Scythe

by Neal Shusterman

Amazon Prices:

Paperback: $6.71

Hardcover: $18.99

Kindle: $8.99 (Not available on Kindle Unlimited)

Audible: $21.99 (Not available on Kindle Unlimited)

Before Reading Facts:

Scythe by Neal Shusterman was published in 2016 by Simon & Schuster.

Page Count: 464 pages (paperback) 448 (hardcover) 449 (Kindle)

Audiobook length: 10 hrs 32 mins

Chapters: 40

Languages: English (also available in the follow translations: Spanish, French, and German)

Summary of Book:

“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 consequences of failure could mean losing their own. They learn living in a perfect world comes only with a heavy price.

A Printz Honor Book, Scythe is the debut of a thrilling new series by National Book Award-winning author Neal Shusterman” -Simon & Schuster

Author Biography:

“Neal Shusterman is the author of many novels for young adults, including Unwind, which was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers, Everlost, and Downsiders, which was nominated for twelve state reading awards. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows such as Animorphs and Goosebumps. The father of four children, Neal lives in southern California.” -Amazon

Book Review:

Overall Book Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★★

Let me start by saying that I read this book only because I bought it as a Christmas gift exchange for a friend. It was not my intention to read it, but something about the cover of the book was drawing me in. I bought this book early for my gift exchange, so it stared at me with such a hunger that I just had to pick it up and ‘at least’ peek inside. In the end, my curiosity got the best of me, and I ended up getting the audiobook for it and set off to get through this intriguing book.

I really loved this book! This book was different than what I have read recently. The whole idea of the world Shusterman created is fascinating! I could not put this book down! I finished this novel in two days because I just wanted to keep going and know more about this world and what Shusterman’s characters were in for. His characters, the good and the bad ones, were also interesting. They kept the reader hooked, and by the time I reached the end of the novel, the ending to be very satisfying.

I am so glad I got curious and peeked inside this novel. This was a new type of read for me, and I was not at all upset about it in any way. After reading the first part of the novel, I decided I had to keep a copy for myself and ended up buying a second copy to gift to my friend for our Christmas exchange. I cannot wait for her to read it and the two of us can discuss this amazing novel together.

Audible Review:

Narration Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★★

Narration by Greg Tremblay

Tremblay does an excellent job portraying the panic, emotions, excitement, and joy throughout the story. His narration allows readers to continue to listen and keeps the listener invested in the story. Overall, Tremblay does an extraordinary job captivating the story for listeners. For those of us who like to multitask and listen on the go, I recommend listening at a 1.5 speed, so one does not miss anything. For those who are listening while reading the book, I found 2.0 and 2.5 speed to be the best speeds. 3.0 was too fast for me, and I was missing a lot of what the narrator was saying and had to eventually slow down the narrator’s reading speed. 

Other works by this Author:

Novels:

• Bruiser
• Challenger Deep
• Chasing Forgiveness
• The Dark Side of Nowhere
• Dissidents
• Downsiders
• Dry (with Jarrod Shusterman)
• The Eyes of Kid Midas
• Full Tilt
• The Shadow Club
• The Shadow Club Rising
• Speeding Bullet 

Arc of a Scythe Series

• Scythe
• Thunderhead 

The Accelerati Series (with Eric Elfman)

• Tesla’s Attic
• Edison’s Alley
• Hawking’s Hallway

The Antsy Bonano Series

• The Schwa Was Here
• Antsy Does Time
• Ship Out of Luck

The Unwind Dystology

• Unwind
• UnWholly
• UnSouled
• UnDivided
• UnBound

The Skinjacker Trilogy

• Everlost
• Everwild
• Everfound

The Star Shards Chronicles

• Scorpion Shards
• Thief of Souls
• Shattered Sky

The Dark Fusion Series

• Dreadlocks
• Red Rider’s Hood
• Duckling Ugly 

Story Collections

• Darkness Creeping
• Kid Heroes
• MindQuakes
• MindStorms
• MindTwisters
• MindBenders