Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman - Restarting May 1st 2023

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Velina wrote: "Bookbuyer wrote: "So I'm on chapter two and already have questions. "

Yeah [spoilers removed]"

KK. I still don't know who that is but hopefully it will come up soon. :)

It reminds me a bit of when I watch my historical dramas. Sometimes your aunt is young then you in those lol.

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Velina wrote: "Do any of you know if Rowan and Citra get romantically involved?"

No clue. I would imagine so but don't know for sure. :)

[Felicia]

Velina wrote: "Do any of you know if Rowan and Citra get romantically involved?"

I hope so! Lol. That'll make everything more interesting!

[Aly]

Chapter 7: (view spoiler)[ I like the journal entries in between chapters. It's cool to get a look inside a Scythe's head. Faraday seems like a good guy. He's pretty fair and doesn't take pleasure in gleaning, unlike Goddard and his crew. I'm surprised they're allowed to act that way, although maybe no one knows they do. (hide spoiler)]

[Velina]

Aly wrote: "Okay, first impressions of the world."

Shouldn't that be in spoilers? 😂

[Velina]

Felicia wrote: "Velina wrote: "Do any of you know if Rowan and Citra get romantically involved?"

I hope so! Lol. That'll make everything more interesting!"

I do love a romance here and there and I also think it will make the book even better.

[Felicia]

Velina wrote: "Felicia wrote: "Velina wrote: "Do any of you know if Rowan and Citra get romantically involved?"

I hope so! Lol. That'll make everything more interesting!"

I do love a romance here and there and ..."

Agreed!

[Felicia]

Just finished chapter 6.(view spoiler)[Holy shit. That plane gleaning was INTENSE! Yeesh. These guys don't seem like good scythes. (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Velina wrote: "Aly wrote: "Okay, first impressions of the world."

Shouldn't that be in spoilers? 😂"

Sorry, I fixed it. :(

[Aly]

Chapter 13 (view spoiler)[ Picking someone to glean would be so hard. Especially when you see these people's lives and their families. Poor Rowan, but I do understand the lesson Faraday was teaching.
I wonder why Goddard let Esme live. Maybe he wants to make her a Scythe?
I wondered if we would get to meet Scythe Curie, since we've been seeing her journals. She seems okay. The conclave seems mostly boring, although I imagine Scythes to be fairly boring anyway. I'm glad that boy didn't get chosen to be a Scythe, he was a dick haha. (hide spoiler)]

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Just got to part two. Really interesting so far. Definitely makes you think. :)

[Sarah]

389
I really enjoy this book and the many plot twists. I enjoyed the beginning of Part 4 and learning that Faraday was still alive (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah]

Part 5
I really don't know how it is going to end

[Felicia]

Just finished chapter 15(view spoiler)[Holy shit. That was an interesting congregation. And now they have to kill each other at the end of their apprenticeships?! That’s intense. And the poor dears like one another. 😱 (hide spoiler)]

[Felicia]

Page 171.(view spoiler)[Faraday gleaned himself!? Whaaaaaat! No effing way. (hide spoiler)]

[Felicia]

Finished part two. (view spoiler)[And I’m just gonna say holy fucking shit.

Maybe now the MCs can be together! 😱 (hide spoiler)]

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Felicia wrote: "Just finished chapter 6.[spoilers removed]"

They really didn't. (view spoiler)[You could tell he enjoyed the idea of killing all those people. I'm glad the man took that away from him at least. :) (hide spoiler)]

[Karen]

Hey guys! I was really interested in reading this book, so I was hoping to join you guys in buddy reading.

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Karen wrote: "Hey guys! I was really interested in reading this book, so I was hoping to join you guys in buddy reading."

Sure! The more the merrier! :)

[Velina]

I'm up to part 2.
Loving this so far!

