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

[Jenn]

Finished: (view spoiler)[ OMG!! That ending!! I was trying to figure out how this was going to end. I knew they couldn't pick Rowan because of everything that happened, but Citra's plan was FLAWLESS! Scythe Lucifer!! I cannot wait to read the sequel! (hide spoiler)]

[Heather]

So excited to discuss this!! I’m currently reading it

[Heather]

Part 1:
(view spoiler)[ I am so addicted to this world already. I feel like it’s set in modern day just in futuristic ways. So far I like the aspects of being gleaned, I find it really interesting that they get picked at random. Rowan and Citra are my favorites I wish they were allowed to have a romance but it would be too early on in my opinion for this book. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashleigh]

Chapters 1-3

(view spoiler)[The plot of this book is such an interesting concept. I'm hoping the two leads aren't gonna be annoying whiny teens who want to rebel against everything, but from what we've seen, I'm guessing they will be.

I like the little snippets in between the chapters with exercepts from a sycthe's diary which give a little exposition. Very interesting and helpful, while not being just info-dumps.

(hide spoiler)]

[Ashleigh]

Chapters 4-8

(view spoiler)[I'm loving the world in this book and it just feels so well-crafted and fleshed out. It's like Neal has an answer for all the questions you could think of.

I also really like the idea that if you want to be a scythe and think you could easily glean people, you don't deserve to be a scythe. To be a scythe you have to make heavy decisions and you should never take them not seriously enough as these are people's lives you're playing with.

That being said, I think the scythes we saw in the aeroplane scene will be trouble. They clearly relished in the process of making the people suffer so there's obvious some bad scythes out there. I wonder if Citra and Rowan will take them down and the whole scythe construct altogether.

I've been thinking about how this world would survive if they got rid of the scythes and if humans have already gotten rid of natural death and disease etc, how would we deal with overpopulation? Would people be banned from procreating? Would the Earth eventually die out?

(hide spoiler)]

[Ashleigh]

Chapters 9-14

(view spoiler)[Well. That was an interesting turn of events. The winner of the apprenticeship has to glean the loser. That shit's tough.

I think Rowan may be developing a little crush on Citra. I knew going into this book that a romance wpuld happen and some people don't think it worked and the chemistry isn't right, and so far, I think it's a little one-sided. I kinda don't want a romance but I'll have to live with it.


(hide spoiler)]

[Ashleigh]

Chapters 15-17

(view spoiler)[Noooooooooooo. Not Scythe Faraday! I can't believe he sacrificed himself for Citra and Rowan :(

Although he has kinda made it worse for them because they're working for monsters now. Greaaat.

(hide spoiler)]

[Heather]

Hoping to finish this today!

[Heather]

Part 2:
(view spoiler)[ I’m so attached to the two main characters now! They are both adorable and I didn’t want either of them to not get picked. But the fact that one of the two has to be gleaned now is going to break my heart. I’m still in shock that Faraday gleaned himself but, I also have the feeling that maybe something else is up his sleeve. Guess we will see in Part 3! (hide spoiler)]

[Heather]

Part 3:
(view spoiler)[ oh my gosh!! This part of the book is so super intense. I can’t believe that Rowan broke her neck and back! Then on top of that Faraday?!?!? I needed him to continue into the next book because he’s one of my favs. Now that Citra is kidnapped and DEAD I have no idea what to even think! (hide spoiler)]

[Heather]

Part 4:
(view spoiler)[ oh my god the stuff that continues to happen!! I’m so stoked to read the last part because of Rowan and Citra! I can’t believe that Faraday is still alive and that Rowan killed Goddard! What an action packed book! (hide spoiler)]

[Heather]

Finished:
(view spoiler)[ What an absolutely phenomenal book!! I can’t wait until I get the sequel today so I can continue on this journey. Citra and Rowan in my opinion are the cutest friends of all the books in the universe! Definitely 5 star read for me. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashleigh]

Finished

(view spoiler)[Loved loved loved this book. Deffo one of my new faves!

So my favourite characters were definitely Scythe Faraday and Scythe Curie, and the story of their tragic love hurt me. I hope they find a way to get back to each other in the future. Also, what was with Scythe Faraday faking his death?? Plot twist bitch! I'm so happy he wasn't actually murdered.

