The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater



Every November, the capaill uisce return. The capaill are water horses, born from the sea. They resemble land horses, but stronger, faster, dangerous, wild, and carnivorous. When the horses come to the island of Thisby, the Scorpio Races take place. Men all over the island claim one of the deadly horses and announce they will race them. Then, the betting begins. This novel tells of two characters orphaned by the capaill uisce and their determination to win the race and prove themselves.

There is Sean Kendrick, the four-time winner of the races. He has a special bond with the horses and can understand and ride them like no other. He is said to have one foot in the sea, and the other on land.

And then there is Kate “Puck” Connoly. She is struggling to make ends meet for herself and two brothers. She has never paid attention to the races but when her older brother announces that he is going to leave the island, she is driven to win the races and her brother back. She is the first girl to ride in the races and not only that, but she’ll be racing with her land “pony” Dove, which is unheard of.

I loved this book! I usually don’t go for fantasy, but this was more like mythology and had the perfect blend of real and imagination. Stiefvater has a magical, lyrical way of writing. The way she describes things puts you under a spell and makes you want more. It’s also really graphic, and made me flinch a few times.

I adored Sean. He’s so simple and quiet and always has so much going on in his mind he doesn’t verbalize. And Puck, I loved her too. Even though she could be a tad annoying at time. The characters are all very realistic and relatable, as Stiefvater’s always are. I love the cover! It’s the same color as blood is when it dries, and there’s a lot of blood in the book so I thought that was pretty cool.

The only negative thing I have to say about this book is the occasionally slow plot. It’s pretty slow, but there are quite a few capturing moments, and those are what keep you interested. If you’re thinking about putting down this book, trust me and just keep reading. It’s worth it. Also, the romance. The sleeve of the book promises romance, and you’re like “This is coming from the author of Shiver. And the story is about a boy and a girl about the same age. They have to fall in love.” But it took so long! They didn’t even meet until like halfway through! So I think that the Scorpio Races is more about a different kind of love, such as family, animals, nature, and of your town.

I’m not a huge fan of horses, but honestly, it didn’t matter with the Scorpio Races. It was fantastic and breathtaking. And I loved it all the same. And the end? I ADORED it. And I loved how there was no epilogue, so it’s up to the reader to decide what comes next. Plus, all the suspense! It’s a race, and you grow to love Sam and Puck. You know they can’t both win, and everything all leads up to that final moment.

For those of you who are wondering how it compares to the Shiver series, it’s entirely different. If you are looking for that breathtaking romance that Sam and Grace had, you’re in the wrong place. However, The Scorpio Races is told in an alternating point-of-view like the Shiver books. Her style of writing is the same, but much more descriptive and wonderful. Please don’t crack this spine expecting romance like Shiver’s, it’s not happening. But open this book anyway, because it’s something else entirely magical. 5 out of 5 stars.

Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater

Hey guess what? I have a follower lol. I just thought I would announce that. Anyway, on to the review!

Ahh the conclusion. I really wanted to give this book 5 stars, but I couldn't sadly. Shall we go over the things I liked and disliked?

What I Disliked:

How slow the story was. Honestly, I just couldn't get into the story. Maybe it was that I didn't want to read it because I knew it was going to end, or that it just didn't draw me in the same way. In Shiver, I was absolutely addicted. For Forever, I can't say as much. It took me about a week to read this, even though on average a book will take about 3 days. It just seemed so slow and sad at parts that it was hard to be totally absorbed. I felt like the conclusion and action-ey part was only in the last 30 pages, which is kinda ridiculous because the book is almost 400 pages.

The ending. I guess it had to end somehow, but it was so... unfulfilling. I don't want to give too much away, but I just wanted to know more. And I was still a little confused about what had happened in the aftermath haha.

The cure. I still felt like I was missing something, and the cure or whatever it was wasn't totally explained. I just felt that the part about the whole technicalities could have been described better so it felt more scientific.

Isabel and Cole. I wanted romance between them... and yeah that just didn't seem to happen. I wanted them to be happy :(

What I Liked:

The writing. Maggie's writing is amazing. It's so thoughtful, magical, and optimistic. There are just lines you read and you're like "Wow" because they're that thought-provoking. All the moods are captured perfectly. There's sadness, happiness, love, loss, betrayal, laughter, and anger. It can be totally serious at one moment, but then you find yourself smiling on the next page because of something Cole said.

The characters. I just love them all! Sam is just too adorable. I like how he's described as scrawny and lanky instead of being all buff and stuff haha. And he's like emo and feminine too. Aww... How cute. I love Cole and all of his sarcastic, smartass-edness. I love Isabel and how snarky and bitchy she can is, but really she has good intentions.

The love. I love what Sam and Grace have together. It's so sweet, and its so real. Their chemistry is so perfect.

The font color. It was just pretty awesome haha. She should write a book in purple.:D

So, In Conclusion:

The series in all was amazing. I would definitely recommend it! Forever had an ending that disappointed me, but I still think it deserves my 4 out of 5 stars .

Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Alright so before I get into the review, let me note that the font in this book is green!!! It's kinda a strange concept, because you're so used to seeing black font. But the ink is green!! o_O Like the color I'm using now, or a shade darker. And then I went back to Shiver, and guess what?! The font is blue! And now I'm trying to remember if I had noticed that before... Lol. So does this mean that the font in Forever is red? I can't wait because that would be epic :) So anyway, it was fun reading a book in a different colored font. More publishers should do this right? And use other fonts besides our typical, everyday ones. I think that Maggie Stiefvater should write another book in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series and have it be purple, so I can read a book with purple print (It’s my favorite color)!! Haha but anyway, on to the review…

**If you haven’t read Shiver, you might want to read that book first, because this review contains a few spoilers about the first book**

Shiver is about Grace fighting for Sam to be with her. The book ends with Sam mysteriously turning human, and then Grace and Sam get to be together. The “cure” isn’t foolproof (someone died trying it), and I was left wondering more about it. Grace and Sam don’t really think about it at all, for them it’s basically “How did it work?” “I don’t know” “Oh well, we’re together now. Let’s not get into the specifics”.

Linger is about their relationship now, but there are a few complications. Something is wrong with Grace, she’s coming down with a mysterious sickness. Okay, it’s not that hard to guess, she’s turning into a wolf. But why? Well I don’t know! This whole “science” thing is making no sense to me! Haha. Sam knows there’s something wrong, but he doesn’t really do anything about it because he doesn’t want to ruin the perfect moments they have together. Argh you Sam! You should have figured out what was wrong with her earlier!

And then there’s Cole, the mental one (I say that with love). He wants to be a wolf, but for some reason, he can’t stay a wolf. He has a complicated background, and he’s just trying to figure out who he is and what he wants.

Something I did like was how the author put in two different character’s point of view, so we got more of the story instead of just Sam and Grace. Plus, I like Cole and Isabel, so it’s just another good thing :)

I love Sam, he reminds me of my boyfriend so much. Like, so much it’s insane. Well not really like the music and the books, because my bf likes neither, but his personality and how he’s sensitive and caring and wants her... and yes. I’ll just stop now. xD

I think that I was more “into” Shiver, because it was more exciting and this one is just…. well, lingering. Lol. And now there’s Forever, which I will be reading soon!

But the cliffhanger! It’s really not that bad for me, mostly because I know the book is already out and I don’t have to wait a year to read it, but also because it was pretty predictable what was going to happen.

The one thing that bugs me about this series is just not knowing about the whole technical transformation of werewolves. The characters have stated that “it’s not magical, it’s science”. And there has to be some science behind it, we’re just given bits and pieces of it, some of which is misleading. I know it’s to make it suspenseful, and the author is probably saving it for Forever, but I don’t like surprises :( lol. So I hope that everything will be explained in book number 3.

I did like this book, even if it took me about 50 pages to really get into it. I wouldn’t say it was disappointing or anything, just exciting. Read Shiver first, and if you like it, read this one. I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars , just like Shiver :)

Happy reading!

<3

Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Soo first review!

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (The Wolves of Mercy Falls: Book #1) actually came out in 2009 and there is a sequel (Linger) and a new book coming out soon (Forever) and it's going to be made in to a movie! I remember hearing about Shiver two years ago, but I could never get my hands on it (or I never really made the effort to lol). I did, and I am so glad that I finally got the chance to read it :)

Let me just say that I am pretty much over vampires (I was pretty over any other mystical creature-teen novel- of the sort too :P). For some reason, I really did enjoy this book though. It was intriguing and interesting, and definitely hard to put down. I probably wouldn't read it again, but I would read the other books in the series. And I am definitely team-werewolves now! None of these silly undead vampires for me! Haha ;)

Something that I did find a little strange was how she and Sam have supposedly loved each other even when he was in his wolf form. Which means that she was in love with a wolf? And a wolf was in love with a human? I just didn't really understand that part of the story lol.

I also had some unanswered questions, such as the ENDING! The ending was way too mysterious for me, but at the same time I liked it because it gave me something to think about. I was left wondering what had happened and how it happened. But I was happy that the characters got their happy ending after all :) Even though I would like to know how exactly it had happened because the author was pretty cryptic haha. I would also like to find out more about the "cure" and the wolves and their stories, and what made Olivia so different, and Grace's human-with-a-little-wolf-in-her. Maybe the other books will go into more of the details about those topics and answer my questions.

Now, the characters. I didn't really find myself relating myself to anyone in this story, except for the romantic bits with Grace and Sam (and this is only because I have a boyfriend and all these little moments make me be like "awwww!" and then sad because I wasn't with my boyfriend lol). Grace and Sam's backgrounds should have been explained more and all the other characters' parts really aren't that big so it's almost like they aren't even there. In the beginning of the story, it talks about Grace's friends, but after talking to Sam, she gets lost in Sam-world and her friends basically are absent from the story.

Also, for a story with werewolves, it was pretty action-less. Like there wasn't any huge fighting scene or anything that was a little disappointing :/ But it was a little suspenseful when they were always fighting to keep Sam out of the cold.

I did like the overall story though, and the interesting take on werewolves and how they change due to temperatures and such. I also must say that I am a bit in love with Sam, possibly because he seems so sweet and tormented (and he writes songs!) and he reminds me of my boyfriend. <3 hehe **sigh**

I really did like this book, and I look forward to seeing what will happen to Grace and Sam in Linger and Forever. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a non-human romance and to Twilight fans (who aren't totally love struck for vampires so that they'll have some love for werewolves too!!)  I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars :)