what if horses knew about truelove??????

i have just finished my (unknown number) reread of the scorpio races.....and i once again have severe psionic damage. here are all the things that stuck out to me on this particular occasion

• i felt very aware of this book's (minor imo) flaws this time around, i.e. a handful of moments/pieces of dialogue that felt like they were written with the intention of seeming snarky/funny but ultimately fall flat and feel out of place or awkward. puck's comments about vinegar or whatever come to mind in particular
• george holly jumped out at me soooo much on this reread!! i have always loved his character but i think i never noticed how genuinely kind he was beneath all the wit before. i love all the times he forces sean to face his own feelings. whats better than this: "don't say hmmm to me, mr holly. you cant come in here with your red hat and those shoes and play the wise man. / "yes, says the man wearing no shoes at all."
• PEG GRATTION AND GABRIEL ARE HAVING AN AFFAIR? i am so stunned i never parsed this out until now...their interactions always made me ? previously but i never thought it through all the way. it finally hit me when puck sees gabe standing right up behind peg in the kitchen talking to her quietly, and then later in that scene when she gets up to go get gabe from the kitchen but tommy falk jumps up anxiously to do it himself, all this occurring just under the nose of beech gratton.
• benjamin malvern is such a perfect villain. like he's not even evil he is just kind of unsympathetic. the line thats like I know Benjamin Malvern wants to be entertained, and that few things manage it. drunk on power ass bitch
• i also never noticed that gabe was roughly 24 years old...theres a single line about him being 6 years older than puck near the end of the book, and puck is 18ish. i always assumed he was like 19 or 20 for some reason, but i actually like that he is older. this also means finn is 16 since he was old enough to place a bet, which makes his melodramatic personality 10x funnier.
• i guess i also never put together how morbid and sad tommy falk's death/funeral is...he was meant to go to the mainland with gabriel and beech like 2 days after he died :( and also sean/puck first kiss being right after his funeral is sooo *&^%$# ok freaks 
• apparently the race colors puck ends up with being peg gratton's scorpio festival cape escaped me completely
• I AM SO HOESMAD THAT I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHO THE MARE GODDESS AT THE FESTIVAL IS!!!!!!! REVEAL YOUR SECRETS.
• every day i wonder if corr is the horse painted in the cave on the other side of thisby