Order of Scorpions

by Ivy Asher

Six years ago, I awoke in a cage with no knowledge of who I was or where I’d come from.

Six years ago, I was spared the flesh markets and instead thrown in with a group of savages, where I learned it was fight or die.

Now, eight Orders of Assassins are converging on the only home I’ve ever known. All in hopes of purchasing new blade slaves for their ranks.

I’m for sale, yet all I want is a life far from death and ownership. Then I meet them, the Order of Scorpions.

Their allure is a threat to the freedom I crave, but I won’t fall victim to their sting, no matter how tempting it might be.

They want to own me, to claim me, but the Scorpions have no idea what they’ve bargained for.

They’re about to learn what venom flows in my veins. I don’t just bite…I destroy.

This book is a dark fantasy romance. It contains graphic violence, strong language, explicit romance, and other content that could be triggering. Please see the author's note inside for a more detailed description of content concerns. Order of Scorpions is a Why Choose standalone story.

Genres: Fantasy, Why Choose, Romantasy, Fae, Dark Romance, Dark, Romance

761 pages, ebook

First published August 20, 2022

About the author

Ivy Asher is addicted to chai, swearing, and laughing a lot (but not in a creepy, laughing alone kind of way). She loves the snow, books, and her family of two humans, and three fur-babies. She has worlds and characters just floating around in her head, and she's lucky enough to be surrounded by amazing people who support that kind of crazy.

Reviews

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 1/3 of this book was so good! There was great emotion and mystery and tension between the characters. The plot was awesome. I was totally sucked up. I ran to multiple of my book buddies and told them to pick this one up ASAP!

But then….The middle 1/3 was sooooooo freaking boring. It was way too wordy. Nothing was happening and it was just so repetitive. So so so much inner dialogue. I get it. The h needed time after everything that has happened to her but the execution of this part was just not good.

The last 1/3, 70%-finish, was a lot better than the previous 30% but the author had already lost me at this point and I was never as engaged as I was during that first 30%.

This is a major slow burn and by the time they do get together the chemistry has dissipated. The great thing about a slow burn is that the chemistry keeps building and building so that when they finally come together you’re about to combust. Not here. We were so far away from that that I almost wanted to skip the sex scenes because they felt out of place. The only H that she even had a small amount of intimacy with that wasn’t forced was Riall and I think that was because of the nature of the blood bond and not the way it was written. The mystery ended up being super disappointing too. It’s not a fun feeling to finish a nearly 800 page book and to be left feeling this unsatisfied. Ugh. It’s even more disappointing when it started so strong. I think it’s time Ivy gets some new alpha, beta, proofreaders, editors, etc. This book should have been edited way down and there needed to be way more dialogue and scenes and actions and events to show us instead of just pages and chapters of inner dialogue.

Overall: 2.5 rounded up because of how good that beginning was.

[rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action-packed standalone high fantasy story with assassins and possessive alpha fae.

I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It follows Auset, a young fae who's found herself captured as a blade slave with no memory of where she came from. She's forced to train as an assassin, but with the night of her bidding fast approaching, three familiar faces from her past show up to remind Auset of a day she'd rather forget. This is a standalone why choose slow-burn romantasy with three very endearing love interests.

Auset is an engaging fmc. She's endured so much during her time at the ludere, but she's incredibly strong and thoughtful. The Scorpions - Tarek, Curio and Rhiall - are lovely and scary possessive alpha fae. Their journey from suspicious to caring for Auset is so heartwarming.

The pacing in the writing is interesting - it's consistently slow, and I appreciated the opportunity to savour the moment at some points. Still, there were other times when page after page had no dialogue that felt monotonous and drawn out. Luckily, I generally enjoy slow-burn stories, but I can see how not everyone would love it.

I need to mention Chapter 37 - It's one of my favourite things I've read so far this year. Curio gifts Auset a set of armour that he has personally made for her, and Ivy Asher does an outstanding job of putting Auset's evolving thoughts and feelings about herself on paper. It's a highly personal moment of Auset realising she's no longer enslaved, living at the whims of a master, and I was sobbing.

