Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - Scythe

On par with the hunger games for iconic dystopias! The exploration of death and the human condition here was done really well, and the world building is well serving to its purpose. Was a tad predictable at times but really good book!

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cute_emo_bookboy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-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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megan_j's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Enjoyed this. Wasn’t great wasn’t awful but it definitely kept me interested throughout. All the main characters are likeable (maybe not LOVABLE) and I feel like they might be a bit flat sometimes.

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leahthebooklover's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. I was profoundly challenged by this book, I was highly entertained by this book. It's interesting to me that my second 5 star book of the year was another YA "fantasy" book. I often find that the important moral, ethical, political, and spiritual issues of the day can be effectively explored within a context of a world that doesn't exist within the confines of reality. It's probably the main reason I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy, aside from the fabulous storytelling. "Scythe" is a bit like "The Hunger Games" (Susanne Collins) meets "The Giver" (Lois Lowry). It's set in a utopian/dystopian future where all the knowledge of the cloud has been consolidated in an all-seeing, all-knowing benevolent AI known as the Thunderhead. With this access to all human knowledge, problems such as racism, crime, war, even age and death have been eliminated. Of course, there are consequences to such a utopia. Creativity, innovation, motivation are unnecessary. Boredom is common. And with no natural death (even fatal accidents can be reversed) overpopulation is inevitable. Enter the Scythes. They are the society of individuals who have been officially sanctioned to "glean" (permanently kill) a percentage of the population, with compassion and without bias or malice. They are governed by a set of 10 rules. Each candidate must undergo an intense training apprenticeship with another Scythe before being accepted. Citra and Rowan are two teenagers who have been invited to train as Scythes, even though neither of them sought the opportunity. They were selected by Scythe Faraday because of their curiosity, bravery, and empathy. Their resistance to the idea of becoming trained killers was also a factor, for as Faraday explains “Those who wish to have the job should not have it… and those who would most refuse to kill are the only ones who should.”
As a book about training killers, there is (not surprisingly) quite a bit of violence. There are hints of romance between Citra and Rowan, but no sex (the Scythes are a celibate society). Mild language, no profanity. Because of the violence I wouldn't recommend this to highly sensitive people, or anyone under the age of 13 or 14. But for those with the maturity to handle it, it would open the door to some great discussions about life, death, purpose, faith, and power.
"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."

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I feel like I put off reading this book for so long because Sci-Fi wasn’t my genre but this book was good. I feel like I probably would have liked it more as a teenager. While the plot was entertaining it also left a few things unexplained. It just felt a little dull at some moments and dragged out for others.

I also kinda had a pet peeve about Citra’s and Rowan’s relationship, it felt very forced and out of place. It was honestly uncomfortable to read, it was like because they were around the same age they had to wind up together…

Spice Level: n/a

Release Date: 16, November 2016

POV: Duel, Third Person

Rep: n/a

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asphodelrose7's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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mrtlives's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I feel like it tries and fails to be a utopian sci fi novel/series in the vein of stuff like The Giver, but it lives in the moral grey area as the institution of Sycthedom exists with its own problems.

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