Arc of a Scythe Series Review

Neal Shusterman

“Well, she could learn self control tomorrow. Today she wanted pizza.”

Scythe

When I made my reading list for the year, I knew I had to have this series on it. Check out my full reading, A Year of Fantasy, here.

What happens?

Are you interested in moral grayness? What it might be like is Amazon’s Alexa ran the world? If we had overcome all illness and death itself? Read the Arc of a Sycthe series.

Book one: Scythe

Humanity lives in an immortal like state, death is impossible unless gleaned by a Scythe. Scythes glean to keep the population size under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to be apprentices to a well known Scythe. Suddenly they are thrown into a world of death, one they may not escape themselves.

Book two: Thunderhead

Rowan has taken on the persona of Scythe Lucifer, bringing a vigilante justice to the Scythedome. Citra is training under Scythe Curie and sees the corruption of the Scythedome. Both take risk to uncover ways to improve the Scythedome and save their own lives. You will want book three ASAP!

Book three: The Toll

It has been three years since the disappearance of the young Scythes. Scythe Goddard has come to power and the Thunderhead is silent to everyone but Grayson Tolliver. It is a thrilling conclusion to the trilogy.

My thoughts

Why wait any longer? Take this as your sign to pick up book one and start this amazing adventure. After reading Arc of a Scythe, Neal Shusterman has become one of my favorite authors. My reaction to reading this trilogy was very similar to how I felt after The Hunger Games, nothing can compare. It is unique, dark, and shocking. I will be chasing the high of this series for some time.

Here are a few reasons I enjoyed the story:

• Fast paced adventure
• Plot twists
• Light romance- kiss, holding of hands, fade to black. Just enough to satisfy and move on with the adventure
• Male and female point of views
• The concept of the Thunderhead
• parallels to our world
• Scythe journals
• Thunderhead refections
• Thunderhead, book two, as a whole

I highly recommend you give Arc of a Scythe a read. I cannot say enough good things about the trilogy, but I will touch on some of the things I did not enjoy.

• Plot and ending of The Toll hit me from the left field. I kept thinking “I had no idea that was going to happen.”
• Perspective shift in The Toll. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either.
• The Scythe rings

Should you read Arc of A Scythe?

YES, Scythe, Thunderhead, and The Toll are thick reads but move so quickly you won’t notice the page count. Then go on to read the rest of Shusterman’s work. I did and it was wonderful.

Have you read Arc of a Scythe or anything similar? Have you read any other work by Neal Shusterman?