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A review by blacksphinx
The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao

mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

2.0

This is the second YA fantasy romance I've read recently that felt like an Adult novel with the protagonist aged down to 19 and the sex scenes made less explicit. The book ultimately irritated me. It felt like Zhao was trying to reheat The Serpent and the Wings of Night's nachos (down to little serpent/little scorpion).

Our protagonist has the "badass action girl" energy I associate with the genre, but she constantly fails and needs to be saved and assisted by men. I'm struggling to recall anything An'ying accomplished in the book that a man did not help her with, and I guess there's once where a woman protected her so she could escape. Riveting. An'ying especially keeps getting attacked and tortured by a guy her love interest wronged, and I hated it so much. This book also fits into a trope I can't stand - "the thing keeping the main couple apart is racism." The protagonist is racist against her love interest because
he's half-demon
, but she also saves and befriends several characters who
are a slightly different type of half-demon and has no problems with them.
Like??? It's so random, but it also serves to set up a love triangle... another trope I dislike. 

The author pulls out a lot of twists and reveals in the last 80% to try and raise the stakes, and it's the only reason I'd even consider reading the sequel. They're not unique, and I called most of them before they were revealed, but they complicated things in a way that could cause some fun drama in the next book. 
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