I basically agree with everything Michelle said about this book, but I’ll expand by complaining about some other things as well.

This was a good enough book. If I was the type to give ratings, I’d give it a 3…which is not to say I didn’t like it. The premise is intriguing, and I had a hard time putting it down, but it also took a while to get going, the race was kind of anticlimactic, and I was bothered a lot by details that were never really explained. Things like, can Sean talk to all water horses, or just Corr, and why? How the hell do you pronounce that, anyway? What’s with the lines in the sand and the salt and the spitting and the ribbons and the iron? Do they really just let carnivorous horses roam the island eating people without trying to stop them AT ALL? Where is this book taking place? Is this present day or earlier? Is this Scotland? SERIOUSLY WHERE IS THIS ISLAND.

On the other hand, I loved the ending and I really liked Sean and Corr. I was sort of hoping he’d win the race and ride off into the sunset with Mr. Holly. It only took me a day to read this one because I was pretty into it, but I was left with sort of an unsatisfied feeling when I was done.

I’ve heard this compared a lot to Hunger Games, but I didn’t really see many similarities, except that they both had rather unlikeable heroines.

Also, while walking my dog during reading breaks, I kept finding myself looking at rustling bushes and thinking, just for a second “Oh no, WATER HORSE!”

Michelle’s review of Scorpio Races