4.25/5
Great Chinese mythology based fantasy. I enjoyed the world and the different kingdoms with different species. The main character comes off a little annoying but I love her drive and the compassion she has throughout the story. The side characters with their brief interactions help round out the story. Now for the love interest he's the stereotypical morally gray and I love it. I found the story at times pretty slow but once she gets to the immortal kingdom it starts to pick up a bit. Overall can't wait for book 2!
Thank you NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read this book!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with this review copy. All opinions are honest and my own.

4/5

We know I can't resist an east asian inspired fantasy, and it doesn't hurt that I already adore this author's writing. Similar to her previous book, <Song of Silver Flame Like Night>, this one also explores (heavy-handedly) themes of racism, family, and duty in an imagined world of high stakes. I don't care for the way these themes were presented, but it's fine. The plot isn't completely innovative - a girl participates in magical trials to gain a prize, and there's an "enemy" love interest, and everyone has secrets. Sound familiar? But MAN was this fun. It's fast paced, punchy, and three dimensional. The story flowed well with a good sized cast of characters to create a believable world but not get lost in it; the romance felt natural and sparkled with tension. And above all, this was profoundly bingeable, which is my preferred way of consuming fantasy novels. Major eye roll at the love triangle, but I'm in a forgiving mood. Can't wait for the second book.

The start of a new trilogy, the Scorpion and the Night Blossom introduces us to a world rife with conflict. The immortal realm stands apart from the mortal realm, but both have a common enemy, the demonic mó who are determined to elevate the Kingdom of Night to rule over as much as they can.

In the mortal lands, Àn’yīng and her family live in the Kingdom of Rivers. 9 years ago their realm was devasted by the war between the Kingdom of Rivers and the Kingdom of Night. Determined to do whatever she can to help her family, Àn’yīng plans to face the immortality trials. Her aim is the prize of an immortal tear for her mother, but ultimately to gain more skills to help her family and follow in her father's footsteps.

I really enjoyed this one. There's fun dialogue and solid relationships as I've come to expect from this author. The romantic characters always have great banter and there are some lovely friendships in the story. I really enjoy that Àn’yīng is feisty and loves her crescent blades so much. The creatures, mythology, and general world building in this story is really intriguing and I look forward to seeing what comes next as we spend more time in this world. There was a little more focus on the romance that I was expecting, but it definitely fits with the story.

The Trials/competition aspect was well done and created some interesting conflicts. I enjoyed seeing the Immortal world and how the mortals and immortals treat each other. Some of the other things I really loved about this book I can't really mention without spoiling a lot of things, but let's just say I really enjoyed how things played out. I was able to guess at many truths along the way but I still enjoyed the reveals and am ready for whatever comes next.

This is the third series and 6th book I've read by this author. There's some similar vibes to her previous book weaving in her Chinese culture, stories and mythology, but definitely a darker tone to some of the things which I enjoyed.

Strongly recommend!

Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and War
Minor: Sexual content

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this, but the writing style is too…I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s not for me. It feels like how you would give directions, not necessarily how you tell a story.

Àn’yīng becomes the breadwinner of her family after her father was killed by a soul-sucking demon. With her mother bedridden after the incident and her younger sister taking care of the house, she looked after her mother’s ailments by harvesting light lotuses that are rich with life energy, but with demons roaming around in their village, it was an arduous task.
The lotus would only help for a certain period so she decided to take part in the immortality trials where one could get an immortality pill from the Eight Immortals if they passed the trial.

Àn’yīng and Yù’chén met right before the trials began. She was the damsel in distress with Yù’chén playing her white knight couple of times. They were allies before learning he was a demon halfling, who are forbidden to exist in the Kingdom of River. Although she keeps her distance from him, Yù’chén has her back throughout the trials.

Àn’yīng and Yù’chén’s relationship was very different from previous AWZ’s works, but I enjoyed reading the complexity of it. Àn’yīng was wary of Yù’chén after learning about his halfling status. He came from the line of demons that killed her father and made her mother sick. Although she had no problem being amicable towards other (non-demonic) halflings, she couldn’t overlook his DNA. Their dynamic was strained, yet they looked after each other. It was complicated but one that played out in an interesting way in the climax.

While the trials were the main reason for Àn’yīng to enter the Kingdom of Sky, she also had other motives. Her father had left a note, which she found right before the trials, asking her to seek someone in the Sky realm. Although she doesn’t have much clues to help her, this note propelled her to win the trials.

After having read the book, that secret mission had too many unpredictable turns waiting for Àn’yīng.

Although Àn’yīng was not prepared for the trials as her peers, she was trained from childhood by her father. He was once trained in the Kingdom of Sky and part of his skills were taught to Àn’yīng.

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom is out in stores now. If you are fan of the following tropes and enjoy Xianxia dramaesque novels, you should check out this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, TBR Beyond and Tours and the publisher for the DRC of the book!

I love a good fantasy novel and have read some excellent YAs. This, this just didn't quite do it for me.

What I liked:

The FMC.

What I didn't like:

The writing style. It was fast paced (which wasn't horrible), but the prose was, well, let's just say I wasn't a huge fan.

The fantasy elements were there, but it wasn't anything new or not done in other fantasy novels. And the romance- I'm not a fan of love triangles so I'm not sure how this is going to turn out going forward in the series.

All in all, it was okay.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this story overall.

I loved the Chinese culture and mythology woven into the story as well as the names of the characters. The plot was dramatic in its flow. I struggled to stay attached to the story in sections, and other sections were so engaging that I struggled to put the book down to do adulty things like work and sleep.

I received this ARC thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.25 stars

A dark romantasy inspired by Chinese folklore and mythology. This story is devastatingly beautiful. I am slightly hesitant with continuing this series, because if it is anything like the “Song of the Last Kingdom” duology, I am just asking for a heartbreak. However, despite the foreboding feeling, the story is beautifully written. The worldbuilding is vivid and immerse. The plot is fast pace, riddled with secrets and high stakes. The trials are captivating, pushing the limits of a person’s physical and the mental state, and the main characters are incredibly layered. I love how the author explores the theme of humanity, prejudice, and acceptance through these characters. However, I did wish the side characters had just a little bit more depth, which I hope to see in the sequel. As for romance, it was filled with delicious tension, a good balance of tender and angsty moments, and tragic foreshadowing.

Overall, “The Scorpion and the Night Blossom” was an incredible start to a new series. I am curious to see where the story goes and the relationships between the characters.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

★ ★ ★ ★
Length: 400p
Source: ARC - TBR & Beyond, Delecorte Press
Release Date: March 4, 2025

Can we first and foremost just GUSH over the cover?! I am LOVING these feminine, floral covers!

In a world where immortals fought demons and humanity was abandoned, a young girl enters the Immortality Trials to save her mother.

Àn-Yīng was a well flushed out character and I really loved her—spunk. She was such a fun character to read about! The romance was quick but I honestly REALLY enjoyed it.

What surprised me was I thought this would be more nail-biting and nerve-wracking but it felt almost—cozy? I definitely didn’t dislike it…it just wasn’t what I was expecting. It was also WAY more ya than I was anticipating in the romance.

I am, however, looking forward to listening to this one and I can’t wait for the second book, since this is a duology!!!

♡ ya fantasy
♥ immortals x demons x humans
♡ he falls first & harder
♥ forbidden love
♡ rivals to lovers
♥ Chinese mythology

{I was gifted a complimentary copy of this book. All reviews are my own.}

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom is the first novel in the Three Realms duology. The story follows Àn’yīng whose family suffered a lot nine years ago during the war between the Kingdom of Night and the Kingdom of the Rivers leaving her mother barely alive and a baby sister to care for. She decides to enter the Immortality Trials where the survivors can gain the pill of eternal life. There is a lot of world-building, and it was easy to become immersed in this universe. As a character, Àn’yīng, was interesting, but needed a little more depth, which could come together in the second novel. She was likeable towards the beginning of the novel, but slightly lost that trait the more the story moved forward.

Yù’chén is a rival contestant and a potential love interest. There is also the handsome Hào’yáng who helps Àn’yīng. Based on the first impressions of each love interest where one is pure human and the other is not, it did not come across the right way, for me, in some places. It could just be how I read it, but there were some moments where it came across with some racist tones. I think some reworking of how each of them was introduced to the reader could have softened this initial impression. The actual romance is pretty obvious about how it will move forward, so I did enjoy that it wasn’t a huge love triangle focus. The beginning of the story starts off very strong where it draws the reader in, however, it does slow down a lot in the middle before picking up towards the end. I prefer having a little more quicker pacing in the first novel in a duology, so I wish it picked up a little in the middle. Overall, this story has a lot of potential where I am not quite sure about it yet, but I am interested enough to read the final novel in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Penguin Random House, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

