5/5 Stars!! One of my absolute favorite books I have read in a while. A MUST MUST MUST READ. I cant even begin to string coherent words together for a review. I love everything about this novel.TW: murder/death, suicideThe world of Scythe is fascinating. With so many advances due to technology and research, it becomes a plausible future for our society which is equal parts interesting and terrifying. This story poses a lot of thought-provoking conversations about morality and mortality. It is by far one of the most complex and well-developed YA worlds I have experienced in a very long time. My brain was running wild throughout the entire story.The world and the plot of Scythe are my absolute favorite parts of the book. Ive seen many reviews claiming the story is boring, and while I can somewhat agree that the pacing is slower in the beginning, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time while reading. There are so many plot twists, all unexpected that completely fed the plot-driven reader in me. Every time I accepted the story was going in one direction, it would take a complete 180 which made for an exhilarating read. Im thoroughly shook with how much I adored this story.I also really loved the characters. Citra is super strong and intelligent, while Rowan goes through some serious development in a morally-grey way. I think they have a great dynamic, though I feel their romance was one of the weakest parts of the book. There was so much potential to see them grow together, yet I dont feel we really got to see WHY they were so loyal to each other or WHY they were so attracted to each other. I thought they were really great friends who had a great chance of growing into something more, but the story sort of skipped over the development of feelings. Im very hopefully things become more natural in Thunderhead because I can see so many good things to come with their relationship.Scythe was amazing. I cannot stop thinking about it. Please please please read it!!I received a free copy of this book from Simon & Schuster as a part of a paid YouTube campaign. I had no obligation to review this book as a part of that campaign and all opinions are my own.

Hello, Internet Police? Yes, I would like to block and report myself for sleeping on this book for so long.I am so mad at myself for not reading this book earlier. I mean, it's only been all over my Goodreads timeline since it was released in 2016! I'm sure you've all heard the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover", well yeah, DON'T! Learn from my mistake because I was hit with instant regret the second I picked this up.The world of Scythe is one of the most incredible, thought-provoking, and fascinating worlds I've ever read in a YA novel before. Basically, humans never die. There is no such thing as illness, diseases, or murder in the world anymore. You physically cannot die unless you are gleaned by a scythe (think priests, but with a license to kill). And it is the job of the scythe to glean a certain number of people per year in order to keep the population under control. This new society lives with no fear, except for a scythe to come knocking on their door, which luckily for them is a very rare occurrence.The story follows Rowan and Citra, who are chosen to apprentice under the same scythe. Scythe Faraday, takes in interest in both of them due to small acts of defiance they showed towards him when they initially meet. Even though both Rowan and Citra meet Scythe Faraday on two separate occurrences, their fate becomes intwined when they begin their apprenticeship and only one will be ordained as a scythe. And let's just say the stakes are rather high for whoever does not get ordained. Now, I don't want to say too much in regards to the plot because you really need to experience this for yourself. However, this book had some of the best plot twists I've read in a long time. It's hard to catch me by surprise and this book really got me. It was so good that I actually had no idea how it was going to end, and usually I'll have some type of feeling. But all I could do was sit back and be swept away by this world and these characters.Two teeny tiny reasons why I couldn't five star this is because at times it was a little slow for me. The beginning of the book has a much slower pace compared to the middle and end. At the same time though, it's not something I would deduct a whole star for because this is such a complex world, so obviously it would take time to explain it all. The other reason is because the romance between Citra and Rowan was on the weaker side. Don't get me wrong I am HYPED and all about forbidden love, however, Rowan and Citra's relationship blossomed so quickly and with almost zero explanation. Like, they weren't even friends before they became all breathing heavy around one another and sneaking looks while they think the other isn't looking. I hope we can get some more development on that in Thunderhead. Favorite Quotes"He was afraid, but fear meant he was still alive."""Does it ever get easier?" Rowan asked. "I certainly hope not," the scythe said."Without the threat of suffering, we cant experience true joy. ...and the most important one of all"Well, she could learn self-control tomorrow. Today she wanted pizza."All in all, I am SO GLAD I decided to give this book a chance and pick it up and absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel! If you enjoy YA, fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian books then do yourself a favor and do not sleep on this book. Seriously, don't do it. Otherwise you will be like me, swimming in regret for the rest of my life that I didn't pick this up earlier.Blog | Twitter | Instagram

