Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published: October 2011, Scholastic Press
Rating: 5/5
I knew the minute I walked into the bookstore and saw this novel on display I had to read it. The cover was what drew me in. The silhouette of a girl riding a galloping horse struck a core inside me just looking at it. The story inside exceeded the beauty of the cover.
Puck Connolly is tomboy and loves her island home, Thisby, and her horse, Dove, more than anything else in the world. Every year there is a horse race, the Scorpio races. The horses and riders in this race are not jockeys with Thoroughbreds though. The horses are the horses of the sea, Capaill Uisces that eat flesh and can never truly be tamed by man. Unexpected events force her to sign up for the race. She is the first woman to ride and her mount is no Capaill Uisce.
Sean Kendrick has ridden in the races six years and has won four times. He is the only one to have "tamed" a Capaill Uisce, Corr, the red stallion Sean loves beyond everything. There is one problem: Corr is not legally his. Sean would give anything to own Corr. He would do anything to make himself and Corr free of the man that owns them.
Told from Puck's and Sean's alternating points of view Stiefvater holds together a strong narrative between her two main characters. She captures the bond between horse and rider in both quiet and explosive scenes throughout the novel. While elements of family, romance, and sacrifice play a role, the bond between horse and rider sets the overall tone for this novel. This is a novel that will be immensely enjoyed by all horse lovers who enjoy the fantasy genre.
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