This book is nuanced and just so well written - and I did not see any of the plot twist coming? I loved the Chinese folklore that comes through in this story as well as the idea of the three realms - demons, humans, and immortals. I adored this book and am so excited to get my beautiful Fairyloot edition!
I read some reviews that compare the book heavily to other deadly trials, but I think this book stands so well on its own. I’m so excited for the next book to close out this duology. Also I rank books based on how much I feel while reading and this was a good one!
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyage UK for an electronic copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

Valentine's Day 2025 #3

Hold me accountable. No more East Asian fantasies, no matter how good they look. I cannot be trusted. They cannot be trusted. No one can be trusted.

The nights have been longer and more beautiful since their world began to bleed into ours. -- This is just another mythology lite where the immortal world bleeds into the mortal. There's a bit of forbidden love. There's a tiny love triangle.

I swapped needles for knives -- We've got our wannabe assassin. So strong! A strong, female character! *rolls eyes*

black hair that falls like a living shadow down his back. Skin that looks sculpted -- We've got a baddie I'm ready to fall in love with. He's my type. He's your type. He's everyone's type. But don't worry. He's boring. She's boring. This whole book is boring.

My name, Àn'yīng, is an uncommon one, meaning "cherry blossom in the dark." -- That was so cliché, I just choked. Unfortunately, I didn't die. Please kill me?

skin pale as milk, hair the black of a raven's wing, lips red as blood -- Snow White called. Don't know what she wants. Don't care.

His hair, billowing like swirls of ink; his eyes, flashing golden like embers in the sun -- James Herondale called

sometimes the mind doesn't know what the heart wants -- While this is true, at this moment in time, I wanted the book to be over.

He is impossibly fast and steady. -- Twilight called

I am doing the exact opposite of what my parents and all mortal stories warned me of when I was a little girl: following a demon through the dark of the woods in the night. -- Do it. I'd do it. He's hot.

"You have poisoned me, little scorpion, and I would gladly let you do it over and over and over again." -- I just threw up a little

I know immortals cannot die -- No shit?

🥃 Take a shot every time green eyes are mentioned. I think it was only twice, but twice is too times too many. I will take more shots than this. I think I deserve them.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press

This was an excellent romantasy read! I was immediately pulled into the story and didn’t want to put this book down. I loved the overall storyline as well as the characters. This book was fast paced and had a lot packed into it, making it an engaging read. I can’t wait for the next book, especially with how this one ended.

Read this if you like:

📖 He falls first
📖 Deadly trials
📖 Forbidden love
📖 Touch her and die
📖 Chinese mythology

Thank you Delecorte Press for the gifted copy.

This book was fantastic. It’s a dark Chinese fantasy with soul-drinking demons, magic, a deadly competition, and a strong heroine who will do whatever it takes to save her mother’s life. Àn’yīng has been training for the last nine years to be able to enter the Immortality Trials in order to win a pill of eternal life to save her mother who was attacked by a demon. She meets Yù’chén, a handsome and powerful rival contestant and they become reluctant allies to help each other through the trials. There is so much yearning and tension in their relationship, that you never know if they’re enemies, allies, or lovers, and I absolutely ate it up. Yù’chén is perfect. He’s morally grey, secretive, protective, and has a cute nickname for Àn’yīng. This book is beautifully written. It’s filled with Chinese folklore and mythology, fighting and danger, the love between family members, and a slow burn forbidden romance that will leave you wanting more. I highly recommend it!
🦂
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🦂
Read if you like:
▫️demons and immortals
▫️reluctant allies
▫️forbidden love
▫️deadly competition
🦂
Thank you to Delacorte Press, Get Underlined, Random House Children’s, Amelie Wen Zhao, and NetGalley for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

✨ARC REVIEW✨

🍃🌸The Scorpion And The Night Blossom🦂

5 ⭐️ 1🌶️

“Should I be the monster you want to see?”

I need to vent I finished this book last night and I can’t stop thinking about it 😮‍💨 it was THAT GOOD!!!!

I think it might be one of my best reads of the year.

Àn’yĩng is a mortal trying to survive a demon invasion in her kingdom, her father was killed by one of them and her mom was left in a half dead. So she decides to enter a tournament in The Temple of Dawn in an Immortal kingdom. The winner will be given the pill of immortality, it will help her heal her mother. Along the way she meets the mysterious Yù’chén who is going to the same tournament that will make her question all her believes. This journey will also reveal hidden secrets about her father that will change her life forever.

