I love it when I'm such a fan of an author that I don't even need to know the plot of their book - I buy it because I love the way that individual thinks and writes. I wouldn't say that I'm a "Fan" of many authors in this way - but that is exactly how I feel about Maggie Steifvater. She writes with (what I feel) is the perfect balance between description/plot/dialog. I love the way she puts things. She sounds Irish - is she Irish? I know she lives in US now, but I'm pretty darn sure she's Irish. And I LOVE it.

The basics of the story are: on this small island of Thisby there is a type of horse that lives mostly in the water, but occassionally comes up on land to eat people and/or sheeps and such. Each November, the bold young men of Thisby race along the beach on the sea horses they have captured. (In the book they are called Capall Uisce - which is wicked hard to pronounce but it's like CAPple ISHka.) The winner gets a big purse. The lucky survive. And a great many stain the beach with their blood and their lives. There's a young man named Sean, who is basically a seahorse-whisperer, who's won four previous times, but has gambled a lot on this year's race. And there's a young woman named Puck, who hates the capall uisce for killing her parents, but chooses to race on her trusty land-horse to raise money to save her home and keep her family together.

There's also jerk-wads of different degrees, sacrifices, romance, complicated family issues, affection for horses & baked goods, and a lot of blood.

The conclusion was unexpected (I really though it was going to go another way) but highly fulfilling, and underwritten just enough to get me there without putting too nice a bow on it.

If I have one complaint, it's a visual one. I HATE when author's notes directly follow the last chapter, like it's another chapter. I want a page of white between the two. I like to know I'm nearing the end and read that last page slow, like the final sip of rich hot chocolate. Too often, I read, read, read those final pages with a mix of excitement and sadness, too late realizing that the next page is not more conclusion but rather author's notes. It's kinda like when you know there's one more brownie in the kitchen then you go to get it and your husband ate it an hour ago. DOH! I want a visual stop. I want a moment to say "ahhhhhh."

Then I will read the author's notes, acknowledges, whatever.

That being my only minor issue: I conclude: The Scorpio Races rocks!