Scythe

Scythe was a book that many different people had raved about and naturally kept on standing out in bookshops. After a while, it was obvious that I could no longer keep my curiosity at bay. So, when taking a small detour at Greenwich Waterstones whilst visiting  the Royal Observatory, I decided to fulfil my tradition of buying at least one book in every new bookshop I had never been to. Needless to say, Scythe was the one that I chose.

The world building was absolutely incredible and presented in an extremely skilful manner. Information about the world was woven throughout the narrative seamlessly rather than large information dumps in clusters. The concept was intriguing; having a perfect world construct was in equal parts terrifying and fascinating. Throughout, the story, thought provoking questions were centred around morality, and had been raised in relation to the scythes gleaning methods and numbers. There was also a question around whether the basic essence of humanity had been erased living in such a perfect world. It was hard not to question the structure of the society that had been presented.

It was a slow start as the foundations were being laid in the early stages of the novel. It was a struggle to say what had happened within the first handful (or more) of chapters. However, once this new fantasy world had been established, the plot started to pick up and suddenly the narrative became far more exciting and action packed. From this moment on, the fast-paced nature of the plot sustained itself.

“I think all young women are cursed with a streak of unrelenting foolishness, and all young men are cursed with a streak of absolute stupidity.”

The multiple perspectives were interesting. It was brilliant to get a sense of the other scythes’ true feelings of the world they lived in as well as an insight of how they felt just being a scythe. Both Rowan and Citra’s perspective was great to read about as and when events unfolded. As individuals, they were likable and strong protagonists in their own right. Citra was determined, fought her way out of tough situations and presented with a curious nature. Rowan was empathetic and tried to cling on to his compassion as best as he could. It was evident that he was facing an internal struggle of his own, fighting against his base enjoyment that came from gleaning. However, I felt that the intensity of this struggle could have been depicted more.

The suggested hints of romance between the two seemed unnecessary and in some ways forced. There had been no build-up of this, which made it feel out of place and a bit random. To my relief, this was only minor and often not referred to. The romance did not overshadow the main arc of the story. It was clear that there was a reciprocal bond of trust and loyalty between Rowan and Citra. But there was a lack of understanding as to why they trusted one another and instinctively wanted to protect each other. This could have been delved in to further as again, these feelings appeared to be random.

In a strange way almost, it was nice how the ending was such that this book could be read as a stand alone or continued as a part of a series. It was amazing that all loose ends had been neatly tied up but leaving the reader wanting to know more about how Rowan and Citra fare in reshaping the Scythedom.

Overall, the most enjoyable aspect of was the creativity of the premise and concept. The thought behind the world building was definitely on another level. This was a really interesting first book and I cannot wait to dive straight in to the second.

Until Next Time,

Saz

Love, Hope

Love, Hope was an engaging read, with the narrative being written in several mediums of letters, emails, texts and receipts. This was definitely a fresh take on story telling. Despite taking a while to get used to this format, it was intriguing to see how the story unfolded without the use of prose.

There was a strong theme of friendship present throughout the book, with Hope being at the centre. It was amazing to see how despite life pulling them in different directions, Hope and Janey’s friendship remained strong as the years passed. Both were busy in their own lives, but continued to keep in touch and support one another.

It was the friendship between Hope and Arnold that really stuck with me, however. Their unexpected bond was exceptionally sweet and showed that age doesn’t need to be a factor when forming a friendship. The way that both Hope and Arnold continued to push each other to follow their dreams and work through their respected grief was heart warming to read about.

All the characters were well rounded and had their own struggles. It was incredible to witness how they all supported one another and had formed their own support system.

This was truly a heart warming read with well written characters. It was an easy read despite the heavy topics it touched upon.

Happy Reading,

Saz