However, I'm very happy that Scythe Goodard is dead. Fuck that guy. He was such an asshole, and if he was alive in the Age of Mortality, you could tell he would be a serial killer. I'm pleased that he didn't manage to corrupt Rowan so much.

I did hear things about the romance going into it, and people saying it didn't need a romance and the characters had no chemistry. But personally, I don't think there was much of a romance. I think in the second book it will develop into something more, but for me, it felt like they just had feelings for each other and they had this kinship because they were going through the same thing. I don't think I'd be mad if it developed into something more actually.

Overall, new fave for me. Love it. Highly recommend!

(hide spoiler)]

[Ashleigh]

Heather wrote: "Part 4:
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[My jaw hit the floor when I found out Faraday was still alive. I'm pleased he is though. He was my favourite character (along with Scythe Curie).

(hide spoiler)]

[Brooke]

Page 44
(view spoiler)[I can see why her parents would push her into to. I like both MCs so far. Gleaning doesn't seem so bad, i could do it (so far, we'll see down the road). I really like that they can have different color robes. (hide spoiler)]

I really want to rewatch Dead Like Me now thou

[Brooke]

Page 123
(view spoiler)[God please don't have them fall in love, this book is trending for me to give it 5 stars, if they fall in love thou....

I'm worried about these mass gleaning, and their clothes, bedazzled? Why did they need Esme? (hide spoiler)]

[Brooke]

172
(view spoiler)[HOLY F**K
Now they have to kill the loser.
and Faraday gleaned himself?! WTF IS HAPPENING (hide spoiler)]

[Brooke]

Page 292
(view spoiler)[Yah Rowan breaking her neck was clearly the answer... (hide spoiler)]

[Brooke]

Page 316
(view spoiler)[After the pool incident with the High Blade, going to assume Esme is his spawn. (hide spoiler)]

[Tiffany]

Ashleigh wrote: "Chapters 1-3

The plot of this book is such an interesting concept. I'm hoping the two leads aren't gonna be annoying whiny teens who want to rebel against everything, but from what we've seen, I'm..."

(view spoiler)[I agree I'm loving the concept of the book, i like how its set in the future and you can still see parts of our world. The diary entrys are so cool. i like how it shows us the type of things that they scythes have to record in their journals and how they feel. (hide spoiler)]

[Tiffany]

Ashleigh wrote: "Chapters 4-8

I'm loving the world in this book and it just feels so well-crafted and fleshed out. It's like Neal has an answer for all the questions you could think of.

I also really like the id..."

(view spoiler)[ I'm falling in love with the world more and more. this is my first Neal Schusterman book and i can definatley feel myself reading more. I agree with you about the feelings of the scythe. i don't think anyone who enjoys gleaning people would be a good scythe, i mean you need to show a but of compassion. I really didn't like the scene of the plane but then again it builds the story i mean gleaning the whole plane is just cruel. (hide spoiler)]

[Tiffany]

Ashleigh wrote: "Chapters 9-14

Well. That was an interesting turn of events. The winner of the apprenticeship has to glean the loser. That shit's tough.

I think Rowan may be developing a little crush on Citra. I..."

(view spoiler)[ I really love our two main character so i really feel for them now that they are in a compertition. i also feel that the scythe community is a bit like high school where you have all the different popularity groups oh you see I'm a sucker for romance so i am here for it. (hide spoiler)]

[Tiffany]

Ashleigh wrote: "Chapters 15-17

Noooooooooooo. Not Scythe Faraday! I can't believe he sacrificed himself for Citra and Rowan :(

Although he has kinda made it worse for them because they're working for monsters no..."

(view spoiler)[ I nearly cried when Faraday gleaned himself. why!! he was such a good mentor for the the two main characters. (hide spoiler)]

[Tiffany]

Brooke wrote: "Page 44
[spoilers removed]

I really want to rewatch Dead Like Me now thou"

(view spoiler)[ Yeah i also see why her parents want her to do it. i feel like it would be a good experience being an apprentice for scythes. (hide spoiler)]

[Tiffany]

Heather wrote: "Part 2:
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ I love the two main characters. I really hope wht is doomed to happen doesn't happen. (hide spoiler)]

[Tiera]

I just got this book is it ok if I join up?

[Tiera]

Starting Now! Super excited I've heard great things about this series!

