Dubi reviewed Scythe by Neal Shusterman (Arc of a Scythe, #1)
Thinks it's more clever than it is
3 stars
But then, it's a book aimed at teens, so I guess that kind of goes with the territory.
Published Aug. 5, 2017 by Simon & Schuster.
4 stars
(12 reviews)
Thou shalt kill.
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.
Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.
(Description from GoodReads)
debby_joyblue reviewed Scythe by Neal Shusterman (Arc of a Scythe, #1)
Review of 'Scythe' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
3.5 review here
Azalea Forrest reviewed Scythe by Neal Shusterman (Arc of a Scythe, #1)
Review of 'Scythe' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
4.5 stars
I couldn't put this book down. It was captivating and different. The mass gleanings made me uncomfortable, thinking of our current climate here in the states, but they made Goddard all the more despicable.
SPOILERS
One thing that bothered me was that Citra and Rowan having to still kill each other in the end made little sense: being taken by separate scythes no longer made them twin apprentices, in my opinion. But, the conclusion turned out well, and I enjoyed the ending. I noticed some errors the editor missed, but none were too glaring...
Except for when Rowan comments on Tyger wanting to be a professional party guest. He first says Tyger is the only classmate he knows that truly means it, but later says he didn't think he really meant it... It doesn't affect the story really, but it was an inconsistancy that I noticed.
The romance …
4.5 stars
I couldn't put this book down. It was captivating and different. The mass gleanings made me uncomfortable, thinking of our current climate here in the states, but they made Goddard all the more despicable.
SPOILERS
One thing that bothered me was that Citra and Rowan having to still kill each other in the end made little sense: being taken by separate scythes no longer made them twin apprentices, in my opinion. But, the conclusion turned out well, and I enjoyed the ending. I noticed some errors the editor missed, but none were too glaring...
Except for when Rowan comments on Tyger wanting to be a professional party guest. He first says Tyger is the only classmate he knows that truly means it, but later says he didn't think he really meant it... It doesn't affect the story really, but it was an inconsistancy that I noticed.
The romance went well at first, but there was a point where Rowan's feelings felt too extreme. By the end of it, things evened out and I understood where he was coming from. I even like their distant feelings, even now at the end with Citra's epilogue entry.
I loved how deep it went with Faraday and his gleanings, how the kids reacted to this terrible but necessary thing. How the gleaned reacted to their end. Maybe it's a sick fascination, but it felt realistic. I felt for their loss.
Overall, the story kept an even pace. I was surprised, I even cried, and this is a very heavy book for being YA. I enjoyed both the main characters, and I'm curious to read the next installment.
Trae reviewed Scythe by Neal Shusterman (Arc of a Scythe, #1)
Review of 'Scythe' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Surprisingly fantastic! I thought it would simply be a so-so read, and normally I don't like a book that sets up a false dichotomy that's pretty obvious it won't follow through on, but this still went really well. The exit was novel and kept me engaged. Good read.
