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lavender65's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
Minor: Suicide
psyduck11's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Me ha parecido una lectura bastante interesante con muchos temas de los que se pueden debatir, pero siento que han habido varios agujeros en el mundo del libro que ha hecho que se me descolgara un poco.
Se hace mucho incapié en que la sociedad del libro es una sociedad inmortal en la que se ha erradicado la muerte y por eso se formó la Guadaña, para mantener a raya el nivel de población. Primero, no creo que sea compatible el hecho de que exista la Guadaña (la muerte en este caso) y una sociedad inmortal porque entonces eso diría que la Guadaña no está haciendo el trabajo que debería de cribar a las personas necesarias para mantener la población estable. Y la segunda es justo lo último, para mantener la población estable se puede realizar simplemente manteniendo el mismo número de muertes que por nacimientos y ya no habría problema de sobrepoblación.
Puede que esté equivocado, pero eso es lo que pienso ahora y, además, soy consciente de que es el primer libro de una trilogía y, por tanto, puede que estas cosas se hablen más en profundidad o se resuelvan en los libros siguientes.
En general la historia ha estado bien y entretenida y (a excepción de algunas cositas de estructura de personajes que no están muy allá y algunos agujeros argumentativos que no se explican) no he visto demasiadas pegas.
Se hace mucho incapié en que la sociedad del libro es una sociedad inmortal en la que se ha erradicado la muerte y por eso se formó la Guadaña, para mantener a raya el nivel de población. Primero, no creo que sea compatible el hecho de que exista la Guadaña (la muerte en este caso) y una sociedad inmortal porque entonces eso diría que la Guadaña no está haciendo el trabajo que debería de cribar a las personas necesarias para mantener la población estable. Y la segunda es justo lo último, para mantener la población estable se puede realizar simplemente manteniendo el mismo número de muertes que por nacimientos y ya no habría problema de sobrepoblación.
Puede que esté equivocado, pero eso es lo que pienso ahora y, además, soy consciente de que es el primer libro de una trilogía y, por tanto, puede que estas cosas se hablen más en profundidad o se resuelvan en los libros siguientes.
En general la historia ha estado bien y entretenida y (a excepción de algunas cositas de estructura de personajes que no están muy allá y algunos agujeros argumentativos que no se explican) no he visto demasiadas pegas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kiki_tyler's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Really interesting concept for a book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
elanas9090's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
ninjazzy's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A good premise for a very interesting story! A few good twists (or maybe I'm not very perceptive) that kept me reading, wanting to know what happens next.
I think the world building was surprisingly spot on with some of the ways that the author is able to realistically portray what humanity would be like in a world governed by a near-omnipotent and omniscient AI and where most of the things that plague humanity and society are "solved". Fairly thought provoking as a result.
I think the world building was surprisingly spot on with some of the ways that the author is able to realistically portray what humanity would be like in a world governed by a near-omnipotent and omniscient AI and where most of the things that plague humanity and society are "solved". Fairly thought provoking as a result.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Suicide
lauraexplorer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Really good YA fiction. The subject material is troubling and clearly a social critique. I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder
turtlebassoonist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
As someone who loved Unwind and the Everlost series, it pains me to rate a Neal Shusterman work this low, but ultimately I think I have to. The world of this book is ambitious. Definitely leaning sci-fi but not quite a true dystopia (if the all-knowing one world AI government really is as benevolent as they say, then it loses points for both believabiltiy and intrigue). The last remaining human portion of the government however, the Scythedom, has all manner of fun political drama and blackmail and power struggle, which I found to be the most enjoyable part of the book. Characters were generally pretty flat, more defined by their ideology than their personality. Also, the pacing was so insanely fast that I got a little lost in how inconsequential everything was. Accusations, murder, running from the law, investigations, they all get introduced and resolved within a few chapters. Even one of the main struggles of the book finds a sort of resolution in the span of two sentences. YA tropes and writing style are dialed up to 110% as well between the forced romance, clumsy rebrand of world geography and religion (e.g. "Chilargentine"), choose-your-own-adventure Scythe uniforms, and refusal to sit and psychological process how horrible some of the events of the story are. I would've given it 3 stars, but that last point is cause for a lower rating. Mainly I found it disconcerting that an MC not only witnesses but participates in several acts of terrorism with only minor remorse. He goes on to earn a reputation as a misunderstood, "lovable" bad boy, so there's that if you're into that sort of thing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Violence
teawiththefates's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder
churrocaitie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
For a YA apocalyptic book, this was an enjoyable book to read. Wish there was more world-building to truly flesh out how their world came to be with Scythes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, and Murder
hillarym's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail