So I just finished reading The Scorpio Races. It was amazing… I’m calling it now, it will be the next twilight, hunger games trend. I cant feel it! When I read this novel, I kept relating the characters of Sean and Puck back to Katniss and Pita. Just a suggestion…you should read it!

Some of my thoughts for 441… DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU WILL READ…SPOILER ALERT

Personally, this novel was rough for me to get into at first because the idea of reading about “horses” is not something I am generally interested in. From the minute the reader was introduced to Puck, I fell in love with her! She appears to be a strong, challenging, sarcastic and thick headed girl. (Reminds me of myself). She stands up for what she believes in.

Puck is the first girl to ever ride in the Scorpio Races, and this causes natural chaos!

Naturally, I looked at this story through a feminist lens. I took Puck’s attitude as “anything you can do, I can do better.”  Puck’s character contrasted with how other women were portrayed throughout the book/town.  (for example, pg 61-62, the mentioning of Peg’s chest, when Kate has to impress powerful Mr. Holly with November cakes, or Kate working in the kitchen, cooking chicken for her brothers and Tommy, 335-337)

Women were also stereotypically weaker. “People die, love. I’m all for women, but this isn’t a woman’s game.” (65) Everyone gave Puck a hard time about the races. They wouldn’t let her announce her riding of Dove, because the unwritten rule stated that females couldn’t ride, and they would not give her colors to ride with at the races as well.

It comes down to the races and Puck, again is dependent on Sean to win. He sacrifices his life to help her. While I want to feel that the female is the HERO in this novel, and I want to say yeah the girl did it on her own, I keep coming back to the fact that she couldn’t have done it without Sean. Do you feel the power lies in the hands of men throughout the novel? Where does Kate/Puck gain her power?

I also found it interesting that when Kate/Puck was addressed by Elizabeth, her brother Gale and Sean for the first time, she was addressed by the name Kate. When she entered the races, she had people refer to her as Puck. Do you think having her name as Kate written on the blackboard is meaningful? (151) when Sean addresses her as Kate, she corrects him.

I think being able to hear what Puck/Sean was thinking allows a reader to make inferences of each character. I especially enjoyed the end where Stiefvater jumps back and forth between the two describing the races in great detail.