Scythe

In a perfect world with perfect systems put in place by an all seeing artificial intelligence, I was baffled by how deeply flawed the scythedom was. Granted, without deep rooted corruption, there would be no story, no arc. The idea of pitting two apprentices against each other was a welcome idea, but the removal of Scythe Faraday early on made me lose interest, despite the fact it was obvious he was never really gone. However, the way in which the author managed to seamlessly blend several perspectives into one, without making the book fell clunky, made the flow and pace interesting to follow. I believe the book truly picked up upon the introduction of Scythe Lucifer, which was in the last chapter. I will surely keep reading the series to see what happens next, as the characters are memorable and the deep rooted corruption was not truly eradicated in the first book. My only gripe was the near dystopian scythedom in a utopian world. The majority of the world’s takers of life, including the leader, showed a deep level of corruption with little consequence, with the responsibility falling upon two seventeen year olds’ shoulders, a little too fictitious.

You’ll finish the book asking yourself if you really just read a dystopian novel or a utopian one. Shusterman glides down the line separating horror from happy, bringing the reader along for the experience. Packed with twists that re-define expectations, Scythe is a great read for anyone who enjoys intricate characters and fantastical science fiction.

An amazing journey of understanding what killing truly means. Learning about life and what it means to those that cannot die.

The writing was engaging and thought inducing. I really enjoyed the story and character development.

TLDR: Overall, it was a good and easy read. Finished the book in 2 days and would recommend for anyone interested in diving into in a morally complicated world and wouldn’t mind some plot conveniences. Full Review: This was an easy and entertaining read and is the first book I read in a long while. I think it has a great concept and I love the world as it makes you think about the moral implications of each character’s beliefs and actions. I think the plot is interesting, and I particularly liked following Rowan as he got to do more interesting things and had more conflict in his story. I didn’t give it a 4 stars or higher because I felt like while the world makes you think about these moral issues deeply, they aren’t expanded upon too much. The villains in this story starts off fantastic - they do things that make the reader very uncomfortable but you can justify their actions morally and their motivation is understandable. However, they end up becoming cartoonishly evil which makes it clear that the author wants us to think that their actions are completely wrong, even though I think there are things worth exploring. Another aspect I didn’t like as much is that the character relationships don’t progress - for example, the main characters are supposed to be friends/lovers but you never get the sense that they like each other. They seem similarly cold to each other as they did when they first met and tbh I don’t think they even have a single friendly conversation. This is a shame because I felt like all the characters have distinct personalities and beliefs and their established relationships (e.g. family, old friends etc) are very well done.

WOW

Best novel to come out in dystopian since the Hunger Games

LOVE this series. It is one of those books that you continue to think about long after putting it down.

Monkey can’t climb water without the hoverboard

Everything I wanted and more !