Review: The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater

#8 and a little bashful.

Hey! I know it has been entirely too long since my last blog post. Just want to throw out there that successfully completing grad school has been a top priority of mine recently.

But I wanted to stop by to give a quick review to The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater. Now ya'll (yes, I just said that.)--this is my finals week. I'm taking exams for yet another quarter (I know it was finals week last time I posted, but school is hard!) and I still find myself idiotically wasting time by treating my Nook like it is my only possession.

I'm not sorry that I did it though.

The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races:

-pages: 416

-rating: 4.5/5

[Goodreads info]

This book is dark. It is about courage, loyalty, and how much you are willing to do for what you love.

Stiefvater has created an altogether terrifying new type of paranormal monster: the capall uisce. They are essentially Kelpies, but the folklore surrounding those creatures don't quite match. For example, the capall uisce don't lie in wait of passersby to lure into being drowned. These horse-creatures are of the sea, yet manifest on the island of Thisby only during certain situations. They might go to land when they're hungry (a predator no one wants to meet), or during a storm--but the first week of November, the time of The Scorpio Races, is when they're more commonly found. Islanders of Thisby capture these creatures in the (usually vain) hopes of taming them enough to win the tradition-laden race. While I would never want to meet one on a bad day, the capall uisce are fascinating.

Besides the wonderful paranormal aspects, the characters in this book, their situations, radiate overwhelming sense of loss and hopelessness--yet all I did while reading was hope for them. That they would all get what they wanted--what they needed.

While in dire situations, however, the characters themselves aren't depressing. The book alternates points-of-view between 19-year-old Sean Kendrick and the younger (17? maybe? can't remember) Puck [Kate] Connolly. Both characters have a strong voice and are extremely likable. They remain steadfast and true no matter what island life and ill-fortune throws at them.

The review I'm posting is what I wrote in those first moments after finishing this book.

"Amazing. Absolutely wonderful. It's like Misty of Chincoteague met Hidalgo and the two came up with at YA fantasy/paranormal hybrid between them.

While reading The Scorpio Races, I was hit with at nostalgic pang of wonder, the likes of which the Misty books brought out in me as a child. Yet the dark mystery of the horses--the capall uisce--and the tale of Sean Kendrick and the Connolly clan had me flipping through the pages for entirely different reasons."

Some of those reasons being this:

1) The book isn't predictable. You think you know what might happen, but you want so many different things to happen all at once that you don't see how any of it could be possible. I was utterly resigned to being heartbroken in one way or another and I won't say whether or not I am because I don't want to give anything away to you should you decide to read it.

2) The romance. Yes, in typical YA fashion, there is a touch of romance--but the romance doesn't consume the story. It's heartwarming, understandable. I loved it.

3) This novel is stand-alone. STAND-ALONE! You get a resolution. [This excites me because I find it oh-so-devastating when sequels ruin a good thing]

I'm done listing reasons why I devoured this book, but that doesn't mean that there aren't more. I need to get back to studying for my next exam. Have a great day everyone!

What is the last book you just absolutely couldn't put down?

Review: Divergent, by Veronica Roth

#3 It's Friday, I'm in love

The book I'm reviewing right now is one of my favorite books of the year all time.

Last month my twitter was abuzz with mentions of some book that was apparently "like The Hunger Games, but better!"

Now, I'm a huge fan of The Hunger Games books (and I will likely review them after I have read them again), so I had to track it down. This book was Divergent, by Veronica Roth.

Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Divergent:

- pages: 487

- rating: 5/5

[Goodreads info]

Set in dystopian Chicago, this book reveals little of the Chicago as I currently know it. The city is no longer a playground, home to millions of the most interesting of people, places, and events. Instead it is a strict system of factions, each separate and contributing to society in different ways. There are five such factions: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite.

I'm sure you can guess which characteristics each faction values above all others. Abnegation are a selfless people. Amity are kind, Candor value truth in all things, Erudite are scholars. Dauntless are the fearless, the guardians of this society.

During the year following each member of society's 16th birthday, each young male and female takes an exam of sorts which identifies for which Chicago faction his or her personality is most suited. Each individual mulls over what his or her exam revealed, and then at a special ceremony he or she must choose in which faction he or she will belong. It all boils down to this: will you remain with everything you've ever known or will you follow your destiny?

Such is the choice for Beatrice Prior. She knows that as a member of Abnegation, she should put all others' needs and well-being above her own. Yet there are parts of her that struggle with this way of life. Her entire family is in Abnegation, and to choose an alternate faction is to leave everything she knows and loves behind. If she abandons the way of the Abnegates then she abandons her family.

Beatrice's decision will not be easy. The results of her exam are "inconclusive," for reasons which I will not divulge. ;) This makes everything all the more difficult for her as she struggles to figure out what type of person she is, and where in society she is destined to be.

The ceremony arrives, and Beatrice, having thought over the strange information resulting from her exam, makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. She is whisked away to deal with the consequences and we follow her through every single trial and tribulation that comes as a result of her decision. The going is rough, with more challenges than most people can deal with.

As I followed Beatrice Prior on this journey, I fell in love. With everything. Beatrice, later known as Tris, is one of the most well-developed, likable female teens that I have ever had the good fortune of encountering in fiction. She wasn't annoying, I never wanted to yell at her. Tris's personality and voice resonated in me--she is such a strong, intelligently developed character that it was only with reluctance that I moved onto another book; to a new set of characters.

Tris wasn't the only great thing about this book. Roth created a plethora of multi-dimensional characters that each contributed in varying, yet integral ways to the relation of this story. From Tris's family to the friends she makes in her "Faction class" (for lack of a better descriptor), each person contributes to the type of person Tris is turning out to be.

I can't say too much more without giving too much away. So I will only elaborate on a few more things.

1) Roth gives us Four. You have to read to figure out what I mean by that, but let me just say this. Four is another reason why I never wanted to stop reading. *sigh* Four.

2) Chicago. As a resident of this great city, it was fascinating for me to see the future state of this area. Dilapidated buildings, rusted over monuments and landmarks--my imagination went wild the entire time. If you've ever been to Chicago, you'll know exactly what I mean.

3) It's a trilogy. Book number 2, Insurgent is currently being written by Roth. It is the sweetest form of torture, knowing that there is going to be two more books in this series, but also having to stand idly by while Roth tweets notices like "2.5k words today" and similar notices like that. I want it nowww.

4) I has me inspired. I mess around with the GIMP and photoshop CS5 a LOT, but during school I don't really create anything huge/notice-worthy because I'm too busy and don't have the hours to allot to experimentation. For Divergent, however, I was willing to throw away a bit of my "free" time.

For Veronica Roth,

I'm wrapping this up. It's long and babbling.