The Scorpia races by maggie Stiefvater - review

The Scorpio races bring crowds of people to Thisby every year to see if the riders can stay on their water horses and finish the race. It is a dangerous and wild race and some don't survive. Sean Kendrick has won the race for the last four years and plans to win again - especially as this year there is much more at stake. Puck Connelly hasn't raced before but decides to enter as a last ditch effort to keep her older brother on the island. But will the other riders let a girl ride in this traditionally all male race? Will she ride a water horse or her own horse Dove? She has no idea if it's worth the risk but she knows what she can lose.

This is a very different book for Maggie Stiefvater. Told in alternating voices, she builds quite a full mythology for these water horses, to the point where you almost believe - OK, want to believe - they are real. The island, the cliffs, the horses, the call of the ocean, seep into your pores as you read, and left me all nerves as they race for their futures. It is bloody and dramatic, yet achingly beautiful. Another winner for the wonderful Maggie Stiefvater.