The Scorpio Races

by Maggie Stiefvater
PRMS hardcover 404 pages
genre: teen fantasy, romance

killer water horses (capaill uisce)

Kate "Puck" Connelly (horse Dove)
brothers Gabe (wants to go to the mainland) and Finn (tinkerer, fixer)

Sean Kendrick (capaill uisce Corr)
Benjamin Malvern - owns half the island
George Holly - rich American, loves horses

Love of horses comes through! Weird story, but entertaining.

Loved page 252-3 where Peg is giving Kate advice about attracting a man.

     Peg plucks a piece of straw out of Dove's mane. "It's easy to convince men to love you, Puck. All you have to do is be a mountain they have to climb or a poem they don't understand. Something that makes them feel strong or clever. It's why they love the ocean."
     I'm not sure that is why Sean Kendrick loves the ocean.
     Peg continues, "When you're too much like them, the mystery's gone. No point seeking the grail if it looks like your teacup."
     "I'm not trying to be sought."
      She purses her lips. "All I'm saying is that you're asking them to treat you like a man. And I'm not sure either of you want that."
     There's something discomfiting about what she says, though I'm not sure if it's because I disagree or agree with it. I think of Ake Palsson backing his horse away from me and the combination of her words and the memory sit uneasily in my chest.
     "I just want to be left alone," I say.
     "Like I said," Peg replies. "You're asking to be treated like a man."

The killer horse concept (coming from the water, made of water, meat-eating) was really weird to me, but it worked. The personalities of the characters and the love of horses worked.