I loved the setting in this story it was so mesmerizing full of asian folklore. Through out the book we were taken to different locations and the descriptions were so vivid that I felt my self very submerged in the story.

What made the story so interesting was the romance it was such a slow burn and it had so much angst. Yù’Chén was my favorite character his wittiness won me plus he kept putting out with Àn’Yĩng attitude, no matter what she threw at him he kept coming back and was always there to help her. He was just so perfect, this guy just wanted l to be loved 🥹💔

But then the ending happened😭 and I don’t know what to do with myself anymore I feel so betrayed. The plot twist was so much more of what I was expecting. Perfect enemies to lovers.

I need book two now😩

I’ve read every book Amelie Wen Zhao has published and have loved them all.

But there’s something special about The Scorpion and the Night Blossom.

The opening of the book grabbed my attention immediately. I also felt like Àn’yīng was relatable, and her goals were crystal clear. There were also obvious obstacles ahead of her, and I was eager to see how she would overcome them and achieve her goal.

Wen Zhao does an exceptional job of providing the lush descriptions and insights I’ve come to associate with her works while moving the plot forward at a brisk pace. She uses action and conflict to build the world and establish its rules so we understand Àn’yīng’s internal conflict and the reasons for the decisions she makes along the way.

One of the things I really appreciated was Àn’yīng’s self doubt about her experience. Memory is a fleeting thing and when you’re experiencing unusual events in places that are different, it can be easy to doubt yourself. Àn’yīng must work through her self doubts and confront old wounds on her journey as she decides who to trust and how to feel about some of the people she encounters.

I don’t want to risk giving any spoilers away, but this story was incredible. It moved in interesting and unexpected directions and my heart broke for some of the characters we spend time with. The ending was shocking and perfect, and definitely left me wanting more of Àn’yīng’s story. At the same time, it provided an excellent resolution to this book. It definitely had me all up in my feelings.

I received a review copy of this book, but I also purchased one of the beautiful sprayed edges editions.

This book has lots of twists and turns that you don't see coming. We learn that people don't have to be all bad just because of who/what they are. Cliffhanger ending.

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom evokes the well-known classic wuxia tales of a quest to defeat evil, falling in love with a mythical foe, and learning the value of family and honor in a world so rich in culture. The story centers on Àn’yīng, a villager whose family was destroyed by a powerful demon who killed her father and rendered her mother unconscious before the novel was written. Since then, she has spent the last nine years diligently training with weapons and manuals left by her deceased father in order to pass the terrible and perilous Immortality Trials and join the celestial army. But as she makes her way through the challenges, she comes to the realization that there are more evil things to deal with, like the secrets behind her protective amulet and the sweet and tenacious boy who has an equally intriguing background and helps her through the trials.

This is my first Amélie Wen Zhao novel, and I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with the story she tells; it's relatively fast-paced for the number of chapters, sharp-witted, and concise in its storytelling, without sacrificing the important elements that build to its climax. Zhao's greatest achievement in writing this book is the deft use of foreshadowing, which is crucial to developing a plot twist in a high-stakes tale. The book contains exquisite clues, some of which may be slightly off-kilter and require a second glance to identify, yet they remain valuable in establishing the connections between each character arc. The unexpected second adversary, who I initially believed to be a simple-minded and antagonistic character who only exists to bully the main characters and then die a horrible death, is perhaps my favorite revelation. It illustrates how important their roles are behind the scenes and how readers could have missed it so greatly, which is why the invasion trope appears so neat, effective, and unquestionably has the upper hand at the end of the book.

The influence of Chinese culture is not lost; it can be found throughout the narrative, from the usage of nicknames and labels to terminology that can only be utilized if the author is well-versed in their own culture in order to construct the appropriate idioms in their fictitious universe. Zhao places a strong emphasis on providing culturally specific meanings to each name, which she directly connects to the characters' births and personalities, the setting, or the origins of some of the locations that are mentioned in the narrative. Zhao's worldbuilding is one of the examples that support my belief that Asian-inspired fantasy worlds will be more fascinating and relatable at the same time than the others, even though I won't say that white-authored fantasy universes are weak (some are complex enough with their establishment of rules).

