Wonderfully well done. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book but it exceeded my expectations

So Scythe didn’t really work for me and I want to break down why. Scythe is a dystopian novel that posits a world free from natural death so the only way to die is to be gleaned by those known as scythes. Right away I was really struggling to accept the premise, or not so much the premise but the execution of the premise.

I’d be the first to say that I think criticisms that follow the line of well this premise isn’t realistic so I’m not going to take it seriously is a bad faith argument when it comes to fiction. The idea that "magic doesn’t exist so this book/movie/etc is ridiculous" is not a good place to start a debate. I’m by no means an authority on the subject, but I think I’m decently well read in YA fiction and YA dystopian fiction, so when a premise bothers me I feel like I have a decent reason and it's worth exploring. Scythe is clearly set in an alternate future that developed from the society we live in now, so I’m having a hard time connecting the dots to how we arrived at this future. I think the thought experiment of what happens when we’ve evolved so far that we no longer die is quite interesting, but the specifics of the Scythe system irks me. They have a certain quota that need to die every year (reasonable) and they try to be as objective as possible in their choices (also reasonable), but I don’t understand why there wouldn’t be several contingencies. First, why in the world wouldn’t there be a minimum age? For example let everyone live for 100 years before they’re eligible to be gleaned. If this world has the potential to give people long life, why not give everyone the chance to live a normal lifespan first? It’s seems ridiculous that whoever formed these committees and invented the Scythes wouldn’t have thought about their descendants, because who wants to kill a child? This only seems like common decency. How cruel to allow a teenager to be gleaned when there are people who have lived for multiple generations.

Also it seemed absurd that they would refuse to glean people who wanted to be gleaned. I’m not trying to condone suicide but if someone’s lived for hundreds or thousands of years and has decided that they are content to leave this world, why wouldn’t you let them? You could set a minimum age again and have mandatory counselling sessions to determine that this person is satisfied with the life they’ve led and feel it is their time to go. Why force death on a random person who doesn’t want it when there are people who are willing to pass on? It just goes against all reason so maybe you can see why I’m having a hard time suspending my disbelief here. This isn’t some random planet; this is Earth and it’s supposed to have evolved from the society we currently have, and I just don’t see that happening without some contingencies.

There were a lot of other things that bothered me about the Scythe society. One big aspect is that people no longer fear death and in consequence religion no longer exists. I understand that significantly less people are dying in this future, but I have a hard time imagining they’d lose their fear of death all together. I think these big dramatically cloaked reapers walking around would help to keep it fresh in your mind! The religion aspect is interesting because I think it’s reasonable to assume that a fear of death is a primary motivator for people to search for meaning, but I can’t help doubting that it would die out all together. I’m not saying that from a religious standpoint. I think that religious groups are quite resilient and considering how religion has endured throughout centuries of dramatic societal changes, I’m sure that at least a small group of worshippers would endure.

Alright now I want to move onto the community of Scythes themselves. I’m not so naïve to think that such a dominate institution wouldn’t be prone to corruption, but you would think that at least for the sake of appearances they would be more careful. I am much more willing to accept that Scythes themselves would become apathetic towards death and that it would be prime breeding group for some psychopaths to live out their fantasies, but they could be less obvious. There is a group of Scythes that love gleaning and they will often carry out mass gleanings. How does this not raise some alarms within the institutions even if they have corrupt friends in places of power. Considering how fast information travels nowadays, I have hard time believing that people wouldn’t notice that the same reapers keep carrying out mass executions; I mean at one point they just killed everyone in a café and there had to be people in adjacent buildings who noticed. Secondly, no matter how numb to death the Scythes may be that shouldn’t make them stupid. A woman develops a new poison for them to use and they decide to test it out on her. Come on that’s just a ridiculous decision because who would ever want to work for them now? That woman would have had friends and colleagues and once they realize what’s happened, no one would want to risk involving themselves in the weapons division. Cruelty aside it’s just a poor business practice (and of course that’s what’s important here).

My next big problem with the book is I thought it was rather boring. I don’t need all my books to be filled with action and suspense, but this book seem to be particularly averse to those concepts. Every time I started to really get into the book and was excited by what was about to happen, it would forward in time! I can think of three instances off the top of my head when I was so excited to read what happened next, and then Shusterman would skip a month or so and just summarize what happened. It was so frustrating! So much of the book is dedicated to Citra and Rowan studying that it got a bit tedious. That time could have been better used to develop the protagonists. I liked that Citra was quite clever and I thought Rowan’s character went in an interesting direction, but I felt it happened too quickly to completely believe.

