Five Favorite Things: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

So, I’ve decided to start something new, friends, and I’m pretty stoked about it. No idea how often I’ll do it, but I’ll tell you a little bit about why and how I’ve started it. I used to do this feature/review called Five-Star Friday, where I would review books that I just adored and wanted to spotlight in a more obvious way. I enjoyed it, I did. But I always felt a little ridiculous having a feature on my blog that hinted at a rating system, which I don’t use. So it’s been on hiatus for a while, alas.

Fast-forward to earlier last month when I decided to challenge myself to read more books that have been recommended to me. Like, directly. One of the books on my list was the audio version of one of my ABSOLUTE favorite books of ever, THE SCORPIO RACES, a book that, quite frankly, I’m astonished never made it on my Five-Star Friday feature. But I’m glad it didn’t guys because as I was listening to the audio–itself the fourth time I’ve read this book–things I’d never noticed before struck me, and made me swoon anew. As I was trying to figure out how to review this particular reading of THE SCORPIO RACES, this feature cropped up in my brain. And thus, Five Favorite Things was born.

Of course, narrowing my favorite things about THE SCORPIO RACES–or any book I love, really–down to just five is bound to sometimes be a challenge. So perhaps there will be a time or two (or three or four) when I cheat. Also, it’s my intention to use this feature to talk to you guys about books that I love SO MUCH that I just have to read them all the time. I don’t anticipate reviewing new books this way because, hey, I don’t want to feel hemmed in by the whole “favorite” part if there was something that bothered me. Suffice it to say, though, that when I highlight a book on Five Favorite Things, there won’t be very much at all–if anything–that bothered me about whatever book I’m shouting out.

Now that I’ve explained this whole thing to DEATH, and probably not made sense at least once, let’s just get to it already! Without further ado (drumroll, please…), my five FAVORITE things about:

THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Steve West and Fiona Hardingham

One of the things that has always stood out to me about THE SCORPIO RACES is the way Thisby, the quiet, fierce island home of my beloved Connollys and Sean Kendrick and the magnificent but lethal capall usice, seems both magical and real at the same time. I love how it seems to exist in the past, but we’re not sure when. That makes it seem both timeless and vintage all at once.

I’ve rarely been able to visualize the setting of a book as clearly as I can picture Thisby in my mind. I want to live there. And I’ve always loved the way Puck feels at home there. She has this great line: “The truth is, until you know any different, the island is enough. Actually, I know different. And it’s still enough.” It reminds me of what it feels like for me to live out in the middle of nowhere. I know that there’s more, but nowhere else feels right.

You know one random thing I JUST noticed while listening to this audio? Well, two things: One, no one goes to school. At the very least, Finn should still be in school, and this book takes place in October and November–HELLO, SCHOOL YEAR–and yet there’s barely any mention of school at all. And two, there are basically no other girls AT ALL. I understand that this was probably intentional, putting a large-scale spotlight on the fact that Puck is the only girl in what has always been a man’s race. But I kept thinking how nice it would have been for Puck to have just ONE girlfriend. Just one.

Guys, I just about DIE reading about the Connolly siblings EVERY. STINKING. TIME I read this book. Maggie Stiefvater just yanks on my heartstrings with them. Especially with Gabe, though. I don’t have any brothers, and I can’t say I’d want the same relationship with mine that Puck has just because it’s sad, but the way Maggie makes the Connollys both insular and fractured is pretty spectacular.

Each time I read THE SCORPIO RACES, I am thrown into fits of frustration and heartbreak by Gabe and his misery in Thisby in the wake of his parents’ deaths. His grief is forcing him to leave Thisby, and his younger siblings, behind. The way Puck tries to put on a brave but tough face with him always makes me cry, and Gabe himself just kills me. Especially during this read. It’s a theme of this book that there is loss and harshness in life that can’t be avoided, and it rips me up that Gabe and Puck are so heartbroken and different and stubborn that they can’t find any solace in each other. Even though they love each other like whoa. AHHHHH I DIEEEEEEE.