[Tiffany]

Tiera wrote: "I just got this book is it ok if I join up?"

ofcourse. cant wait to hear your thoughts

[Tiera]

Part 1: Wow I’m not really sure I’ve read anything like this. Tho it has a dystopian flare it kind of reminds me of the beginning of The Giver series. I can already see the problems that could arise.

[Tiera]

Part 2: (view spoiler)[ Oh no, Scythe Faraday!! What is happening here! At least Citra got the good end of the deal...Poor Rowan! (hide spoiler)]

[Tiera]

Chapters 18-27 (view spoiler)[ Well while the book is very interesting. Very. I’m not sure I love it yet. It’s depressing and there is this strong sense of apathy that is disconcerting. I love the dystopian feel but I feel like I’m constantly waiting for something...some big meaningful moment like a lightbulb to go off, a revolution maybe, but not Goodard’s revolution. Something in opposition to that. Someone to make a plan... (hide spoiler)]

[Tiera]

Finished! (view spoiler)[ Well I wasn’t expecting that, and in all honesty I’m not sure where this story is headed in the sequels because we aren’t really left anything to go on. I’m glad Rowan decided to take a better path! The ending was kind of meh to me. (hide spoiler)]

[Abi]

********************************************************************************************************************************************

Reading from the 1st of January 2019

********************************************************************************************************************************************

[Yajahyra]

I just bought the book yesterday. I’m excited to start reading it.

[Abby M.]

I'm excited to finally read this one. I'm always late to the hyped books.

[Ryn]

Right? So am I. I'm going to start it today. My last audio ran a little over and I wanted to finish it first, but I've been waiting for this one a looong time.

[Ryn]

Well, I'm about 2 hours in to a 10.5 hour book and my first thought is, I understand why this book is so popular. Like Unwind, Shusterman takes a very intense topic -- death -- sets it into a dystoptian future that has basically been reshaped by looking at the topic a whole new way, and writes a killer story about it. Normally it takes me a while to get involved in an audiobook, but this one grabbed me from the very start.

Early thoughts:

I'm not really fond of Citra. I'm sort of starting to like her more as we get to know her better but she seems to have that teenage "I'm mad at X so I'm going to be a complete jerk just because I know how to use my mouth" attitude that I don't like. I suppose I understand it since (view spoiler)[she certainly has good reason to be frightened of and angry with the Scythe -- that original scene definitely felt like he was toying with that family... although again, I can understand why he didn't tell them why he was really there -- but she comes across as obnoxious to me. That said, I have a sneaking suspicion she wins because of the Curie journal entries. All the Scythes take names after famous scientists, and Curie was a woman. I think I'm going to be really disappointed if the winner is that obvious, or if Rowan took a girl scientist's name just to throw us off.

I like Rowan a lot better, and at this point ... other than the idiot stunt he pulled inviting Tiger over .. I think he might be a better Scythe. I don't know though -- he's threatened people falsely with a Scythe's abilities twice now, which isn't cool. Also, I thought that the winner was going to have to glean the loser? Not that I want that to happen, because that is some serious mental torture that seems at odds with the purpose and attitude of Scythes. (hide spoiler)]

What do you think so far?

[Grace]

I just finished the book and thought the end really tied up nicely (I won't say anything spoiler related). It took me a while to read just because I kept getting interrupted but I really love how it picked up in the middle and end. The ending was kinda predictable once you got going but it was one was of those times where you could guess what was going to happen and then you wanted that to happen and when it did it was very satisfying.

[Ryn]

to Chapter 19

WOW!

Okay, so my two big questions have been answered. We know (view spoiler)[ who Scythe Curie is and unless they do things weird, it's NOT either of the two kids, so I'm glad about that. I also really, really like Scythe Curie. She seemed kind of horrible originally, but she and Scythe Faraday are a lot alike, and I loved how she handled the family of the man she gleaned. I was impressed by her handling of Citra too -- absolutely agreed with her taking Citra down when she tried to call the Scythe out in public. I like Citra more; in fact, I'm starting to think she will be a better choice.

The whole thing with the winner gleaning the loser obviously has now been answered as well, although seriously? That is insane mental and emotional cruelty, and I'm convinced the High Blade is in Goddard's pocket. This whole thing is way too fishy.