Wow I had a lot more to say than I expected; once I got started I couldn’t stop. Even though I may not have liked the execution of the story, I think it’s a testament to the premise itself and Shusterman’s writing that it is able to generate so much discussion (at least from me). I did think his writing style was quite good and clearly he chose a great concept to explore. I just couldn’t get all these doubts about the world out of my head so I likely won't continue with the series, but I’ll consider looking into any future works!

You know I saw a teacher buy a bunch of copies for her class to review and I thought that was really cool. What I would have given to have the chance to analyze a YA book in high school English class. I certainly would have preferred it to Heart of Darkness (literally the most tedious book I’ve ever read, or didn’t read because I couldn’t get through it for the life of me even though it was the smallest book I’d ever been assigned). I’m glad that teachers are branching out and trying to engage their class and clearly this book is a great choice to start a discussion.

Before reading SCYTHE, I'd never heard anything but praise.

Now, I know why.

Be warned: this book is DARK. I mean, it makes sense - the entire premise revolves around death, around murder. But if you're ok with that, PICK UP THIS BOOK. It's SO worth it.

The premise is so insanely unique (I mean, to be expected from Neal Schusterman - all of his titles are innovative and thought-provoking). The characters are so nuanced and developmentally complex, it's almost hard to believe someone was genius enough to craft them. The world-building is incredibly strong, and the romance satisfying.

This is a book that'll appeal to everyone - regardless of age or gender - and I believe it is a title that SHOULD, in fact, be read by everyone at some point in their lives. It's just that amazing.

I cannot give feedback for this one because I stopped reading it... but for VERY good reason! We decided to read this for the teen book club that I run at Chapters (Canadian bookseller). Our group will be reading this one in April, and I didn't want to read it too soon, so that I can remember everything we must discuss for our meeting!

Thank you for providing this copy!

I absolutely love the world Shusterman sets up in Scythe, and obviously this series is incredibly popular with the finale having been released. I love the idea of Scythes, the consequences of having an immortal society, and the different approaches various factions of Scythes take towards the act of taking life. For me personally, Scythe fell markedly short in character development.. I cared far more about the world than I did about any of the characters, which means I won't be continuing with this series and can't give it a full five stars.

3.5 stars

Hmm.. what an interesting book. I did find the whole idea that humans become immortal due to advancements in medicine highly plausible. Look what we have done in the last century alone. And the fact that we need to cull the masses also seems plausible we do it with wildlife all the time (deer season anyone). I did enjoy our two MC's and the struggle they had to go through, you do have to give up a lot to become a Scythe and I can guarantee you I wouldn't be able to do it. And that some Scythes take advantage of that power which is also inevitable and highly realistic.
Overall Scythe was an interesting and dark read that tackled a very interesting concept what happens when all of humanity is immortal.

What a fantastically unique book! There isn’t a single title that is similar and Shusterman’s world is truly brilliant. A world where death has been conquered and population control is an issue. You will not want to put it down as soon as you open the first page!

Really enjoyed this title. Love when I find a book that will appeal to both male and female readers. I'm looking forward to recommending this.

I devoured this book in three days, because it got me that hard. I love the concept, and following Citra and Rowan's journey and the differences in this world were amazing.

The romance angle wasn't heavy, it was understandable and to the point, and I enjoyed it more than I do in most teen books. It kept me on my toes, not sure if it was actually going to happen or not in the end.

Scythe Curie got me, though. Her entire demeanor and methods got me the entire second half of the book, and I'm honestly kind of glad about the progression to getting Citra under her tutelage

All in all, a fun read and one I'm glad I got the chance to get to. I'm ready to read the next one, the entire world is so intriguing to me.

This teen fantasy released in November of 2017 and the first book in The Arc Of The Scythe trilogy. Shusterman, an American, has written many books and has also written for both the big and the little screen. This story is set in the future in a time when almost no one dies naturally or even accidentally anymore, as medicine has advanced to the point that people can be revived. They can also revert back to a younger age many times should they choose (an all do). Faced with overpopulation, there are a group of people called Scythes, whose job is to fill a quota of people to kill. Citra and Rowan are selected to become apprentices to Scythe Faraday and since their families are given immunity from being killed (gleamed is the term used) they agree to do it. Of course the training does not go smoothly and this first novel follows them through their complicated apprenticeship. This is a great recommendation for teens and adults who love dystopian stories and I really enjoyed it.

Such a fun read! Great ending and I will definitely be reading the rest of the series!
The characters are realistic and relatable. I found myself flipping back and forth between what seemed right vs wrong among the decisions.made by different people.

I honestly don’t know how to explain my feelings about this book. I’ve meaning to read this for years and with The Toll coming out next month, I thought it was the perfect time. I was hooked on page one went you are thrust right into the story. The excerpts from the various journals was a great way to add world building and exposition in an organic way. I also loved the gore, as bad as that may sound. I would recommend this book to everyone, not just YA lovers.