Name: Scythe
ISBN: 9781442472426

Neal Shusterman

In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ('gleaned') by professional reapers ('scythes'). Two teens must compete with each other to become a scythe--a position neither of them wants. The one who becomes a scythe must kill the one who doesn't. . . 

Arc of a Scythe #1

Scythe

Jessie!

Jordan

My greatest wish for humanity is not for peace or comfort or joy. It is that we all still die a little inside every time we witness the death of another. For only the pain of empathy will keep us human. There's no version of God that can help us if we ever lose that. -Scythe Faraday

Emma Ouellet

Remington

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 bestselling Unwind dystology. 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.

KENDO

A reread, still a page turning book that brings up questions of the purpose of life, death, their undeniable connection, what it is to be human and the consequences of conscience. All packed into a YA dystopian story that I’ve never truly stopped thinking about between reads. 

Abigail F

this book was so much fun to read like I couldn’t put it down! The world building was so immersive, felt like i was there. Loved the plot twists along the way and all the character growth that came with it. Great read!

Essence

this come close to being my second best series i’ve read this year (i have not yet read the rest of the series). my only complaint was with the romance plot, ada beberapa part yg berasa awkward dibaca…???? it got slightly better towards the end tho. tbh sampe akhir i don’t feel any chemistry between the leads, mungkin karena bukan fokusnya aja jd i don’t mind jg kalo they don’t get together at the end of the series (gak tau kalo nanti). trs jg i don’t find myself care enough about citra’s character kayak bland aja gt. bagusss tp i don’t see myself binging the series. kapan kapan mungkin ye

hana

i really loved the moral premise of this book. some parts got really interesting during the end— i wished we stayed with those crazier plots instead of returning back to the original. but overall, i really enjoyed!

Janet Akisanmi

The Arc of a Scythe #1

Falce. Trilogia della Falce

Amazing concept, I am curious about what will happen next

Aris 

I really enjoyed this utopian/dystopian fantasy story. Set in a world where no one dies because tech has made us almost immortal, the Scythes kill for population control. I enjoyed following Citra & Rowan through the webs of intrigue. Excited for the rest of the trilogy!

Amelia

Linara K.S

the phylosophical aspect of the book is uncomfortable. And the romance is not to my taste.

(3.5) Very cool concept and characters. There was a lot of emphasis on Citra but I wanted to see more of Rowan as well. Also, I wanted to see more of their relationship grow as well. Like how can you not see someone for 4 months then say "I love you."? What? I mean I get that she saved his life but maybe a thank you would suffice. I don't know. Anyway, I look forward to the rest of the series.

tori 👻

oh my god i fucking LOVED this book, i have no words for now but i'll surely write a review on it soon
now on to book 2

kelsey

have not a hand in the blade with abandon.

arwen

Irina Nicula

** spoiler alert **
           This has been a great read, 3.5 stars. However! The reason for my rating is that I would have liked to see some more world building, to learn more about this supposed utopia. I would have liked to read some more justification for scythes and their ‘organisation’... why not birth control, why not limit the number of children per family or let people who want to die die? Why revive absolutely everyone? It would have been awesome if the author dug more into the reasons why scythes were considered the absolute decision makers into who dies and who lives and why there were no other measures to control population numbers.

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.

abby .˚｡⋆ ༊ .˚｡⋆

where to begin.. I LOVE me a good dystopian novel, and this book definitely was one of the best i’ve read. Scythe is such a wonderful (not so) hidden gem. This deserves way more hype.  I thought it was fantastic!! I loved the world building, the politics, & the characters. The evolution of the main characters were complex and as they go through all of these harrowing situations, it’s interesting to see how these events affect them in different ways. I also enjoyed the journal entries we see in every chapter & getting an insight into what the scythes are thinking. can’t wait to pick up book two!! (:

Luke Harkness

Full of wonderful ideas and twists and turns

About 10 chapters in, after introducing the whole idea of the lore, I wondered where and how the author would make this an interesting story, but he most certainly did that. 

He made two main characters who are truly likeable and a villain who is truly unlikeable and that's exactly what you need to route for the good-guys.

There's nothing mindblowing about the story but there's definitely intrigue and reasons to keep reading as you go along. Look forward to seeing where the sequel takes it!