[Aly]

Finished part 2 (view spoiler)[ I was so sad when they said Scythe Faraday gleaned himself! That seems very suspicious, I wonder if another Scythe was able to kill him somehow. And now Rowan has to go with Goddard, ugh. He seems awful. Citra got the better end of the deal for sure. (hide spoiler)]

[Velina]

Chapter 15 I'm so angry!(view spoiler)[ I hate all the Scythes except Faraday. This Xenocrates is a fuckin asshole and shouldn't be the lead Scythe. Also Goddard and his stupid crew deserve to die! (hide spoiler)]

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Velina wrote: "Chapter 15 I'm so angry![spoilers removed]"

I completely agree! Goddard (view spoiler)[is an effing psychopath! (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Chapter 20 (view spoiler)[ I really like how Curie gleans. Even though there's no last words, the person doesn't have to be afraid. I'd rather go that way I think. And I like that she invites the families over and talks to them so they feel better and she lets them know she doesn't think they're just a statistic. And Goddard is just awful. Taking advantage of his position to gain things and treating people poorly. I wish someone would stand up to him and stop him. (hide spoiler)]

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Aly wrote: "Chapter 20 [spoilers removed]"

I really like Curie as well. I'm glad I finally figured out who she was! :P

[Sarah]

Klancy wrote: "Page 119:

Loving the book so far! It's very immersive. [spoilers removed]"

I know, I love Neal Shusterman books because they are that well thought out

[Sarah]

Velina wrote: "Bookbuyer wrote: "So I'm on chapter two and already have questions. "

Yeah [spoilers removed]"

Yes, somewhat at the end.

[Sarah]

I finished the book and can't wait to read the next book to see where things end up. (view spoiler)[ Citra aka Scythe Anastasia makes Rowan immune (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Chapter 26 (view spoiler)[ I wonder what the deal is with Esme? I need to know! I worry about Rowan and I hope he can resist falling under Goddard's spell. Knowing Volta doesn't like what's going on is helpful, maybe they can bond over that. Citra has it way better with Curie. I hope she finds something about Faraday soon. Rowan could use some hope. (hide spoiler)]

[Felicia]

Finished part three. (view spoiler)[So much happened in this part! So much I was definitely not expecting!

Obviously Citra’s arrest was totally crazy! And Xenocrates freakin’ daughter! Wtf?! And Goddard was his apprentice! And now has the High Blade in his pocket! Yeesh. So much drama in the supposed high and mighty perfect Scythedom. Damn.

I am loving this book. But finding it so hard to read. I obviously know how big it is as I’m reading physical. But damn. This is such a long ass book. Lmao. 😑 (hide spoiler)]

[Velina]

I'm dead! Such a good book! Will order Thunderhead soon cos I need to have that in physical !

[Velina]

"And if ever Scythe Lucifer comes my way, I hope he'll see me as one of the good ones. The way he once did"

[Karen]

11%
(view spoiler)[ Faraday told Citra and Rowan that nothing could happen romantically between them. But I hope so much that they break this rule! I ship them so much already.
This book is pretty fun so far and I love how they are giving a new perspective on death. Instead of mourning it, embracing its importance. It's pretty refreshing. (hide spoiler)]

[✨ jami ✨]

im nearly finished and

(view spoiler)[I think the tension and drama definitely dropped off for a bit in the middle there but its picking up again. I feel like there's a bit twist coming so I'm excited (hide spoiler)]

[Grace =^_^=]

Parts 1 - 2 (view spoiler)[ Interesting premise - living in a post-mortality world and in order keep the population under control, scythes have the unenviable burden of "gleaning" ppl.

There's some humour in this book, which was unexpected given the subject matter. I thought this line was funny at their first conclave: "And the scythes, Earth's grand bringers of death, began to file out into the rotunda for donuts and coffee."

When we find out that Faraday gleaned himself, was like, What? I didn't believe it. And I gasped when we're told that Rowan will be Goddard's apprentice. (hide spoiler)]

[Grace =^_^=]

Part 3 (view spoiler)[ I wonder why Curie didn't offer to take on Rowan as well.