So this book is basically just about murder. Exciting! All I want to do is say "MURDER, JOHN" like Sherlock wood, so imagine me doing that. Anyway! I had super high expectations for this because every blogger, bookworm, and semi-literate fish I know has raved over it. I also love Challenger Deep and Unwind a LOT, so I knew this was going to be excellent!+ It's a dystopian with this perfect world where there is no death: so some people become scythes to keep the balance.This is a very cool premise althoooough, we have this like "perfect world" but the scythes could be pretty gruesome and cruel with their gleaning tactics. (Knives? Flamethrowers? Guns?? Etc??) That did not make sense to me. I feel like the scythes should've gleaned in a more anti-harm way to keep that vibe of "humanity is perfect and has reached levels of perfection". Anyhow.+ The scythes had freaking awesome robes and I want one.I mean. Look at that cover. I NEED A ROBE LIKE THAT.+ I really liked both Citra and Rowan!The story is split between them and as they're apprenticed to Scythe Faraday (although reluctantly) and they're both kind of winning. Citra is a bit of a Slytherin go-getter and Rowan is a self confessed "lettuce" (aka: unimportant and forgettable) (which I'm really pleased he used that term because I've bene using it FOREVER HA!). I didn't exactly connect to either of them though?! The narration felt a bit distant (which is unusual; I generally adore 3rd person), but I still was SUPER keen to see how their story would unfold. I really loved their relationship too!! (And honestly if you're into books with very very very little romance: This is for you.)ALSO THE BOOK IS VERY MEAN TO ROWAN AND MY POOR HEART.+ It is kind of long though?!I felt it was a teeny tiny bit rambly, and it took me a while to get invested because there wasn't much plot but Citra and Rowan training to be scythes. But at the same time it was ENJOYABLE TO READ!! I just wasn't mind-smackingly (is that a word??? it is now) invested.+ AND THEN THE TWISTS CAME.Like hit me in the face with a brick, why don't you. One of the twists had me kind of going "OH. I DIDN'T WANT THAT" which is a masterfully great feeling. Who needs happiness! Not bookworms!+ Also the world building was fab.It reminded me of the Giver nearly!? But they all had technology to make them reset their ages and everyone lived in comfort, but still had to work and strive etc. And the details of the world just really made it so easy to get lost in. I am also totally down with this being our future if everytime you potential die you get revived and given ice cream. Dessert cures!! I've said this my whole life!!So definitely glad I (finally) read this one! Yes I am late to the scythedom highway to hell but happy to be here, fren. It wasn't the world's most "perfect" read for me, and I'm a little disappointed I didn't love it 100%. But I wANT THE NEXT ONE. And I'd recommend it in a heartbeat, especially if you give me ice cream. There is death, corruption, feels and knives. Yes please and thank you.

4.75This month has been nothing short of surprise the shit outa Nani, month and Im here here for it! Please, keep em coming. The good ones that is; I dont want to leave anything to chance. People, this was cray!!! And to think I looked down my nose at it for over a year. I could be such a pea-brain sometimes. What I absolutely loved above all was the world. The utterly believable, meticulously woven, intricately fleshed out world that left nothing to chance. What a sobering and terrifying thought that it could, one day, all come to be true. All of it; I could picture it as I was reading and nothing felt too far fetched nor fantasy-esque; except, of course, for the death conquering thing. Death, Im afraid, is just an inevitable consequence of life and conquering it. Just. Aint. in our future. And thank heavens for that! Anyhow, I also loved the characters, more so the side cast than the leads, if Im being honest. But out of Rowan and Citra, the two MCs, I thought Rowans (shaky) journey was one of the best parts of the novel. His storyline was so much more compelling and memorable because of his internal conflicts. I just had such profound empathy for the poor dude because he was in the throes of intense inner conflict. He had doubts, misgivings, second thoughts, apprehension, fear, guilt pangs, remorse, the whole nine yards; which is exactly why I loved him so. Im quite tired of the all-knowing, fearless, brave hero who could do no wrong. Citra on the other hand was almost the exact opposite of Rowan and my emotional connection with her was nowhere near Rowans. I liked her just fine; she had a sense of justice but she was your everyday YA heroine - a sharp-witted, strong-minded impulsive heroine, which - kudos and all but in comparison to Rowan and his character growth, her storyline pales almost in all aspects. Emphasis on almost. She didnt go through half the hardships he did, thus, there was little growth there. All in all, a damn fantastic read that threw me for a loop. Im still SO SURPRISED at how much I enjoyed this.

This book was a very pleasant surprise! Since the YA library of fiction has become saturated with dystopian tales, it is often hard to find originality. Because of that, the stories quickly become boring because we have "been there, done that". That is not the case here!Key pros:- Unique story, well presented- Great characters- Action and suspense- Little (if any) filler- Left me wanting moreKey con:- St. Louis is not the capital of MissouriIf you are a fan of YA - especially YA dystopian fiction - you owe it to yourself to check this out. I am 99.9% sure you will love this, too.