She's fierce, the stunning fae who's staring back at me. Bright hair is plaited back from a face that glows with health and contentment. Even the sun spots that dot the bridge of her nose and cheeks look pleased. Raw, wild power simmers in her eyes as she stands there encased in protective perfection. She's strong, intimidating, formidable… she's… me.

I don't know why the chapter affected me so much, but I would reread this book for that moment alone - that and the outstanding spice.

[G · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars
I haven't enjoyed a fantasy book like this in a long time. Ivy Asher has a real knack for writing badass FMC characters. Order of Scorpions has been on my TBR for a while since it's a standalone.... when I tell you that I finished this book in 2 days, I'm not even kidding. It was soo good.
There are so many aspects/tropes that I LOVE that have been incorporated:
- Fae
- Assassins/warriors
- Mates
- Fae courts
- Slow-burn
There was so much angst and tension between Auset and the Scorpions that I just HAD to keep reading to see what happen to them next. Recommend you read anything from this author!

[ess ⚡︎ [ia] · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 16%.

[acupofteaandabookplease · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must admit I was very skeptical after the first chapter but straight from the second one, I was really looking forward to read what will/has happen/ed to Auset : a strong, stubborn and somehow endearing character. I love the writing which is so smooth and the story is really well constructed with hints about what's happening here and there just like I like it! I would recommend to read the trigger warnings before starting this one as it could be a disturbing book if some of them are sensitive to the reader... oh! And it's "quite" spicy if you didn't know it yet ;-)

[Rayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the first third of this book. I really liked the plot and the tension between the FMC and the guys was great. I was so interested in how the Bidding and everything worked and loved every time Auset showed them up.

Then it lost me a bit. Nothing exciting happened and it just really dragged. It also felt like all the tension kind of fizzled out because they didn’t build on it. There was much of an emotional connection being built between them and it left me wanting more.

For such a long book and all that build up, the revelations were underwhelming and everything was tied up too quickly and easily. All Auset wanted was to find out who she was and where she came from. That plus all the history of the courts and how messed up it was, I was expecting a more political plot. Instead it almost seems like part of a completely other story that Auset and the guys were side characters of. Which just left the whole thing to be unsatisfying. Also, the whole tied thing they brushed off too easily. I don’t want to go into details and spoils anything but they at like it was a minor inconvenience when it was really a big problem.

The first third to half of this book I would give 4 stars and the middle three stars but the ending was two stars for me. I enjoyed the read but I think it would have been beneficial to cut out some from the middle and even just stretching out the ending a bit. Have them fight for it more than they did.

[angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay so im at 45% of the way through and i dont know if i should continue because the MMC are pissing me off. The entire first 30-40% felt like it could of been the first book in a series and it also left me with the impression of giving the book 5 stars

However

The MMC's being slavers is putting me off and them GASLIGHTING HER? Listen im open to finishing this book if anyone can comment and say they take accountability but the fact that theyre justifying the torture done onto the blade slaves because they were once slaves???? and that "its giving them an oportunity" THAT THEY DIDNT ASK FOR??? if they really cared they would have kept a closer eye on the situation but they didnt and they only KIND OF care because Auset was harmed, which disgusts me.

(PS If they actually cared they wouldnt become part of the problem like Auset says on p322, because they so casually use flesh slaves themselves and she says that when she says the flesh slave would only be with riall because they were paid, he laughed because he saw it as a slight against his manhood, and she justifiably gets angry because its not, its a slight that the whole situation is friggen unconcensual and he should not be proud of that. I dont know if i have the same critiscim for them with house slaves because they havnt had direct interaction with them but still goes to show theyre okay with becoming part of the problem)


Im so proud of her for getting angry and standing up to them but im getting the vibe that theyll bully her into "seeing it their way" which honestly pisses me off so much


Also, the hypocracy???? They were disgusted that Tilleo was using a female as disposable to avenge his nieces abuse, and yet they are doing shit similar by being willing to let all the other blade slaves still suffer because "as long as its not auset"

Also them trying to guilt her and saying shit like "what happened to you was horrible but you survived" like that justifies that it happened??? and worse she listens to them and goes through the headspace of how dhe fought and killed others just to survive, without continuing to acknowledge that she wouldnt have had to if they held accountabilith for their SLAVES like yes she had to be a bad person and didnt care about others because of it just like theyre claiming, but she prior to that kept strong on thag it wouldnt have happened if they wernt slavers, and all of a sudden shes okay with it because she relates to them???

