Scythe

De: Neal Shusterman

Narrado por: Greg Tremblay

Two teens must learn the "art of killing" in this Printz Honor-winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times best-selling Unwind Dystology series.

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.

Scythe is the first novel of a thrilling new series by National Book Award-winning author Neal Shusterman in which Citra and Rowan learn that a perfect world comes only with a heavy price.

©2016 Neal Shusterman (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

A Left at the Door Review by Liadan of Scythe

In a future where everyone is immortal, death is only permanent if you are reaped by a scythe. This book is written mostly from Rowan's point of view but with occasional POV of Citra two teens who have been chosen as apprentice Scythe. They must learn to take life in a society where suicide is called splatting and deadish is the most you can become before the Thundercloud revives you.

Classification of YA for this novel is quite fitting, as the writing is juvenile. The author relied heavily on foreshadowing and one had a guess as to how the book would end well before the halfway point. The concept is intriguing; however, the delivery left much to be desired. The main characters were often shallow and when the author couldn't figure out how to resolve a problem on his own, decided to bring the magic AI to the character's rescue even though he's said the AI won't interact with the character as they are part of the scythedom.

The romantic aspect of the story was unnecessary and detracted from the story instead of adding to the story. The author could have easily and more believably had the same conclusion to the story with the characters becoming friends instead of having the Romeo/Juliette "But I love Him/Her" syndrome in the story.

Additionally, the forced competition with death by victor was introduced too early in the story and made the storyline fall apart as the progression of the characters stopped completely.

My biggest complaint with this book was the socially acceptable practice of suicide by splatting as a way to get attention or out of a difficult situation since the characters can't die of their own free will. With the endemic teen suicide rate in the US, this aspect of the book was off-putting and not well thought out by the author.

Overall the book had potential that was spoiled by bad decisions and lazy writing.

Violence: High
Sex: none

Story: 2.5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Overall: 3.75

This could be the next big thing....

What a fantastic book! Man, I loved every minute of it. The parallels to books like Hunger Games and Maze Runner will be rampant, and what a great comparison! The world that Shusterman has created here is so rich and well thought out, and the characters are very well developed and instantly endearing. The Unwind series that Shusterman wrote is so good, but this has the potential to be a better series than even that! Excellent narration, and I can not wait for the next book in the series!

Interesting take on a dystonian future.

I think the author does an amazing job of fleshing out a world where death is an after thought and daily life has been homogenized. I wouldn't recommend going into Scythe looking for an amazing character story. You can tell the author enjoys writing about the rules an laws that govern this new world much more than the people who live in it.

Some plot points fell kinda flat and many of the twists you could see coming but overall I still very much enjoyed the world building and the pre/post chapter parts were very enjoyable. I'm writing this review after listening to the second book as well and I can say much of the same about that. If you like world building this is for you, but if you are more into character building you may want to look elsewhere.

Loved it!

I loved the world and I loved the characters and I loved all the different points of view and how this contributed to the overall awesomeness of this story.

Amazing book

loved this book from start to finish, could not stop listening. Was on edge of my truck seat the whole time, well written, well read, just captivating...more please?

But wait - There’s More!!

An excellent piece on so many levels. Special kudos to the narrator, a man who performs women’s voices without being diminutive or insulting. I listened because the book was assigned to my high-schooler’s class, & look forward to a lifetime of discussions! Oddly, though, the written edition has an Epilogue regarding a specific event with Scythe Lucifer, which is conspicuously absent from this audiobook. I recommend you read it.

Slow start, smashing ending!

Great book. It took a bit to get started but thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

Outstanding to the very last word.

Outstanding story replete with sensitivity, insight, knife edge tension, and an ending not to be guessed. Great characters and excellent delivery. A story that keeps one listening instead of sleeping at bedtime.

hell ya

Read this book to beat a student.
Love it! Great book! 8th grade English teacher.

good & evil absent the suffering we think we know

If we could lift the lid on a broken storage box for a cracked crystal ball looking into one possible version of the future, this could be it.