How to accurately describe how much I love this book. 
 The Scorpion Rules tells the tale of a future where the world is ruled by the AI Talis. Talis took over during the War Storms, a series of skirmishes which decimated the Earth's population. Tasked with enforcing peace, Talis went a step farther than anyone expected: he bombed a few cities, and declared that he was imposing a new rule, where if anyone wanted to rule, they would have to give up a child as a hostage. If they go to war, even if they are the ones attacked, their child is killed. The. End. 
 Obviously, as obsessed as I am with dystopian literature (and I do count this as dystopian, because no matter how good of a job Talis is doing at keeping peace, things are rather bleak), I viewed this book as a must-read. Personally, I love reading author's theories on how, if/when the world falls apart, it is built back up again. In Erin Bow's case: AI overlord with a bunch of new small countries fighting with each other. 
 Which brings us to the heart of the plot. This book focuses on Greta, Duchess of Halifax and Crown Princess of the Pan Polar Confederation. She is being held at a Precepture, a facility for Children of Peace, aka the child hostages. This book... has both less and more action than you'd expect. In the first half-ish of the book, we are simply with Greta at the Precepture. We learn about her and her friends, the dangers of her world, the fact that she knows she is going to die. She has accepted this as part of her position. And then, Elian enters the picture. Elian is not like the other Children of Peace. For one thing, he's only recently been made a Child of Peace, and so he doesn't know the rules. He speaks his thoughts, he talks back, he doesn't back down in the face of shocks. He calls out Talis's system for its brutality, and makes Greta reevaluate everything she thought about her way of life. 
 I'm sure, by now, you all know where this is going. Girl is set in ways. Mysterious boy enters her life. Mysterious boy causes her to incite rebellion. Girl falls for mysterious boy. 
 To which, my answer is: not quite. 
 In the best surprise of my reading history, Greta is kissed first, not by Elian, but by Xie, her female roommate. And then she kisses Elian. And then Xie. And then Elian. Greta is confirmed bisexual by the author (and I'm very sure she's polyamorous as well). And a love-triangle is avoided entirely! At least, the traditional love-triangle. Instead, Greta briefly states that she knows she's going to die soon (this is not a spoiler, she's thought this since the very beginning of the book), and so she wants to live first. And the whole "who do I choose!!11!!!" thing is never brought up. 
 But it wasn't just the romance that made me love this book. It was the characters and the world Erin Bow crafted, it was their politics and reasoning and the way they coped with the world around them. I love this book, because it's a great dystopian novel and because it's a female bi main character with well-written friendships and romances. Because this was the first time I was surprised by an LGBTQA+ character, that the book wasn't marketed as such and the issue of Greta's sexuality, while important, is not treated as something groundbreaking or aweinspiring. It's not overly questioned, praised, or scorned. It just is.