The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Stories like The Scorpio Races appeal to my inner 12 year old. When I was that age, finding strong female characters was a bit of a challenge. They were either babysitting, making out with their boyfriends, or living in Canada. Girls like Puck didn't exist. Apparently, Puck and I also have the same ability to make life altering decisions within a nano second. She decides to compete in a murderous race to save her house within the span of less than a paragraph. I decided to move over 1300 miles in the same amount of time. She and I could be sisters.
Stiefvater writing style lent well to this story. Her imagery was fantastic, and she drew me deeply into the story. However, the book takes about 100 pages to get going. Also, it's told from multiple perspectives, and at the beginning it's a tad difficult to tell them apart. As the story goes on, they become more distinct. This seems like a story that has been brewing for a long time. The characters were fully realized and I kept thinking that they were going to walk off the page. Reading this book made me immensely happy. Stiefvater is a young author, and I can't wait to see what she does next. Pick this up for a nice winter read. It may clock in around 400 pages, but it reads fast.
Keeping with the strong girl theme, my next novel is Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty. From some of the reviews I've seen Bray's Gemma has been compared to Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As far as I'm concerned that's one hell of a comparison. Gemma has a lot to live up to if that is the case. I'm skeptical, but in a good way.
Stories like The Scorpio Races appeal to my inner 12 year old. When I was that age, finding strong female characters was a bit of a challenge. They were either babysitting, making out with their boyfriends, or living in Canada. Girls like Puck didn't exist. Apparently, Puck and I also have the same ability to make life altering decisions within a nano second. She decides to compete in a murderous race to save her house within the span of less than a paragraph. I decided to move over 1300 miles in the same amount of time. She and I could be sisters.
Stiefvater writing style lent well to this story. Her imagery was fantastic, and she drew me deeply into the story. However, the book takes about 100 pages to get going. Also, it's told from multiple perspectives, and at the beginning it's a tad difficult to tell them apart. As the story goes on, they become more distinct. This seems like a story that has been brewing for a long time. The characters were fully realized and I kept thinking that they were going to walk off the page. Reading this book made me immensely happy. Stiefvater is a young author, and I can't wait to see what she does next. Pick this up for a nice winter read. It may clock in around 400 pages, but it reads fast.
Keeping with the strong girl theme, my next novel is Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty. From some of the reviews I've seen Bray's Gemma has been compared to Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As far as I'm concerned that's one hell of a comparison. Gemma has a lot to live up to if that is the case. I'm skeptical, but in a good way.
No comments:
Post a Comment