I was a little skeptical when I found out this wasn't technically a continuation of the story but rather going backwards to tell individual scythe stories. But it was everything we needed. This was first of all very fun to read. It read like a series of individual short stories. It answered all of the questions and filled in the gaps that we were missing from the series itself. I loved this more than I thought I would! It wrapped up the series very nicely!

Arc of the Scythe is one of my favorite series. I recommend it all the time. I was very excited to receive this book as an e-arc. I loved all the extra stories from this world! Scythe Goddard's evil origin story was very chilling and one that has stuck with me.

Gleanings was a really nice add on to the Scythe universe. The problem with short stories collections is that they are not all created equally, but I felt that the stories in this collection were, as a whole, great. I think if I had read this directly after finishing the trilogy, then it would have been even better as I forgot some connecting details that Gleanings address. Overall, a great book!

Whoa. Is all I can say. I loved the series and I love that now I have some backstories and history around the Scythe's. Beautifully written, as always and I have re-read the series again already this year.

This book was absolutely amazing if you're already a fan of the trilogy. The only downfall (to me) was that not every story was written by Schusterman so sometimes they didn't feel in-line with how the trilogy was written. HOWEVER, getting a single crumble of the Scythe world was absolutely worth and I still loved every single page of this book.

I was unable to download this book to my Kindle app, I tried several times and it still never worked.

I love this world and enjoyed reading the short stories to learn more about it. I would recommend this book to all that have read the Scythe series. This is defiantly worth reading.

Gleaning is a great book for anyone who liked the Arc of the Scythe trilogy. There are various authors but the world is consistent and it gives the series a last breath of fresh air even though the main story line is concluded. Guaranteed to find a few stories that you really like!

I struggled to connect with this book even though I had given the scythe trilogy all 5 stars. The short stories just felt a bit awkward to me, but I love this author.

Gleanings (Arc of a Scythe #3.5) by Neal Shusterman
Publication date: November 8, 2022

Date read: November 27, 2022



There are still countless tales of the Scythedom to tell. Centuries passed between the Thunderhead cradling humanity and Scythe Goddard trying to turn it upside down. For years humans lived in a world without hunger, disease, or death with Scythes as the living instruments of population control.
Neal Shusterman—along with collaborators David Yoon, Jarrod Shusterman, Sofía Lapuente, Michael H. Payne, Michelle Knowlden, and Joelle Shusterman—returns to the world throughout the timeline of the Arc of a Scythe series. Discover secrets and histories of characters you’ve followed for three volumes and meet new heroes, new foes, and some figures in between.

Most of these short stories either take place in the past (in relation to the Scythe books), or in the time between Thunderhead and The Toll. Full disclosure: I was only about 25% of the way through The Toll when I read Gleanings, so I can confirm that you can read Gleanings without having finished the last book, with only minor spoilers (all of which come in the first quarter of the book and are spoilers that you could have guessed anyway). But do not read this book without having read Thunderhead, or you will be completely spoiled on that book.

This is a compilation of short stories, and as with any books of that type, there are some hits and some misses. I wouldn’t say that there are any full misses in this book - there aren’t any stories that I disliked completely - but there were a few that left me feeling a little “meh”. My favorite stories (no spoilers) we’re “Formidable”, “Never Work with Animals”, “A Martian Minute”, and “Perchance to Glean”.

Overall, this was a really fun compilation of stories. I loved how we got to see into the past, finding out how Scythes Curie and Goddard got their starts, but then also just got to see some standalone stories about the Scythedom. Neal Shusterman is one of my favorite young adult authors writing today, both for his creativity and writing style. I think that science fiction is one of the hardest genres to write well, given that it often involves inventing new worlds or concepts, and he just does it so well. I highly recommend this whole trilogy, but would definitely recommend this book when you’re finished with it, as a fun addition with some really great stories.

Content warning: murder, grave desecration, cruelty to animals, physical assault, violent death, suicide.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

I loved the Scythe series and was looking forward to this book for a long time!! It did not disappoint. I enjoyed reading the backstories from the characters in the series and enjoyed the new characters as well.

Great stories, well written and bittersweet!!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 ⭐️

#NetGalley #NealShusterman #Gleanings

It was so nice to revisit old characters, meet new ones, and ultimately immerse myself back in this world again.

This book was the perfect companion book to the Scythe series. I really enjoyed how the world was fleshed out, and how it included stories that were only mentioned in the series. It was nice to revisit old friends, and check in on a couple after the series ended. I will be purchasing this book for my school library.

The Scythe series is one of my favorites. This was such a cool collection of small stories and poems related to the series. I thoroughly enjoyed this one!! It brought my back into this world without having to do a full re-read of the series, although I will 100% be doing that soon!

I really enjoyed my return to this world. These short stories reveal so much about the world since they come around liberated from the burden of sustaining the overall plot arc of the series. As with every short story collection, I prefer a handful of these stories more than the others but I enjoyed all of them.

I have truly loved the entire Scythe series, and I was thrilled to received this book for review purposes. These short stories were an awesome addition to the previously written trilogy. Well worth the read.

I love the universe that Neal Shusterman has created. The Scythe series is on of my favorite series. I felt like this story was very well written and I really enjoyed the short story format of this book. However, this book did not grab my attention like the other books in the series. I wasn't as excited to know what would happen next. I didn't think this was a necessary book in the series, but I appreciate it for what it is and I know a lot of people will appreciate getting more of this universe.

A fascinating collection of sort, short stories from the world of the Scytje. Interesting how the first and last short stories connects to the tour, the final book in the series. If you haven’t read the series yet, this is a good way to jump in. From Dogs to dreams to nightmares, Shusterman & company cover it all.

Some of these stories were just okay and some were fantastic. The one particular about the Mars group and Goddard’s beginnings was my particular favorite. Always happy getting more of this world!

I adored this series and this was a fantastic addition to it. I loved the chance to return to that world and see different points of view.