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A review by the_cover_contessa
The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.
Thank you to Delacorte Press for asking me to read and review this title. The opinions expressed here are my own.
First let me say how I'm really into the Asian lore I've been seeing in books these days. I don't know anything about most Asian lore so it's fun to read stories to learn. More often than not, though, I've been a bit disappointed with what was offered. I thought perhaps this book might solve that issue. I was not correct.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this title and ended up DNFing it at 30% in. I wanted to love it. I wanted to fall for the world and the characters and the story, but it just wasn't grabbing me and I found myself skimming passages and not paying attention to what I was reading.
The good:
The cover to this book is absolutely gorgeous. I would buy it just based on that.
The pacing was fairly fast, moving the characters from scene to scene.
The bad:
Nothing happened for me. I needed something to happen that was exciting. Something to draw me in and keep me there. It just wasn't happening. I didn't feel like picking up the book and falling back into the story.
The world building was lacking, as well. By 30% I should have had some idea of it, but it just wasn't there. And I didn't understand the magic system at all. Both things integral to building a unique fantasy and creating an interesting story.
The romance, I saw it building, but I really didn't feel any chemistry happening between the FMC and the MMC.
My biggest issue with the book was I was bored. I didn't care about the characters at all. It didn't matter to me if they lived or died, fell in love or didn't, got out of chaos or fell victim to it. I just didn't care. I hope others like it more than me.
First let me say how I'm really into the Asian lore I've been seeing in books these days. I don't know anything about most Asian lore so it's fun to read stories to learn. More often than not, though, I've been a bit disappointed with what was offered. I thought perhaps this book might solve that issue. I was not correct.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this title and ended up DNFing it at 30% in. I wanted to love it. I wanted to fall for the world and the characters and the story, but it just wasn't grabbing me and I found myself skimming passages and not paying attention to what I was reading.
The good:
The cover to this book is absolutely gorgeous. I would buy it just based on that.
The pacing was fairly fast, moving the characters from scene to scene.
The bad:
Nothing happened for me. I needed something to happen that was exciting. Something to draw me in and keep me there. It just wasn't happening. I didn't feel like picking up the book and falling back into the story.
The world building was lacking, as well. By 30% I should have had some idea of it, but it just wasn't there. And I didn't understand the magic system at all. Both things integral to building a unique fantasy and creating an interesting story.
The romance, I saw it building, but I really didn't feel any chemistry happening between the FMC and the MMC.
My biggest issue with the book was I was bored. I didn't care about the characters at all. It didn't matter to me if they lived or died, fell in love or didn't, got out of chaos or fell victim to it. I just didn't care. I hope others like it more than me.