The Scorpion Rules - Erin Bow

The world is at peace, said the Utterances. And really, if the odd princess has a hard day, is that too much to ask?Greta is a duchess and crown princessand a hostage to peace. This is how the game is played: if you want to rule, you must give one of your children as a hostage. Go to war and your hostage dies.Greta will be free if she can survive until her eighteenth birthday. Until then she lives in the Precepture school with the daughters and sons of the worlds leaders. Like them, she is taught to obey the machines that control their lives. Like them, she is prepared to die with dignity, if she must. But everything changes when a new hostage arrives. Elián is a boy who refuses to play by the rules, a boy who defies everything Greta has ever been taught. And he opens Gretas eyes to the brutality of the system they live underand to her own power.As Greta and Elián watch their nations tip closer to war, Greta becomes a target in a new kind of game. A game that will end up killing them bothunless she can find a way to break all the rules.

Published: 2015-09-22 (Margaret K. McElderry Books)

ISBN: 9781481442718

Language: English

Format: Hardcover, 384 pages

Goodreads' rating: -

Genres

Dystopia Science Fiction Lgbt Young Adult Fantasy

Reviews

Kippie rated it

I don't think I have the words to describe just how much I adored this book.

Sig rated it

The actual rating is 4,5 stars.Okay, all you need to know about The Scorpion Rules is that you need to read it. I wish I could write beautiful all-encompassing review about this mind-blowing book but I don't have the necessary skills. Please read the book, it's unique, gripping and thought-provoking.The fact that I can't write reviews hasn't stopped me yet, so...The Scorpion Rules is a wild mix of politicals schemes and plottings, thriller and sci-fi. Future Earth is ruled by all-powerful AI with Tony Stark-ish sense of humor and dubious moral compass. Bunch of kids who caught in the whole power games and who are essential parts of the said games. Protagonist Greta's character development is hands down A+. I need to point out that romantic subplot is the most sensible thing I've read recently. No relationship drama. None. No pettiness or jealousy. Because come on, there's death and life situations, no time to fight among your own people. And it's subplot, the main story is all about survival, politics and hard choices. I already mentioned AI. His name is Talis and he's my new favorite villain. Talis is an amazing character, I wanted to punch him 90 % of his "screen time", however I couldn't help but agree with his views and methods on how to rule the planet. They are ruthless but they serve its purpose, they are effective... Obviously, my morals and ethical principles haven't survived the book uncorrupted and I don't think they've recovered yet.Why not 5 stars? - Because I didn't care that much about the characters. I liked them lots, they were amazing well-developped kids, but there wasn't any emotional connections. In case one of them died, I was like "okay how will it affect the plot? what will happen next?". Thus 4-4,5 stars.All in all, The Scorpion Rules is mind-blowing political thriller set in sci-fi future and you definitely should read the book if these things are your cup of tea. ( If they are not, read anyway, you might change your mind about the genre).P.S. The bisexual protagonist and other lgbt characters who are awesome and who aren't reduced to their sexuality. Diverse cast. Realistic portrayl of relationships and struggles and choices the characters are making and the consequences of these choices. Beautiful and hilarious writing. Please read the book.P.P.S. No pressure obviously. a little bit of pressure...? ;)

Gabriello rated it

Non-formulaic, diverse, vaguely dystopian YA novel!!!!!!!!! o/ I didn't even mind the love triangle because it wasn't really a love triangle at all!!! GOD, THIS WAS GREAT. /god/ Ok, the first thing I need to say is that I LOVED Greta, the narrator and protagonist. The main reason for this is that she. was. dutiful. and. responsible. The entire novel is about her willingness to die for and be useful to the ~tyrannical system~ because she knows it generally works to keep the peace. This is so much preferable to any number of other privileged (yeah, Greta is a hostage, but she's a princess and future world leader, so yes she's PRIVILEGED) YA protagonists who push the envelope because instalove or because they don't want to put their brilliant tactical minds to work for their nation and would for no good reason rather study music, even though they obviously LOVE TACTICS AND PROBLEM-SOLVING (*cough cough pointed barb at a series I hated*). The other characters are also fantastic, especially Xie, Elias, and Talis (they're the most well-fleshed out besides Greta herself), but also the Abbot (a surprisingly complex secondary AI character), and the other Children of Peace. I won't spoil anything here, because Bow really pulls the rug out from under the back-of-book summary (*cackle*), but I particularly loved Xie.I also really enjoyed the world-building and the grittiness that permeated the entire novel. After the first fifty pages or so I knew this wouldn't be a neatly packaged YA narrative with a smooth ending. Thank God. Wow, and there were like....adults in active roles in here too! Amazing! (Sorry, I read a ton of mediocre YA this year)And someone, please, make me stop reading and watching things about AI this year. xoxo