do I have one foot on land and one in the sea?

*Fiona Hardingham and Steve West bring these characters to life, in a manner of speaking. I always hate saying that because the author gives them life, the author gives them their voice, but the narrators add a whole new element that gives them a bit of the creative genius as well. They breathe life into already living characters, they give voice to people who speak on their own, they bring the settings and the scenes and the entire story to the front of your mind, even when you're already thinking about it. So, yes, listening is a completely different experience. I can no longer read this book without hearing these narrators and their accents and their voices. But Fiona Hardingham is Kate "Puck" Connelly and Steve West is Sean Kendrick.

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