All in all im feeling some STRONG feelings at this point BUT i am willing to continue, im hoing to keep it in my KU library for if someone comments saying it gets better, but the way that they are so friggen up themselves makes me fearful that it dosnt


OVERALL
- 5 STAR FOR UP TO 30-40% OF THE BOOK
- The slavers storyline and the MMC's justification has made me put my reading on hold
- The MMCs are too comfortable in their contribution to blade slaves and usage of flesh slaves
- They seem to bully the FMC who was harmed directly because of them that it was okay because they were hurt once too *eye roll* so them forcing harm on others as an infintismqlly better option than without their forced slavery is ok because its "helping"


Please someone anyone comment and call me out if i missed a point or give me hope and tell me that they get better 😭😭😭

[Priskah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,0 ✨✨✨

[Ms. Allubttoa · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNfed at around 60%. The writing was fine in terms of basic skill and lack of grammar mistakes. Pacing was fine. But there is a difference between a gritty world and straight up slavery apologetics. Our love interests are literally running a slave trade compound, and instead of the characters realizing how evil that it, we get a bunch of excuses and apologetics.

First it's described as fine because being it's better to be an assassin slave than a s*x slave. Except that the enslaved people training to be assassins in this compound are s*x slaves. They are literally forced to have sex. That our heroine somehow escapes most of the s*xual slavery doesn't make it not that.

Then we find out that, though our love interests were literally funding the assassin slave trade, we can't blame them because they didn't know quite how bad it was. Except that they show up every year to inspect the compound, participate in the abuse, and use sexual slaves. The entire point of this place, that they have set up and that they fund, is abuse. The choice to have them consistently participate in the competition, rather than make them benefactors from afar who are maybe visiting for the first time, removes the excuse of negligence. (Not that negligence could ever be an excuse for the base purpose of this place). It makes them active participants in the cruelty and dehumanization. The love interests at points in the narrative remember fondly the bed slaves they've r*aped.

Again, gritty is fine. A world where slavery exists and there are people who benefit from it and support it, is fine. My problem is how the internal narrative treats it. Our love interests feel bad about what happened to the heroine, so they are redeemed. They start to think that maybe they've strayed into bad guy territory for letting the compound get as abusive as it is, but I never saw one of the love interests take that the step further to think that maybe the whole thing was wrong. (After all, being turned into dehumanized soldier/assassins, who are only r*ped occasionally is soooo much better than being a full-time s*xual slave, barf) At no point does the narrative (at least in the 60 percent that I read, and if it takes more than that to get to it, then that's still not great) ever grapple with the systemic horror that these people are perpetuating. Our heroine is angry at her treatment, but at no point does she truly think, well running a slavery compound where the goal is to abuse people until you break down their humanity is an unforgivable crime. When she moves in with the heroes, I thought maybe we would finally grapple with that, but no. She's more interested in how hot they are. The anger she displays, such that she does, feels more like a token thing, dealt with quickly and used more as a mild barrier to up the tension, but again, it's never really believable that she feels their actions and beliefs something unforgivable or that can't be dealt with by the love interests just trying harder to woo her.

I think the author wanted to be gritty with "bad" people as the love interests and main character. That can be fun and entertaining. Reading about murderers and thieves and selfish people can be great. I personally love reading f*cked up books. But reading a romance about slavers whose position in slavery is not truly challenged by the narrative is nauseating. It's like making your love interest a child molester. A child molester whose victim falls in love with him because his molestation isnt as bad other kinds of molestation, and he realizes that the molestation that happened to her was bad, but really what happened to her made her stronger, so it's okay.

