The Scorpio Races (2022 edition) by Maggie Stiefvater
A breathtaking novel set in the wilds of Ireland, from the bestselling author of Shiver, Linger and Forever. Stay alive, stay astride, stay out of the water... Every November, the Scorpio Races are run beneath the chalk cliffs of Skarmouth. Thousands gather to watch the horses and the sea that washes the blood from the sand. The mounts are capaill uisce: savage water horses. There are no horses more beautiful, more fearless, more deadly. To race them can be suicide but the danger is irresistible. Sean Kendrick knows the dangers of the capaill uisce. With one foot in the ocean and one on land, he is the only man on the island capable of taming the beasts. He races to prove something both to himself and to the horses. Puck Connolly enters the races to save her family. But the horse she rides is an ordinary little mare, just as Puck is an ordinary girl. When Sean sees Puck on the beach he doesn't think she belongs. He doesn't realize his fate will become entwined in hers. They both enter the Races hoping to change their lives. But first they'll have to survive. Romantic and steeped in legend Maggie Stiefvater is a master at writing both romance and heart-pounding action Her books have consistently debuted at #1 on the NYT bestseller list PRAISE FOR SCORPIO RACES If The Scorpio Races sounds like nothing you've ever read, that's because it is. The capaill uisce are exhilarating, frightening creations... Stiefvater has successfully plumbed lesser-known myths and written a complex literary thriller - New York Times The bestselling author of Shiver (2009) and Linger (2010) turns the legend of the water horse into a taut, chilling, romantic adventure. The water horses are breathtakingly well-imagined, glorious and untamably violent. The final race, with Sean and Puck each protecting each other but both determined to win, comes to a pitch-perfect conclusion. Masterful. Like nothing else out there now. - Kirkus Review