Let’s talk about the main characters. Àn’yīng is a representation of a well-written, strong female character: tough, stubborn, sometimes selfish, yet never shunning feminine aspects to be beneath her pride and acknowledging that strength comes from many different angles. Although it is minor, she occasionally exhibits racism and xenophobia, which are viewpoints that are shaped by potential fear-mongering strategies about "the others" (non-humans) that are used in her own country. She starts to really understand and let go of her wrong judgments, as shown by her constant reminder that every life with a beating heart deserves to survive.

Then there's Yù’chén, the morally gray character who serves as the love interest in the star-crossed romance Zhao plans to create. His personality is different from what I would have expected from a masculine character of his caliber, who struggles to accept his fate while attempting to alter it. He never attempts to present himself as the mysterious guy with a secret dark past; he's pretty much straightforward about his being and intentions, coming off as someone who has nothing to lose even if his secret is revealed to the world. At the same time, he comes across as a gentle person—this is the biggest turning point in his characterization, which is trying hard to be a good person throughout the story, so when the revelation arrives, it's truly devastating because it appears to undo everything he wants to change for the better.

However, supporting characters—aside from the Royal Guard Hào’yáng—have brief appearances in the book; they serve only as a continuation of Àn’yīng's constantly developing dynamic and serve as models for how to remain fair and compassionate when recognizing the differences between mythical races. Although I acknowledge Hào’yáng's more covert role in Àn’yīng's survival, I have not yet developed an opinion about him personally. This opinion is based on my continued mistrust of his actual motivation; therefore, I'm interested to see how Zhao develops his character more in the upcoming book.

As I previously mentioned, the romance between Àn’yīng and Yù’chén could be interpreted as a tumultuous journey, transitioning from adversaries to reluctant allies, and ultimately becoming doomed lovers due to their divergent positions in the war. Zhao's portrayal of their love affair is exceptionally well-written, captivating readers with a sense of anticipation and frustration as they slowly develop their relationship, testing each other's trust and empathy. At times, I harbored strong hopes that they would manage to escape the cliché before chaos erupted. The conclusion's twist adds even more complexity; I expect that not all readers will agree with the abrupt change, but I think it's a perfectly reasonable conclusion because politics always plays a role in conflicts that compel us to do things we don't want to, even for romantic reasons.

All things considered, this new romance-fantasy novel by Amélie Wen Zhao has really impressed me. It's a beautiful tale that strikes a balance between warfare, mystery, honor, romance, and action. Please purchase The Scorpion and the Night Blossom and read it for yourself; I think it will be well received by Zhao's devoted readers as well as lovers of the romantasy genre in general.

I was first drawn to this book because of its premise. Anying joins deadly trials for a pill to save her mother. And there’s demons and immortal beings involved. AND there’s a mysterious guy, Yuchen, helping her. But why? 👀

I loved how the plot developed. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding many of the characters, which led to so many twists. Literally sooo many twists. The plot was very fast-paced. I don’t think Anying had many moments of peace throughout the book. She was always going through something crazy 😭

Anying was a great MC. She made mistakes and was somewhat impulsive at times, but I loved how dedicated she was to her family. Her motivation and determination were admirable. Yuchen, for the most part, was a mystery. Info about him was slowly revealed as the story went on, which only made him more intriguing. The romance was… cute?? I can’t say much about it without spoilers, but I enjoyed how it progressed.

The author herself says this book is for the c-drama girlies, and I completely agree! The premise, the world, the characters, and the storyline–everything reminds of c-dramas. And it helped me imagine the scenes more vividly. It somehow also made the story a bit predictable for me; I think I’ve just watched too many c-dramas 😅

Overall, this was a great read, and I can’t wait for the sequel! I have lots of theories, and I’m excited to see where the story goes!!

In this YA romantasy, Àn’yīng decides to enter the immortality trials. Those who survive the trials are granted one immortality pill, and she is determined to get one to save her mother who has been suffering for years after being attacked by a demon, or mó. Soon, Àn’yīng discovers that a rival, Yù’chén, has been helping her in the trials. But he may be more dangerous than she knows.

I really liked the world building and magic system in this book. The whole concept of the immortals, demons, and immortality trials was really intriguing, but this one fell a little flat for me. The pacing of the book was a little bit all over the place. I was a little disappointed that Àn’yīng was supposed to be strong, but continually needed help from male characters to survive. The last bit of the book definitely picked up the pace and reignited my interest, so I'm intrigued to see where things will go in the next book in this series.

Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the advance copy!