The book is competent. The dialogue fun, the pacing a tad slow, but that gives the characters time to breathe. But the love interests in this book are not just bad people or misguided. They are straight up evil. The worst sort of evil. Just imagine reading this book but without the romance, erotica focused internal dialogue. It would be horrifying. Not because horrible things are happening on the page but because we are supposed to be rooting for the bad guys.

[Daenerys Targaryen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped fully reading at 40% and skipped through the rest. When a girl knowingly falls for the guys who offered to kill her to escape the flesh trade aka prostitution ring/ (and when she refused their offer) leave her to it and finance the said slaver of the flesh trade I gave up. Really the heroine (when she was a child) begs the so called heroes to save her when they found her chained and beaten nearly to death by the slaver and their solution to her salvation is to offer to kill her. When she refused to die they left her there chained and bleeding. By the way this is their so called mate. Later in the book we (and the heroine) learn that these three goons aka heroes finance these slave trade business. I kept on reading to see if the heroine is pretending to care for her these jerks and if she is secretly planning to kill them, but no she is genuinely head over heels in love with them. SMH.

[Thais • tata.lifepages • · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a DARK 18+ Fantasy with a slow burn REVERSE HAREM romance and gladiator vibes, mates, master-slave dynamics and lots of triggers so check those 🥵
It's a thiiick beast but I inhaled the first 300 pages in one sitting and wow was it amazing!

I think that first chapter was the most sinful yet engrossing I've ever read. When you start the book your mind is going "oh wow this is truly dark" but it lightens up as the story progresses and the romance evolves. I'm obsessed with the three members of the Order of Scorpions... And I love how they soon become protective of Auset 🔥

After the first 1/3 of the book, the pacing slows down a bit as the characters are in a completely different setting and no longer in any immediate danger, but I enjoyed how we got to see more of the romance being developed and understanding who the scorpions truly are. I think this is by far my favorite book by Ivy ! 🖤

[Bex (Beckie Bookworm) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow is an understatement this was seriously amazing a why choose romance set in a dark fantasy Fae realm filled with so much bloodshed darkness and bloodthirsty assassins. This story's origins are filled with some dark painful roots and this definitely gets worse before it gets better. The female protagonist Auset is a Fae without a past. Her life begins from the time she awakens imprisoned in a cage in an unknown stronghold. Kidnapped for ransom our girl has no idea of her origins her memory is a complete blank.

When the order of the scorpions infiltrates the compound killing the master in charge the crime is laid at Ausets feet instead of death or the flesh trade she now expects she’s instead thrown in with the savages and her training as a blade slave begins. It’s a brutal savage existence and any softness and weaknesses she once had are now moulded into something entirely different and unrecognisable. Now six years later it’s time for the bidding and Auset is up on the block for potential assassin guilds. It’s here she crosses paths again with her old nemesis the scorpions the men who once left her to her fate like she was nothing.

This one has a delicious slow burn that gradually builds tension it’s an incredibly nuanced tale with some fantastic world-building and great characterisation. The male's Bones Scorpious and Skull are a tight-knit band of brothers who live by a code of honour' they do initially fail to recollect Auset her memory a brief fleeting blip to them their first meeting inconsequential but now wearing her new skin they immediately feel a connection a vague familiarity combined with fascination and an intense attraction to her.

A lot of this delves into the fact that Auset has many difficulties reconciling herself with the fact that they didn’t even try to aid her even a little all those years ago and when she then discovers just how far it actually reaches she at first can’t get past it. The men also struggle with self-recrimination and guilt over their unwitting part in Auset’s many traumas and treatments.

I will say once they decide she’s it for them they're all-in 110% and put every effort into liberating her and winning over her affections. They also make it their priority to solve the mystery of Auset’s obscure past and assist her with all of her new emerging abilities. This lot also had some fabulous tension and red-hot chemistry that felt very believable and the camaraderie and banter amongst them was delicious.

