Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1)

by Neal Shusterman

[nora]

Some thoughts:

- The world building is wack. Death and illness has been overcome, but the population still needs to be controlled - okay. Why did anyone think it would be a good idea to make a group of people abandon their lives in order to become serial killers? Why not instead limit the amount of births and stop people having 20 kids? Why not limit the amount or extent of revivals? Why not colonise some planets since they already know everything there is to know on Earth?

- Why isn't there a standardised, painless method that all Scythes are required to use? What on Earth is the point of giving them every single possible weapon and letting them go HAM on whoever they want?

- Why is there even so much focus on fighting and training? The only fighting they do is among themselves!

- There are virtually no stakes for the first 120 pages of the book. Citra and Rowan are asked to be Scythe apprentices. Neither of them really want the job, both have the option to decline. Then they're told they have to COMPETE. And both of them go yeah ok. So you're meant to care about two people competing for a position neither actually wants - why?

- Speaking of Citra and Rowan, there is a romance there, but we barely see them interact and all of a sudden they're both willing to die for each other.

- One thing about the big fat golden guy - I forget his name - really irks me. It's mentioned early in the book that nanites can regulate everyone's weight, and that Golden Snitch is overweight because he chooses to be. Cool cool. But then when he later has to jump in the pool, it's written as an embarrassing moment, in large (sorry) because he's a big guy. So which is it? Is he ashamed or does he own it??

- The Scythe outfits sound horrible tbh. Main Evil wears royal blue robes covered in diamonds, and then rolls up to the party in a matching royal blue, diamond-encrusted limousine...

- I'm not someone who can usually predict the twists and turns of a book. In this one I could see every plot point waving at me from a mile away.

- The way security footage is organised in the Thunderhead by related topics rather than by time and location just makes me really mad for some reason.

- All the Scythes go by their patron historic's surname, but then there's Scythe Anastasia *eye roll*

Thanks, bye