"The Scorpio Races" is quite an odd book, one which I mostly enjoyed but would hesitate to recommend whole-heartedly. The story takes place on the island of Thisby, which is never precisely defined, but which I assume to be somewhere off the coast of Ireland. Life on this little island is mostly hardscrabble. The residents, small in number, struggle to get by on this wind-swept rock most of the year, awaiting the arrival of October and November, when tourists from around the world descend up on their island for the annual Scorpio Races. 
 And here is where a healthy dose of willingness to buy into myths and legends becomes important: The animals competing in the Scorpio Races are not just ordinary racehorses, but are capaill uisce: fierce, huge, carnivorous water horses, borne by the storm-tossed seas up onto the shores of Thisby each fall, where the bravest of the islanders catch them and train them for the races. Going anywhere near a capall uisce is not for the faint-hearted. Each year, the races end with blood upon the sands of the beach. 
 "The Scorpio Races" is told from two different points of view. Sean is the son of a man who died in the races, and who has grown up to be not only a racing champion, but the capall uisce equivalent of a horse whisperer. Sean understands the water horses' magic, and wants only to buy the horse he races from the wealthy owner and live in peace and freedom. Orphan Puck (aka Kate), has never touched a water horse, but decides to enter the races in a desperate attempt to convince her older brother to remain on the island. Sean and Puck become competitors, training partners, and ultimately much more than that. 
 The good: I really ended up liking the mythology of the water horses, and how the author treated their existence as just another part of life on Thisby. Stiefvater's use of language was quite good throughout, capturing the nuance and idioms of speech that you might expect on a poor, isolated island. 
 The not-so-good: I had a hard time believing certain plot elements. I was certainly willing to go along with the concept of the capaill uisce -- this was actually pretty wonderful. What I didn't believe was Puck's decision-making and her motivation for entering the races. Once the story moved forward from that point, it was very good, yet I never really thought Puck's initial actions made much sense. 
 Overall, I'm happy to have read "The Scorpio Races", but I do have some reservations about the plot.