I loved that Auset was a take no prisoners battle queen and she dealt blood death and vengeance without batting an eyelid. I hate it when females in romance can’t make the tough choices but our girl didn’t have that issue she was a stone-cold killer cross her at your peril.

This was a complete stand-alone and a long book but I wasn’t once bored. This managed to transport me into its fascinating intricate landscape so completely. Fabulously well written and incredibly engaging and one of my favourite reads this year.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com

[Jai M {Cat Crazy Dragon } · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ So very close to perfect.

I loved so much about this, but there was so much space wasted on flowery verse, that would have been better spent on the actual story.

At times it was so evocative, beautiful, brutal, and so engaging. But at others, it dragged and got lost in the descriptions.
We went from one continuous mindset for the FMC, and in the next chapter, a month has passed, and a new mindset was happening, without the readers being able to experience or appreciate how this came about, and believe in it…

I loved the characters, even when they pissed me off, frustrated me, or even horrified me.
Unlike so much within this genre, we got to experience more than just the sexual interests, learnt about more than just what made their insular existence possible. We got a whole world, filled with countless people, and specific individuals.

It was closer to high fantasy, with a romantic angle, rather than romance first, and story second…

If only it hadn’t skipped the middle of the story, it would easily have been a 5⭐️ to be read and re-read.

Also found some of the theorising, and endless analysing too much at times. It was awesome at first, but then it went on and on, slowing the story, and explaining that which we already understood. It began to feel repetitive and dumed-down, which, any reader who had made it this far, obviously wouldn’t need.

Give this a serious edit, fill in a few gaps, and it would be a clear 5⭐️, and worthy of a continuing series.
In truth, I would be willing to keep reading even as is, though with different characters within the same world.

‘Edit’ is a magic word! 😬🥸

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was planning on giving this a 3.5 star rating through most of this but then I really did not like the ending. The flow of the book got really weird and I didn’t like the way the plot elements resolved. A lot of it felt very underdeveloped and because of that I was bored. Still a reasonably solid dark fantasy romance in terms of the writing but the overall story just didn’t quite work for me.

[evelynn kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️
1st person POV - mostly Auset but a few chapters from her men

Order of Scorpions by Ivy Asher is a slow burn (doesn't start until 75%) why-choose adult fantasy with a badass female protagonist whose been trained as a ruthless assassin while suffering from amnesia and it was FANTASTIC.

The only thing I ever want to be to anyone is the last thing they see before they die.

You guys, this was long. Like, really fucking long, but the detail was there. The worldbuilding and character depiction was so thorough and tangible that you can't help but fall into this world and feel like a part of it. Our FMC, Auset, has no knowledge of anything prior to 6 years ago. In these 6 years, she's been trained to be a proficient assassin and is eventually adopted into the Order of Scorpions, the most elusive of all orders. These men are obsessed with her and want to help her remember her past and vow to help her find answers. Honestly, if this were to have been split into a duology, this would've been a great stopping point as there's really 2 stories being told here. 1) Auset and her time at the ludere, the Bidding, and meeting the guys. And 2) Auset integrating into the OoS and looking for answers to her past.

“Pick your poison, Scorpion, and we’ll help you strike at everyone who ever hurt you.”

After finally making progress towards learning her past, she's met with making a swift decision (multiple times) to either learn something new about what happened to her or stay the course and not fuck things up for her mates. She chooses her mates. Every. Single. Time. And I loved her for it. Her logic being "the past is the past and I am here now and our lives are worth more than vague half-truths that could be a stalling tactic to lead to our deaths" and I can't fault her for it. So often do characters in books make these stupid decisions to satisfy their curiosity over something long buried in the past even if it'll mess things up for their future and I want to punch them for it. But in this book, Auset is faced with opportunities with these strings attached, and she doesn't fall for it. But at the end we finally get the full picture and Auset's curiosity is sated. The explanation of everything was definitely original and I can appreciate the twist the author used.

I don’t believe in signs, but I do believe that stupidity is a choice. Auset is a whole vibe.

