Title: The Scorpio Races [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Maggie Stiefvater [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: Stand alone novel.
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Published: October 18th, 2011 by Scholastic Inc.
Format: Hardcover; 409 pages.
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Challenge: Award Winning Reads Challenge.
Are you ready for this? Steel yourself and gird your loins, because this is going to be one of those reviews. One where I gush unabashedly about my love for a book in a way that should be totally shameful and embarrassing but I don’t care one bit because I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it!
It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.
Each year, the island of Thisby plays host on the first of November to the Scorpio Races, featuring the deadly horses from the sea. Many of those who sign up will not see the finish line.
There are too many people on horseback today trying to prove themselves, trying to prepare, trying to get faster. They haven’t discovered yet that it’s not the fastest who made it to race day.
You only have to be the fastest of those who are left.
Sean Kendrick has won the races for the past four years and is the man to beat, though Puck Connolly is determined to try. No woman has ever ran the races, let alone on an island horse rather than one of the water horses, but Puck has concluded that the races are her only option for the future she needs. Unfortunately, winning is the only option for Sean Kendrick as well.
I’m about to say something about this book that can be said so rarely. I’ve read tons of reviews, I’ve seen the awards, I’ve experienced the hype, and yet, The Scorpio Races was nothing like I expected. I love when a story can really take me by surprise. This one drew me in so that I did not feel the need to try to predict what would happen, I was content to absorb it, and could not have been more happy with what I found. The Scorpio Races was so beautifully written with moments such as this:
There are moments that you’ll remember for the rest of you life and there are moments that you think you’ll remember for the rest of your life, and it’s not often they turn out to be the same moments. But when Peg Gratton turns around and chalks my name on the list, white on black, I know, without a doubt, that it’s an image I’ll never forget.
I adored Puck and Sean, and the relationship between them that while important to the story didn’t encompass it. Both characters are strong, brave, hard-working, and fiercely in love with their animals and their home. Their affection is one borne of mutual respect, very similar to the relationship each has with their horse it is built on trust, understanding, and requires very little words. Each of them desperately needs to win the races for their own reasons, but instead of the competition driving a wedge between them, it draws them together and makes them both stronger. I myself wasn’t sure how I wanted the book to end up, and felt my own stomach knotting with nervous anticipation as the races approached as if I myself were participating.
I think my strongest attachment to The Scorpio Races wasn’t even the characters, but the setting. Maggie Stiefvater manages to expertly create her setting as its own character, something that is so rarely done well, and I love love loved it. The island was its own personality, with desires, characteristics, and being, and the water horses were tied to it so closely. Personally, it reminded me so much of Prince Edward Island in Avonlea books and the Road to Avonlea TV series, but you know...with killer sea horses. It just made me want to spend windy fall days on the beach in fisherman’s wool sweaters drinking tea from a thermos.
My heart was warm upon finishing this book, it filled up up in places I didn’t even know needed filling.
Likelihood that I'll be back for more: I cannot wait for The Raven Boys, Stiefvater’s new quartet to premiere this fall. I enjoyed Shiver, but I loved The Scorpio Races. You can see some definite progression over four books, and I am hoping she can keep up the momentum in a new series.
Recommended for: Pretty much any YA fan--it totally stands up to the hype! Also horse lovers and fans of quieter romance.
Real life repercussions of reading this book: Making real life November Cakes of course! They're not quite as pretty as intended because I didn't have the time to make icing beautiful, but that hardly affects the taste. People, these things are AMAZING. Maggie Stiefvater posted the recipe here, and I highly suggest you try it.
Get a second opinion:
Title: The Humming Room [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Ellen Potter [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: Stand alone novel.
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary, Retelling
Published: February 28th, 2012 by Fiewel and Friends
Format: Kindle edition; 192 pages.
Source: ARC copy from publisher via NetGalley.
Roo is a tiny girl, whose aptitude for hiding saves her life when her father and his girlfriend are murdered in their trailer home. Having never known stability, Roo is taken in by her uncle’s household, though she is offered neither comfort nor affection. Roo explores the grounds of Cough Rock, and the old TB sanatorium that is now her home, finding long forgotten secrets, a mysterious new friend, and the opportunity for family.
You guys! The Secret Garden was/is my favorite childhood classic, I loved this book that seemed so magical but possible, full of hope and rebirth after tragedy and depression. Heck, for all I know, The Secret Garden is what sparked my Anglophile tendencies (hand in hand with A Little Princess of course. Because nothing says awesome like growing up in India and returning to Britain as an orphan). It’s certainly how I learned what a moor was. I am overcome with joy to tell you that The Humming Room captures all of the emotions and beauty of The Secret Garden in what is a wonderful retelling.
There’s something very comforting about reading retellings. It’s kind of like that friendly feeling you get while rereading one of your favorite books. You know what’s coming, but you also know you’ll love it, and retellings are a way to put a fresh face on your favorite tales. The Humming Room deviated fairly little from The Secret Garden in its main plot points, but the details Ellen Potter chose to use when telling the story made it increasingly relevant to today’s readers.
Roo is from a family broken by drugs and death. She’s essentially trailer trash that has been moved about constantly whenever her father would get into trouble. Unfortunately, I feel like a lot of kids could identify with her--she has internalized much of her pain, never having a soul to lean on, but her self-confidence and sense of right are unwavering with such optimism. It’s charming. Also I like stubborn pig-headed little kids; I was one myself. I found myself just wanting to give Roo a big ol’ hug and be her best friend. The adults in the story weren’t bad, but they still angered me. They baby Roo’s cousin to the point that he has become an intolerable brat. They feel his behavior is justified because of the loss of his mother, and yet respond to Roo as if she is a terrible burdensome little girl who just needs to get over her new orphan status and behave perfectly already. These were the same emotions I had when reading The Secret Garden, and reading it was like cuddling up in a comfy blanket with a warm cup of tea.
Here’s one of my favorite parts:
She worked for hours until she was drenched with sweat, and so thirsty that her throat stung. Finally, she sat back on her heels, exhausted but happy. The sun was pouring into the atrium now, bathing the garden in pale light. The little plots of bare dark earth looked so promising that she leaned down, put her ear to the ground and listened. Astonishingly, she heard nothing at all.
That had never happened before. Even in the crawl space under the trailer, in the middle of winter, she could hear life beneath the soil; it was a languid, subtle sound, but it was there.
In this garden, though, there was only silence. It was the nothingness of death. Frighteningly permanent. The garden had been erased from the world, in the same way that her father had been erased, extinguishing everything that he was--the good and the bad.
Once more she pressed her ear to the earth. Concentrating fiercely, her sensitive ears strained to hear a sound, the smallest sound. She stayed that way for a long time, motionless, eyes closed. Then, after many minutes, she thought she heard something. It was weak and frayed around the edges, and it came and went, like shallow, feverish breathing. Sometimes, it fell silent for so long, Roo thought it had stopped altogether. But after a while it would start again, struggling. So fragile, so almost-not there.
“Stay alive,” Roo pleaded.
Likelihood that I'll be back for more: I should totally read more Ellen Potter, but I haven’t heard anything about her works. Anyone have any recommendations?
Recommended for: The Secret Garden fans, those who love retellings, kids (or adults) who need a bright spot when in a bad place--this is a total comfort read!
Real life repercussions of reading this book: I wanted a garden, but we live in an apartment. So I got an orchid, and Wocket destroyed it.
So I got a hanging plant...
