review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Shiefvator

pub date: October 18, 2011
publisher: Scholastic
pages: 409
source: library
format: audio
appeals: horses, romance, adventure, Printz Honor, male protagonist, multiple protagonist
content: a very few swear words (maybe 4?), some violence from the water horses

thoughts:
This is my new favorite book. Seriously. I LOVED it. I loved the characters, so, so, so much. I loved Thisby, this isolated island with it's own traditions and people set in a modern world. I loved the story. The romance was sudtle and sweet and perfect. And Maggie's words were rich and vivid and created this world I wanted to visit. I wanted it to be real.  

I listened to the audio in my car and by the time I reached the sixth disc (there are ten all together), I couldn't wait any longer. I had to know what was going to happen, how the races would end. So I took it inside and sat on my couch and spent all Saturday afternoon listening. I could've just picked the book up, but I loved the voices, I wanted to just listen.

Have you ever read a book that so involved your emotions, senses, imagination, that when it was over you felt bereft? Lonely? Sad?

That was this book, for me. When I reached the last chapter, I started to get teary-eyed. Not only because the ending was so wonderful and amazing and perfect, but because it was ending. I wanted more. More Thisby. More Puck. More Sean. More Corr and Dove. More, more, more. And there wasn't any more.

Have you ever read a book that so involved your mind that when you reached the last page, you weren't able to let it go? You just wanted to live in it a little longer? Immerse yourself in the story for the forseeable future?

That was this book, for me. I was gushing about the book to my sister and she wanted to listen, so I gave it to her, a bit begrudingly. I wasn't ready to let the story go. So I bought the book, even though I've been on a book buying freeze since the end of December. I reread my favorite parts until I got the audio back from my sister, and listened to the last few discs again. I never relisten to audios, not ever. But this one I wishe I'd listened to again from the beginning.

I want to tell you that the audio was phenominal. The story was wonderful, and the audio added to it so very much. Absolutely so. The two readers, one for Puck and the other for Sean, were amazing. To listen to Maggie's words, in their voices, added a texture to the story that I don't think I would've gotten otherwise. While browsing Maggie's blog, I came across an interview she'd had with the two who voiced Sean and Puck. I enjoyed it, so I thought I would share the link if you're interested.

Really, this book has a place of honor on my shelves. I loved it just that much.

summary:
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 chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.