This is also a slow burn book and other than a few passionate kisses and teasing touches, the real spice doesn't start until about 75% (aka pg 533) but once it does, it's pretty frequent. There's not really any sword crossing but at least half of the scenes are group activities. The dirty talk is hot and the sex is creative with a handful of kinks scattered throughout.

“Are you ready to scream for us, Telson?”

If you're looking for a detailed and descriptive adult fantasy with plenty of blood, death, and spice - you won't be disappointed with this one!

[Paranormal Kiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars - Great story! I really liked this one. There's just one part that feels unfinished. A huge vulnerability for Auset. It bugged me and makes me think there's going to be another book, but I thought this was a standalone novel...

Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to more from this author.

[Regina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Arguments for owning a slave ..I was one?

First off ,the inner thoughts were maddening. Just way way to much ,like the writer was trying to turn a book into tomb or a very epic tale as the LOR. This was not that .
So after looking for the quotation marks so I knew someone had actually spoken ,I get hung up on their argument of slavery and how they should be thanked ,given gratitude or basically bowed 2 for owning the very place she ended up in .Not only the fighting house but the flesh house .This was argued as giving the poor fae, that has bad situations in life ..like breathing and maybe scrubbing a floor or even begging ,a chance to ........do better.....
Yes ,do better .What's better than being a slaves and given to the flesh trade to allow what ever the clients want from you ..they have healers ..geez. And the fighting house? Why that even better than the flesh house ,cause your learning a valuable skill ..like dying and fighting even killing before a sick event is held and you do what ever the orders tell you ..anything.Even be raped to death ,cruelly, painfully ,with teeth chunks taken out of your body .Or hope to be picked for the order ...still got the flesh house on speed dial if the fighting house don't kill you and you never get an order.And so what if you are beat almost to death and suffer all night for correction before healing? So what if you are beaten everyday to break you ..we.....are...helping...fae...get....a....better....life...than...they.....could....ever....have....without...us. 🤔
Then to compare her willingness to kill and leave behind those in house as exactly like them owning the slave house ,as in, you don't feel bad or feel like you need to go back and free them .REALLY? Yea , no, she didn't have a choice and is mentally conditioned .You were saved and taught better but convinced yourself that you were doing the world a favor ,and if it gave you information and lined your pocket ? All the better. What a charitable people you are .
That stuck it for me .I really hate the excuses .I'd rather read them owning up to it and not trying g to make it sound like they are only doing the best they can .Like saying a trafficking ring is helping all the women ,children and men from the horrors of their life ......yea ,don't work.
So didn't care for it .Not worth the bleeding eyes from inner thoughts ,that was useless at best .Then the slave owning thing ..yea might leave this writer to the excuses they try to make you feel like a good guy for doing criminal things . 💁

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning was excellent! The world building, the plot, MFC was brilliant.
She was smart, calculated, brave, yet damaged and broken. She fought for survival and gave zero fucks. I especially loved that she was pissed and wanted revenge. The mystery of her story was interesting.

Yet.. a third way through the story fell flat. I was so disappointed she stayed with the group. Man I wanted so badly for her to be stubborn and leave them behind and make her own path of revenge against the Masters. I kept hoping she would join group of women and seek revenge and destruction against the system or the masters. It was just a lot of waiting around.


I got to 90% and realized I had hour and half left. Which meant that everything was about to go down in a quick and predictable let down. It was rushed and not enough time put into the ending and or enough details.
I give it 3 it was good..I enjoyed it.

[Lexy · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF’d at 41%

** Spoilers ahead. Read at own risk. **


This started out SOOOO good. I was okay with the guys leaving Auset at the beginning because I assumed in the future they’d have to work really really really hard to earn her forgiveness. That wasn’t the case, it seemed. Instead, they were cocky and assumed that when she walked out of their castle, she’d immediately return because she wasn’t prepared for the outdoors of a world she doesn’t know anything about. And then they’d find a way to “convince” her to stay so they can own her—mind, body and soul. I assumed she would find her way and prove them wrong, by finding this village that Eacon had spoke of and shadowing her way through the market into stealing all the items she’d need to survive on her own. Instead, she only proved the three men right when she returned to their castle like a sodden, hopeless puppy that can’t do shit for herself.