I like the inner conflict we see in Rowan. He fears that he's becoming a monster like Goddard. Shusterman is showing us the fine line between being capable of humanity and of monstrosity. (hide spoiler)]

[Grace =^_^=]

Part 4(view spoiler)[ Okay, I was not expecting Faraday to be Gerald Van Der Gans! That really surprised me. I thought that was Scythe Goddard's real name.

Lots of interesting details revealed here. Faraday and Curie were lovers?

If Curie knew Faraday was alive, I'm wondering why she didn't do a better job of convincing Citra to stop investigating Faraday's death as a murder. (hide spoiler)]

[Grace =^_^=]

Part 5/Conclusion (view spoiler)[ Citra's final test was pretty emotional although I'm not surprised that it was a family member that she had to glean. I wasn't sure she would actually go through with it, though.

What a great ending. She granted Rowan immunity by punching him in the face with the ring! If she had arranged Faraday to be waiting in the "escape" care, she must have been pretty confident that she would be ordained. Well, I'm glad she had a plan for how she would save Rowan. (hide spoiler)]

So excited to read Thunderhead!

[Grace =^_^=]

Sarah wrote: "I finished the book and can't wait to read the next book to see where things end up. [spoilers removed]"

The ending was so good. It had me smiling.

[✨ jami ✨]

finished it

(view spoiler)[ it definitely picked up at the end but I did guess some of the plot twists and things. I liked the immunity punch at the end though, that was cool. Overall I liked it but I didn't love it (hide spoiler)]

[Karen]

86%
(view spoiler)[
I was so surprised to find out that Faraday was still alive! I had not been expecting that at all.

It's also super cool how the Thunderhead was trying to help her, seeming that he truly has a conscience and isn't simply a machine.

It was hilarious when the Amazon scythe had pretended to chose her for gleaning. I actually thought he was serious and that she was unlucky enough.
(hide spoiler)]

[Karen]

92%
(view spoiler)[
Yes!! I am so happy that Rowan finally decided to kill these SOBs. And his plan was very well executed. I only got sad when Volta killed himself. He was truly a good scythe, the only issue was that he was surrounded by negative influences.

I'm also happy that Esme is now returning to her family. She is a smart girl and she went through a lot. She deserves some peace, especially after the massacre she witnessed.
(hide spoiler)]

[Karen]

100%
(view spoiler)[
The ending was so good! All along I had been hoping that both of them would survive. But the way that Citra saved them both was so simple it was genius. I'm glad the High Blade decided to allow it. It shows that he still had some kindness in his heart, because it would be beneficial to him to have Rowan dead. After all, Rowan was the only one that knew of his daughter.
(hide spoiler)]

I'm so excited to start the next one! Do any of you that finished Scythe want to buddy read?

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Karen wrote: "100%

Me!

[Velina]

Book you should delete Karen's spoiler from your message.

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

Velina wrote: "Book you should delete Karen's spoiler from your message."

Done! :)

[Felicia]

Finished the book. (view spoiler)[I definitely ended up loving this book much more than I thought. It was kind of hard in the beginning and I'm not sure why. Because I really was enjoying it. Maybe it was because it was just so damn long? Lol. I don't know.

But this book was SO good! I was not expecting Faraday to really be alive just having secretly retired. That blew me away.

And poor Rowan having to apprentice with Goddard. That was terrible. Goddard was a terrible human being.

But I didn't really know what was going to happen with them having to glean the loser. I am so happy that they got away!

I am really excited to get to Thunderhead. But have to wait for a BR. :D (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Chapter 28 (view spoiler)[ Oh! So that's why Esme is staying with Goddard. Makes sense now. Poor Rowan, his life is so bad. I don't think he's becoming a monster though. He still knows what Goddard is doing is wrong. (hide spoiler)]

[Felicia]

Aly wrote: "Chapter 28 [spoilers removed]"

I totally agree with ya!

[Aly]

Karen wrote: "100%

The ending was so good! All along I had been hoping that both of them would survive. But the way that Citra saved them both was so simple it was genius. I'm glad the High Blade decided to all..."

A bunch of us on the Wanted: Reading Buddy thread are trying to get a date set up. Hopefully next week!