I’ve waited a couple of weeks to get this review down on paper for a few reasons. The first being that I have really strong feelings about this book. The characters, and the story are so well written that when I finished the book I went to good reads and added every book by Maggie Stiefvater to my TBR list.

The Scorpio Races is based on the Celtic water horse legend, the eich uisce, and brings the legend to life in a way that you can hear the hoofbeats on the beach, you can smell the salt water in the air, and smell the blood on the beach. Yes, you read that right, the eich uisce are vicious, meat eating sea horses.

Sean and Puck each have different reasons for entering the annual race. For Sean, it’s a matter of pride. Like his father before him, Sean is a horse trainer, the best on the island, and every year he not only rides, but wins the race. This year, a lot is on the line, if Sean can win, he gets to win Korr, the magnificent water horse stallion that was responsible for his father’s death.

Puck is racing for a different reason. Orphaned, she and her brothers work hard to keep food on the table, and need the prize money to keep their childhood home. Puck also hopes that if she can win, on her horse, a smallish pony, that her oldest brother will stay on the island and not move to the mainland.

The story is beautifully written and the emotion pours out of the story and into the reader. The characters are vivid, and seem so real I hoped to book a flight to Thisby and go meet Sean and Puck myself. The world that the characters live in seem to be real. While listening to the book, I hurt with Puck, I stressed with Sean, and I galloped along the beach, heart racing as the race, and the book came to an end.

This was my first journey into Maggie Stiefvater’s universe, and I can’t wait to jump into the other worlds she has written.