The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by. Amélie Wen Zhao | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: The Scorpion and the Night Blossom (The Three Realms Duology, #1)

Author: Amélie Wen Zhao

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: 3/4/25

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Chinese Mythology

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Delacorte Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

n a world invaded by demons, one girl will face the ultimate test when she is forced to enter into an ancient, deadly competition for the chance to save her mother’s soul… before she loses her forever. From the New York Times bestselling author of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night comes the beginning of a dark and opulent fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Throne of Glass.

Nine years ago, the war between the Kingdom of Night and the Kingdom of Rivers tore Àn’yīng’s family apart, leaving her mother barely alive and a baby sister to fend for. Now the mortal realm is falling into eternal night, and mó—beautiful, ravenous demons—roam the land, feasting on the flesh of humans and drinking their souls.

Àn’yīng is no longer a helpless child, though. Armed with her crescent blades and trained in the ancient art of practitioning, she has decided to enter the Immortality Trials, which are open to any mortal who can survive the journey to the immortal realm. Those who complete the Trials are granted a pill of eternal life—the one thing Àn’yīng knows can heal her dying mother. But to attain the prize, she must survive the competition.

Death is common in the Trials. Yet oddly, Àn’yīng finds that someone is helping her stay alive. A rival contestant. Powerful and handsome, Yù’chén is as secretive about his past as he is about his motives for protecting Àn’yīng.

The longer she survives the Trials, the clearer it becomes that all is not right in the immortal realm. To save her mother and herself, Àn’yīng will need to figure out whether she can truly trust the stranger she’s falling for or if he’s the most dangerous player of all . . . for herself and for all the realms.

Content Warning: violence, death

+ This author is becoming a must-read for me. I love her last series and now this one has started off amazingly. The world-building sucked me in! I love the magic, and martial arts.

+ Àn’yīng has been through some trauma at the hands of the Kingdom of Night which is run by mó (demons). She’s the caretaker for her family now that her father is gone, and to save her mother she takes part in the Immortal Trials in order to win the pill of immortality for her. But it’s a challenge to pass the trials when her competition wants her dead.

+ Àn’yīng meets someone on her way to the trials and the enemies to lovers trope going on between them is so good. Yu’chén is powerful, gorgeous, and gets on her nerves. To make it worse she finds out he is half mó. Àn’yīng hates demons because a demon killed her father and harmed her mother, so she’s warring with her feelings about Yu’chén throughout the whole book. The spice is mild but the angst and tension between them is intense. I loved it from beginning to end. I am rooting for them.

+ The trials taking place gives us more insight into the Immortals and the history of the war going on between the kingdoms. I love the twist and reveal at the ending of the book and it makes me very curious to see what will happen next.

~ The romance seems doomed as things play out but please I hope this does not become a love-triangle. I’m vested in Àn’yīng and Yu’chén, I love the two of them together, but with the way this book ended, it makes me curious as to another character who has gotten close to Àn’yīng.

~ Would love to see some growth with Àn’yīng. I could see why she was angry and distrustful, because of her trauma, but she was always kind of weak in the competition compared to everyone else. With what is revealed at the end, I wonder if she gets stronger when it comes to magical powers? I do love her fighting skills.

Final Thoughts:

I loved this book and read it in two days. I was hooked with the world-building, the murder mystery, and the tension-filled romance. This was a quick, entertaining read with some twists and I am excited to see what happens in the next book. I have watched K-drama but never C-drama, but as I read this, I could see this being a drama show I would totally watch just to see Yu’chén come to life! Loved it and can’t wait for book two.