Christine

Annalissa Powner 

I listen to this on audio and I couldn’t stop listening to it, what I thought would a meh read to listen to while doing dishes or taking a walk turned into a story I couldn’t stop thinking about whenever I wasn’t listening.
The idea of a world with no government, immortality and no worries seemed boring, till you enter in this brilliant twist. 
This book made me more than once stop and question if a life without illness and death would really be a life worth living in.
Slow at times but for such great build up! Though im left with my questions I’m only a tiny bit upset by the ending and mostly fascinated to see what magic the next book holds.

"A humanidade venceu todas as barreiras: fome, doenças, guerras, miséria... Até mesmo a morte. Agora os ceifadores são os únicos que podem pôr fim a uma vida, impedindo que o crescimento populacional vá além do limite e a Terra deixe de comportar a população por toda a eternidade. Citra e Rowan são adolescentes escolhidos como aprendizes de ceifador - um papel que nenhum dos dois quer desempenhar. Para receberem o anel e o manto da Ceifa, os adolescentes precisam dominar a "arte" da coleta, ou seja, precisam aprender a matar. Porém, se falharem em sua missão - ou se a cumplicidade no treinamento se tornar algo mais -, podem colocar a própria vida em risco."--

O Ceifador

Ana Luiza

** spoiler alert **
           3,5⭐️ 

Achei esse livro muito interessante e recomendaria a leitura a qualquer um. Acho que minha nota só não foi maior porque esperava algo diferente da história. Não sei exatamente o que esperava, mas os primeiros capítulos me levaram a pensar que seria uma distopia/sci-fi, mas o livro me pareceu uma espécie de policial (que não é meu genero preferido...). Por causa disso, não fiquei totalmente presa a historia e não li o livro rapidamente, mas aproveitei a leitura e gostei bastante do rumo que a história tomou mais pro final. 
Não fiquei muito ligada aos personagens, o romance não faz a menor diferença, os ceifadores não foram bem desenvolvidos na minha opinião. Os personagens principais também não foram muito desenvolvidos na minha opinião, até a última página não conseguia me importar que ia virar ceifador no final ou se eles iam conseguir contornar essa regra.
O que mais gostei no livro foi o universo, sem dúvidas. Foi como ver uma utopia que se torna distópico e muito aterrorizante. Espero que nunca cheguemos nem perto de um futuro assim. 

Foi um livro bom mas não acho que bom o suficiente para dar continuidade a série.

gabby

4.5/5 
MY JAW WAS ON THE FLOOR. so many plot twists, i cant even count it on my hands!!

kayla 

A very poorly structured brain blurt review!

<spoiler> I have so many feelings towards this book. At times I found the plot too simplistic and almost cartoon like, but that links to a journal entry where life without death was compared to a cartoon.. which is amazing. I didn’t feel much for either Citra or Rowan throughout the entire book, I felt no emotional connection to them but I did enjoy watching their stories unfold.  The ending hit me quite hard, I adored the final line, “And if ever Scythe Lucifer comes my way, I hope he’ll see me as one of the good ones. As he once did.” it was incredibly powerful and left me thinking a lot. 

Scythe Farady, Curie and Volta were by far my favourite characters - they were all deeply misunderstood in different ways and I loved exploring their pasts and presents. 

The plot/twists were pretty predictable and they didn’t really shock me at all, but I was okay with that because I still enjoyed the story anyway. The world building is fascinating and I can’t wait to learn more. :3

I’m someone who actively avoids romance and I did roll my eyes at the beginning of Rowan and Citras ‘relationship’ but it developed in a way I found both enjoyable and surprising. If you’re a romance hater, read this book regardless. 🫵 I’m hoping it stays this way in the coming books, as I’ll definitely be reading them. :) </spoiler>

chloe rae

2020 reread:

I’ve been having the HARDEST TIME figuring out what to read so...when in doubt, pick up an old favorite! This book is still just as amazing as it was the first time! Couldn’t put it down!

2018 original review:
THIS BOOK WAS INCREDIBLE. 
Oh man. I’m so shook. That ending?! WHOA. Now I have to run out and buy the second one tomorrow (which I’m so stoked about)! Can’t wait to see where this series goes!

Mel 

Raquel 

this one just made its way into my favorites very easily! 

 

The world and characters that Neal created for Scythe was just something that fascinated me and kept me hooked to the pages from the very start. This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! 

There is no doubt I'm going to read the rest of the series AND other books by Neal Shusterman, I honestly love his writing so so much. 

Please please please read it, you won't regret it! ❤️

Scythe Arc of a Scythe #1