1. Faraday was either killed or didn't actually die. If he had committed suicide to free the kids, he would have explained it to them first and made sure they understood their rights. He probably would have waited until closer to their time as well.
2. They were promised they could go home, which I'm pretty sure was binding because I know they said before a Scythe is basically required to honor their word. So I can't really figure out why no one has pulled that out yet.
3. The gleaning of one another is ridiculously unfair for too many reasons to go into -- ugh, that made me mad.
4. Once they are no longer with one master, they should no longer have to compete. They're being singled out, so something smells really bad here and it's not the cat box. (hide spoiler)]

This book is so completely YA yet so completely amazing. Even listening to it, I've been riveted. I have yet to define this elusive quality of writing that differentiates stories between the mediocre, the laborious, the good and the stellar, but whatever it is that makes a book stellar, this one has.

[Ryn]

to Chapter 28.5

Better and better. Goddard is (view spoiler)[ a snake and I've spent the last section of the book wondering why the High Blade is in his pocket. Just found out, although I'm still not entirely sure why no one else is coming forward to accuse him or why the High Blade is going along with all this. Especially since the High Blade seems as disgusted with it as everyone else. Rowan's in trouble though. Well, so is Citra perhaps but Rowan's going to have to make some tough choices. I can't figure out why there is no way out for either of them if they've decided they don't want to do it. As much as Rowan thinks he might feel the urge to be a Scythe, faced with everything that will come from Goddard, he'd really be smart to withdraw himself. (hide spoiler)]

I wish the list of the Scythe's commandments were printed at the beginning or end of the book.

[Ryn]

28-fin

I am an adult reader. I should absolutely have seen all of this coming, but I didn't. Can we just take a moment to talk about what a true master of YA dystopia is Neal Shusterman?

...

I was so pleased with the ending. I'm not surprised a bit that (view spoiler)[ Faraday was still alive, although I was a bit surprised that he did not make any sort of grand reappearance to save Citra. I wish the High Blade had either freed Rowan when Goddard died or canceled the whole immediate gleaning thing. I'm not actually sure why Citra didn't follow through with that whole "Once I'm a Scythe I'm only bound by the Ten Commandments, so I don't have to glean Rowan" idea instead of sending him into hiding, but it's possible another Scythe would have gotten him anyway. He's such a wreck from everything Goddard did that his finale is probably better this way. Found the whole ending of Goddard and cronies very just and fitting. (hide spoiler)]

I could go on. And on. And on. But I won't. Five stars from me. Full review to come.

[Sarah Elizabeth]

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Date changed. Restarting February 16th 2019. Happy Reading ☺

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[[deleted user]]

26%

(view spoiler)[ I love how the gleanings seem to be so factual. I feel bad for Rowan and Citra. Personally, I like Citra more than Rowan. It's interesting how scythes should have no interest in killing. I wonder who will be chosen. (hide spoiler)]

[[[ Frankie ]]]

I’m starting right now, Slytherpuff!

[[[ Frankie ]]]

What did you think about the first journal entry? Right before chapter one? It was kinda creepy... definitely has my attention already!

[[[ Frankie ]]]

Chapter 1:
(view spoiler)[I love it when a book helps to broaden my vocabulary. I love learning new words & their meanings. For example, in the very first paragraph of chapter one, I already learned a new word! LOL.

Pernicious; adj. - having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way

Had no idea what that word meant beforehand. I had a guess that was close, but close isn’t good enough. ;p
(hide spoiler)]

[[[ Frankie ]]]

Chapter 1:
(view spoiler)[That’s two words just in chapter one that I’ve learned...

Obsequious; adj. - obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree

Had no idea what that word was until now. LOL.
(hide spoiler)]

[[[ Frankie ]]]

Chapter 2:
(view spoiler)[I like the “lettuce” analogy that Rowan & Tyger made up. & what’s up with Tyger’s “splatting”? Yick. I’m not sure I’d wanna do that for fun, even if I could. I guess life with no death other than gleaning gets boring, huh? LOL.
(hide spoiler)]

[[[ Frankie ]]]

Chapter 2:
(view spoiler)[So wtf. Kids are so freaking cruel. I understand Marah & the other kids being upset by Kohl’s death, but after living in their new world for so long, you’d think they’d know better than to think Rowan could’ve stopped the scythe from gleaning Kohl. Like he said, I guess they just want to have someone to blame.
(hide spoiler)]

[[[ Frankie ]]]

Chapter 3:
(view spoiler)[So I’m liking the journal entries before each chapter, but I wonder who H.S. Curie is? & are we gonna find out who it is eventually, I wonder?
(hide spoiler)]