In contrast to Puck and Gabe’s butting heads, her camaraderie with her brother, Finn, just gives me the warm fuzzies. One of the best things about the Connollys is that they aren’t overcome with the urge to be super emotional with each other, so all of the things that make them amazing are small or quiet, and that makes them seem more genuine. Finn and Puck do this the whole book and it’s SO EFFING NICE.

Three cheers for the token American! Friends, I LOVE George Holly so much. He’s like a ray of sunshine. He’s barely ever in a bad mood; he’s perpetually smiling, it seems; and most of all, he’s a friend for Sean when he has no others, his relationship with Puck being undefined and very young. Maggie Stiefvater does such a BADASS job making all of the Thisby locals seem so similar in temperament and outlook that George Holly, in all his bright, confident Americanness, totally stands out. I’m not ever surprised at Sean’s being drawn to him and his warmth and friendliness.

Also, I loved the way Steve West read his voice. The Thisbians (I don’t even know what to call them, so I just made that up) all have that lilt to their accent, and their voices are deep and quiet. But George Holly? He’s louder and strident and  almost…jolly, or something. It highlights his otherness and makes him shine.

How can I love THE SCORPIO RACES and not be enamored with the horses? Answer: I can’t. I’m not a horse rider, but I think they are beautiful, graceful animals. The connection that Puck shares with her mare, Dove, is lovely.  I feel like so many readers of THE SCORPIO RACES will focus more on the relationships that the characters have with each other, and the relationships that Puck and Sean have with their horses get pushed aside. I’ve done it myself. But NOT TODAY.

I’d go so far as to say that the relationships between Puck and Dove and Sean and Corr are just as important as the interpersonal relationships they each have in their lives. There’s no mistaking the fact that participating in the Scorpio Races is dangerous, and that one of the quickest ways to get hurt or worse is to have an unreliable, untrustworthy mount. But more than that, Sean and Puck have almost no friends, but they do have their horses. Maggie Stiefvater does this a lot in the book: she keeps things spare where in other books there might be an abundance of something, and the virtual absence of whatever it is makes even one occurrence stand out even more.

THESE TWO. I almost just wrote, “I can only gush about them so much,” then I laughed at myself and said out loud (no one is in the room with me, btw), “DON’T BE RIDICULOUS, AMY. You can gush about Sean and Puck for DAYS.” Because seriously: Their slooooow growing romance is just about perfect. From the first time I read THE SCORPIO RACES, I’ve loved how we spend so much time with them individually before they even show up in each other’s spheres. And even then the things that make me swoon are the little things: the way Sean tucks Puck’s hair under the collar of her shirt to keep it from blowing in her face while they’re riding Corr, how Puck shares November cakes with Sean on the cliffs, and how Sean stands up for Puck, and how she inspires him without knowing it. THE SCORPIO RACES wouldn’t be half as amazing as it is without these two.

See, look at that? I can’t even get through my first Five Favorite Things without cheating, but I have to talk some more about the narrators, Steve West and Fiona Hardingham. My two girls, Asheley from Into the Hall of Books and Hannah from So Obsessed With both implored me to listen to this audiobook and ladies? THANKS AND LOVE TO YOU, because I listened to Steve West read the OPENING CREDITS and I died. His voice is unbelievable. And Fiona Hardingham is great as Puck, too. When I was finished listening to the book, I felt a little bereft, as I always do, and I almost started listening to it all over again.

Friends, just writing this post made me crave this world and these characters anew. I know that THE SCORPIO RACES is maybe not the right tone and pace for some people, but it’s basically perfect for me. I’ve said before that this is my favorite of all Maggie Stiefvater‘s books, but I don’t think it hurts to mention it again because that makes it the perfect inaugural Five Favorite Things title. If you haven’t read it yet, please do give it a shot, whether in print or in audio. And then tweet me, email me, comment away–I will gush and love it with you.