Every November the "capaill uisce" --water horses--emerge from the sea onto the fictional island of Thisby. These water horses are much larger than regular horses, and they eat meat, including other horses, sheep, and people. But some on the island have tamed the water horses enough to ride and race them in the biggest event of the year, the Scorpio Races. The winner receives much respect on the island and a substantial prize of money. Tourists from the mainland and from as far away as America flock to the island for the race. The returning champion is 19-year-old Sean Kendrick, and odds are on his winning again this year. But another entrant has islanders upset: 16-year-old Kate "Puck" Connolly intends to ride her regular horse, not a "capaill uisce". She is the first girl to ride and the first not to ride a water horse. But Puck needs the money and believes that her horse has a chance to win. The book is told in the alternativing voices of Sean and Puck as they discover each other and begin to train together and to fall in love.
I surprised myself by liking this book as much as I did. The beginning is rather slow, but I couldn't stop reading the last 150 pages. The setting is unique; it feels like a real island, perhaps off the coast of Ireland. The time is contemporary but has a feel of the past. Unlike anything else out there, it's full of unique characters, suspense, romance, and horses.
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