This infuriated me. These men left her to either die or have sex with strangers for the rest of her life. She should have proven to them that she didn’t need them—and forced them to beg at her feet for her forgiveness. Instead, from the moment she woke up in their castle, she suddenly became a weak heroine who has to rely on men to get by. Gross. Disappointing.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ivy Asher you legend!! 🖤🦂This was brilliantly brutal from the very beginning which made me want to devour every page. I loved Auset, she was unbelievably strong, mentally & physically even after being kidnapped and forced into fighting for her survival in the brutal Ludere. For 6 years Auset is forced to bow to her masters & take beating after beating, healed and then cruelly beaten again. The trauma that she endured as a blade slave was truly awful yet all of the beatings and “training” made her into this absolute badass warrior that could take down a man twice her size, she was awesome!She was fierce, a force to be reckoned with which I loved about her. When her master organises an event inviting all of the orders of the realms a chance to bid on the best blade slave Auset believes that it’s a chance of freedom, it’s where she meets the three males that make up The Order of the Scorpions and where her journey really begins.
I loved Ausets journey of self discovery, healing & retribution. The plot & twists were all engaging & that HEA was worth all the emotional turmoil at the start of the book. Love, love, loved it 🖤🦂

[Candice Willman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book. Is a beast. But so so so so so so good. Oh my god. Still can’t gather my thoughts after finishing. Why choose romance. Stand alone. So much action and super dark fantasy. So good. And I can’t pick a fav guy. It went back and forth through them all. Ivy is such an amazing writer and you will not be disappointed by this monster of a book.

[lisa. · Rating 5 out of 5]

review to come but thanks ivy asher for reminding me that likeable heroines do exist

[Sheri Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and wish there was a sequel or more to their story. I devoured this book like the Scorpions devoured Auset. ;)

In the first part of the book, we are learning with the MFC what is going on and trying to figure out who she is (her memories were wiped up until the part of her waking up in a cage). She gets a chance to be an assassin, but it all comes down to the Bidding... which many blade slaves die from. When we learn she is to be put with the Order of the Scorpions while the Orders are being hosted... and see the 3 skeletons (they glamour themselves and go by Scorpius, Skull, and Bones), again... we just know she will work her way into their group. It is a super slow burn though.... over 400 pages in and still not much going on with them. I was about as restless as the Scorpions.

After the spice picks up and the story advances again, it is quite good! I absolutely loved the RH that they made with her and the whole fated mate thing worked for all of them. The guys all were perfect for different reasons and loved her fully, supported her and let her lead with what she wanted.

Would def recommend it if you like darker romance books, slow burn, fae, blood play, assassins, reverse harem, etc.

[Zen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars rounded

Great story. I really enjoyed following Auset on her journey to heal and find out who she was. I think Asher did a great job portraying the violence Auset suffered while not being gratuitous as some authors are won't to do. I do wish the original binding was broken to give Auset true freedom from her past, but that would be tied up with too pretty a bow and this was not that kind of story.

[Cee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rounding up to 5 because I loved everything about this except the whole mates things came out of left field and I have absolutely no idea how or when they realized they were mates.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew this was gonna be a new favorite 20 pages in.

(Yes, surprisingly all 761 pages were worth it)

[Heather Rada · Rating 2 out of 5]

too much inner monologue

I just couldn’t get past literally nothing happening and just talking in their own heads to explain and describe everything.

[✥❤️‍ Kayla ❤️‍✥ · Rating 1 out of 5]

It pains me to DNF at 47% aka 337 fricking pages and probably about 4-6 hours of my life I’ll never get back. There’s no plot, NONE. Initially the plot was to get free of the slave camp but once our FMC does that, nothing. She’s been just hanging out. That along with so, so, oh so many adjectives being used is going to drive me insane. This needed a LOT more editing. And with all those adjectives, still we’re told, not shown, about all these male characters personalities and history. Tsk tsk.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Save me from the long-winded inner dialogues!!!
Have you ever read an intense scene where the main character pauses for an unreasonable long time while they catalog and analyze every aspect and outcome of the situation and think about how each possible action would affect them emotionally and physically like they have all the time in the world to make calculated responses. If you hadn't guessed already, this book is crammed full of endless inner dialogues.

