3.5 ✬'s

Thank you NetGalley for providing an eARC of Amélie Wen Zhao's upcoming xianxia novel.
I absolutely loved this author's past xianxia duology, so I was immediately hyped when this one got announced. The Scorpion and the Night Blossom features Zhao's usual beautiful prose that provokes strong imagery and makes the reading experience very C-dramaesque. The world-building was lush and magical,.
Àn’yīng, the main character, started off strong and had me hooked until she started to disappoint as the story went on. I dislike how she was constantly rescued by the mmcs for someone who had so much potential on her own to exhibit her talents.
I absolutely despised the forced and unexpected love triangle that we're hit with later on. I think there were too many tropes thrown in here for the fun of it, sometimes the interactions didn't feel natural. I don't feel as connected to the romance aspect for this reason, but Yù’chén's charisma was outstanding.

I loved Amelie Wen Zhao’s Song of the Last Kingdom duology, and immediately jumped at the chance to read her next release! The Scorpion and the Night Blossom has all of her signature lyrical prose, immersive world building, and is full of mythology. I could not put this story down!

The plot is incredibly fast-paced with themes of love, acceptance, tolerance, choice, and rebellion. Àn’yīng is also the perfect MC . She’s determined, courageous, fierce, and grows so much during the course of the novel. I thought the other characters were also extremely well-developed, and everything about Yù’chén was swoon-worthy.

This story literally has it all - a war between immortals and demons (where humans suffer the consequences), trials, a murder mystery, an achingly sweet/heartbreaking romance, all the secrets, and so many twists - and is sure to appeal to a wide range of readers. I loved everything about it, and cannot wait to see how it concludes!

Thank you to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Random House for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 rounded up

Overall, this was a lovely romantasy with xianxia elements. I think AWZ has improved a lot with this offering, and especially the writing has matured a lot. The romance was believable and compelling in this book, without overriding the plot. I think it was also a great element to demonstrate our main character’s growth and learning over the course of the book. I still get grumpy that “practitioner” is used instead of “cultivator” for seemingly no reason in AWZ’s books, when the genre standard is otherwise.

My biggest gripe, which denied this book .5 stars, is the clunkiness of some of the writing. While the prose generally leans towards the flowery, every once in a while, it gets incredibly blunt and obvious bordering on an outline. It’s such a random switch to just telling you as the reader how the character feels or what she plans to do, and it pulls you out of the story like nothing else.

However, this book overall was quite fun to read, and leaves me wanting to know what happens next. I’ll be rooting on our main couple!

I really enjoyed this one. Thought it got better as it went along and the last 20% cemented my rating. I’m interested what will happen next. The writing was good and provided great imagery.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom drew me in with its stunning cover and intriguing title then proceeded to keep me hooked with lyrical prose carrying an entrancing plot.

I will be continuing with this series and can not wait to recommend this book in the store I work at.

I rated this book 4.5 stars and rounded up to 5 stars.

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom is about Àn’yīng competing in the Immortality Trials to find a cure for her mother and save her kingdom from the demon army that invaded.

The conflict and longing between Àn’yīng and Yù’chén is well written and realistic. There were points where I had to put the book down to cry, laugh, or swoon. The supporting characters were wonderful additions to the story and I hope to see more of them in the second book. The nature of the competition leads to not having many close allies so it is understandable that the supporting characters are not heavily involved in Àn’yīng's story.

I thoroughly loved The Scorpion and the Night Blossom and cannot wait for the sequel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was fun! Clearly inspired by c-dramas (which the author acknowledges), and I am extremely here for it: a mysterious and coldly competent MMC with a soft spot for the FMC, the good-hearted and scrappy FMC, the villain with a vendetta against the FMC, and cliffhanger identity revelations at the end. This had immortals and trials with life-or-death stakes; the latter I’m into, the former not as much.

I would have enjoyed this more if the romance hadn’t been so insta-lovey on the MMC’s side, if the FMC hadn’t flip-flopped so much on her feelings for the MMC, and if we’d gotten to know the secondary characters better.

I was honestly a little hesitant in requesting this book because I ended up DNFing the first book I read by this author but I really, really wanted to love this. The cover is absolutely stunning and the summary sounds SO good so I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.

Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad book AT ALL, I just don’t think I mesh well with this authors writing style. I do 100% think this will be a widely loved book in the YA fantasy genre, it just wasn’t for me.

Another banger from Amelie Wen Zhao. I enjoy her writing style and as a fan of her previous series "The Last Kingdom" I had high hopes for this. It definitely read like a c-drama and I am a sucker for trials and contests.

AWZ seems to write male roles better than female roles, and it shows a bit here, so I am hoping in the next book our FMC will get a bit more depth and backbone.

Overall, a good start to a new series.

This was really fun! I will definitely be reading the next one. I liked the FMC a lot, but I could have done with less males saving her. I love a strong FMC who can save herself more consistently. I love a good competition/trials plot so that part was fun for me. I loved the Asian-inspired world building and could definitely visualize it while reading.

A fast paced dark fantasy read full of angst, plot twists, swoon worthy romance and much more that made this an enjoyable read.
In a world filled with demons we follow our main character An'ying as she decides to enter a trial that will help save her mother. But in a world full of danger this is only the beginning.
Phenomenal world building, trial elements, courtly intrigue, romance that will leave you breathless!
Looking forward to the next book.

I pre-ordered this book the moment it was up. Not only is the cover and name absolutely stunning, but so are the words that flow between the pages. This book literally has everything: lore/mythology, fantasy, slow build romance, choices and war.

Absolutely anything this author writes has been autobuy for me from day one.

I'm end this the way I originally thought to review this book: omg this book is everything.

I devoured this fantasy book! It was so interesting and I read it so fast after I started it. I highly recommend!

Thank you Random House Children's Delacourt Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
From the very first page to the very last, Amélie Wen Zhao kept me captivated with Àn’yīng's story. I've never read a book like this, and I look forward to reading the next book in this duology.

Thank you NetGalley & Random House for the eARC!

This was a good last read for the year and my first dive into Chinese mythology! I loved the imagery throughout the book and enjoyed all of the characters. The ending took me by complete surprise! The Scorpion and the Night Blossom gave me The Cruel Prince vibes and I’m here for it.

Sadly, this was a DNF for me. I’m sure others will love this more than I did but I just couldn’t get into the writing. I wasn’t a fan of the characters. It just feels like it was something I’ve read before. I just wasn’t brought into the story like I would have hoped. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom has exquisite world-building that will immerse you entirely into the world of the three realms! I greatly enjoyed following An Ying on her journey through the Immortality Trials, and look forward to finding out how things will unfold in Book 2! Highly recommend for fans of the xianxia genre and historical fantasy C-dramas.

I absolutely ADORE Zhao’s writing. Truly, anything she writes I will read and I am so thankful to have been able to read this arc. This books is filled with amazing world building, a spectacular plot line and the character development is *cheffs kiss” I will absolutely be re-reading when it is published! :)

First and foremost, I received an arc from NetGalley. (Thank you!)

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom is full of action and some interesting characters. I enjoyed it for what it is. It’s fantasy with action, games and trials.

I received an eARC of The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao from NetGalley.

Àn’yīng and her sister have had their lives torn apart due to the ongoing war between The Kingdom of Night, where demonic creatures known as the mó hail from, and the Kingdom of Rivers where Àn’yīng and her sister reside with their dying mother. Their father died in this war and Àn’yīng’s mother was barely saved from death but now suffers an almost constant catatonic state. Àn’yīng decides to enter a tournament (called the Immortal Trials) with the Immortals in hopes for the immortal pill which is granted to the winner that will return her mother to her lucid state. Along the way, Àn’yīng forges unlikely alliances and discovers startling truths about herself and truths that could change the tide of the ongoing war.

This book was superb, and somewhere around 40% I blinked and was at 75%. I stayed up the rest of the night to finish it because I couldn’t possibly stop where I was in the story. The mó being reminiscent of vampires was intriguing for me. I loved Àn’yīng relationship with the friends she made during the Immortal Trials and some of the twist of some of the other relationships. I found the story fast pace, and our main character Àn’yīng complex; meaning she has a rigid viewpoint about some things in the beginning but as the story progresses so does she.

Thank You NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the eARC of The Scorpion and Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao. This book was addicting and suspenseful, and I can’t wait for the second part of this book in this duology to be released. 5/5 stars.