Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

219 reviews

princegene95's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Car accident, and Death of parent

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Minor: Suicide

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.

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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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder

brentwilliamj's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt

purstiltski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Torture

bookiesncreme's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

kailiyahknight's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death, Torture, and Death of parent

deepcurvesahead's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, and Murder

little7thbirdie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Suicide, and Violence