I think this is a duology because it wrapped up nicely. It picks up right where it left off in book one. We follow Jemma, Lady, Pico and Grease in the Dead Lands with the old guys where they learned more about the man who saved them and how he worked on the Long Life Machine.

We also follow the leaders of Holy Wood, the Kingdom and the Biter territory. There is an all out war that the Little Man leads against Jemma because he is jealous of her powerful bond with the Haze. She finally gets to roll with someone and she has to go head to head with Charlie.

This could have been shortened and the big battle could have been a third book and the ending with all the characters trying to live without the Haze and The End dictating their every move.

Again Jeff Sweat knocks it out of the park. I waited 2 years for the sequel to Mayfly, Jeff's debut dystopian set in a bleak future where no one lives beyond the age of 17. Of course, that isn't quite as true as the kids thought.

Scorpion picks up right where Mayfly left off, with Jemma and the gang recovering with the "Old Guys" after their escape from Night Mountain. The kids want to stop The End, and the Old Guys hold the answers. But there are, of course, twists, obstacles, and danger around each corner. Jemma, Pico, Grease, and Lady are all they have, their own tribe of Mayflies, trying to survive in a world set on the precipice of combustion.

The world-building is, again, the strength of the book. The world of Ell Aye and beyond, as the kids travel further out and further into the world they thought they knew, is large and detailed. The reader learns more about the time before "The End" along with the kids, and the reader is sucked right in. Some of the things the reader learned in book 1 are flipped on their head, others are built upon, but no matter what page your on, you are glued to the story.

Action-driven, fast-paced, and a little dangerous, Scorpion leads to a whammy of an ending, one that I found very satisfying. I could read more and more about this world, but the book leaves on a hopeful note (and that's all I can say about that). Jemma continues to be a kick-ass heroine, with her gang of indispensable companions. Following along besides the Mayflies, you yearn for them to triumph and, more than that, thrive.

If you are looking for a satisfying sci-fi duology, Mayfly and Scorpion by Jeff Sweat are necessary reads. Fans of Neal Shusterman and Suzanne Collins will enjoy the heck out of these books!

This was quite an interesting read that has you gain curiosity for the direction that Jeff Sweat's vision for Southern California in a near future. This portrayal of an imminent future future was well within the realm of possibility and the paired narrative makes you really sympathize with this great cast of characters. I'll certainly have to check out the first book though to get further reference!

3.5 stars

A couple of years ago, I reviewed the first book in this duology and, while I wasn’t blown away by it, I enjoyed the premise, that all over the age of seventeen face certain death. I thought the author handled this new existence well other than giving readers a fairly skimpy worldbuilding and I never did understand why the teens would want to bring babies into this world, knowing that will die, in turn, at an all too early age.

In Scorpion, I have the same concerns although I think the worldbuilding is a little more complex and our small group of teens who went in search of answers have discovered that the automatic deaths of all adults isn’t quite true. The Old Guys have survived but they’ve done so partially by isolating themselves and, even after Jemma and her friends discover them, they are very reluctant to engage with the kids in any meaningful way. While war looms among the children’s tribes, the Old Guys continue to distance themselves. Could it be that these are the people who unleashed hell on the planet in the first place?

In some ways, this second book is better than the first, at least in the sense of being more developed in worldbuilding and plot, but I’m still thinking about whether or not the ending fully satisfied me. Perhaps Mr. Sweat will change his mind and turn this into a trilogy 🙂

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, July 2020.

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc from the publisher for Rockstar Book Tours! Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Scoprion

Author: Jeff Sweat

Book Series: Mayfly Book 2

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: dystopian, sci-fi, apocalypse.

Publication Date: June 23, 2020

Genre: YA Dystopian

Recommended Age: 16+ (language, nudity/sexual content, drugs, violence, death)

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Pages: 432

Synopsis: In Scorpion, the sequel to Jeff Sweat's YA futuristic thriller Mayfly, Jemma, Lady, and Pico all left the Holy Wood to seek answers to the End, and when they find the Old Guys--the only adults to have survived the original wipeout of everyone over the age of seventeen--they think they've found help at last.



But there's a lot the Old Guys aren't telling them. In fact, some of them don't seem interested in solving the End at all and just want Jemma and her friends to leave. Meanwhile, war is brewing among the tribes of the rest of the Children. Jemma's old home has fallen into disorder, and is far from prepared for battle. It won't be long before the fighting reaches Jemma and the Old Guys, if they even live to see it.

Review: Overall, I liked this book. The world building continued to be well done as well as the character development. I liked seeing our main character continuing growing and I thought the author built upon them well/ The book also had better pacing overall.

However, I did think this book got a bit wonky. Things took a sharp right turn about halfway through and it kinda threw me for a loop. The book also had some clunky fighting scenes that were a bit hard to get through.

Verdict: Overall, a well done ending to this duology.