I keep recalling this parody where (I can't remember from where) all the characters have their weapons drawn and the bad guy gives his unreasonable ultimatum and instead of responding the main character just stares off into space for a ridiculously long period of time and all the other characters have to stop their play-acting and take a smoke break waiting for the MC to come back to earth and say the next line. This is what I keep thinking about whenever I read one of those longer-than-necessary dialogues, it's like the MC is playing mental chess while everyone else is playing the game of LIFE.

My point is this was a VERY long book one that could have been shorter if they cut out some of that internal monologuing. I did not know when I started that I was committing to over 700 pages of mostly internal narrative. I thought 'Well it's not the kind of book I want to read right now but since it's a standalone and I'm intrigued by the preface I'll knock it out in a day and then go find that Academy Why Choose I've been craving'. I was completely blindsided and didn't realize the page count until a good 30% into the story. But the story was good and had hooked me at that point so I stuck with it.

The first 30% of this book is rough, expect to have your heart broken and reassembled into a revenge-seeking missile. The FMC wakes up in a prison with zero memory, I mean she didn't even know what the name of the world she lived in was let alone that she was fae until she felt her pointy ears. At this point I'm thinking 'I fell head first into a reincarnation manga plot where the reader becomes the character '(I love those), but nope this is more of a Total Recall situation with a massive memory wipe but she still instinctually knows things like how to fight and defend herself or how to speak foreign languages. Helpful for survival but useless in telling her who she really is.

The memory loss takes a backseat when she takes in her situation, kidnapped and trapped in a dungeon. Through a series of seemingly unfortunate events, she ends up a Blade Slave, which is like a gladiator but instead of winning fights for money, they get sold to clandestine organizations that will use their skills for bad things. Before any of that can happen the slave masters have to train the slaves to be the best little killing machines they can be. Naturally, the training includes a ton of torture. The FMC spends 6 years being subjected to the worst kinds of pain and assault a person can imagine. Chapter one starts at the beginning of those 6 years telling the story of how she ended up there. Then (thankfully) the storyline skips ahead 6 years past all the soul-crushing abuse.

We pick up when it's time for the slaves to reap the rewards of all their "training" by getting sold off to one of the crime organization (Yes, apparently the Fae have mafioso also they just go by different names) groups that are part of The Order (Little fuzzy on what the order is exactly but sounded like a secret council that rules over all the secret fae crime gangs?). Being sold to one of these Fae Mafia groups is the only way to freedom for the Blade Slaves because it means they will be allowed to work off their debt (the price paid to own a blood slave) and someday be free. This is where the storyline starts to pick up a bit and we meet the MMCs. I'll stop with the play-by-play of the storyline here because I would need spoiler tags to keep going.

I will say that eventually, the story turns back into a hunt for answers about who the FMC is. Which was hard for me to read because my heart was still in revenge-seeking missile mode and it was pointed directly at the Masters and Slave Owners who tortured her, Priorities 🤬. I guess finding the secrets to her past was more important 🙄 so the revenge was served cold in the epilogue of this book (The epilogue was better than the ending!).

This book was fascinating it had high fantasy-level world-building, and the characters were interesting. Although I think all the guys are too similar and the different traits they did have weren't shown enough throughout the majority of the book to help me not see them all as Dark and Brooding Morally-Gray Villian-Alpha-Types. My main issue was with the constant internal debate going on and my own negligence of not realizing how long the book was before starting to read it. Despite that, I would recommend this because the story was captivating with a kick-ass FMC who, despite her strength, still grew as a character throughout the story. Also, others might not find the inner narration to be a problem.

[Lammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

This was so good and went in directions I never, ever could have guessed. This book is long, but very well worth the read 😊.