Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

32 reviews

bo0ks_are_cool91's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Gun violence, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Racism

Minor: Torture

shayna14's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Kidnapping, Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Medical content

Minor: Kidnapping and Murder

renreadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

They just aren’t making books like this anymore. Written in the golden age of dystopian YA, this book was just insanely captivating, original and fresh in the sludge that is recent releases. Precise and consistent world building that was easy to follow along. Complex multi layered, fully fleshed out characters. And just enough twists and turns with steady pacing for the plot. I loved this book and wish I would have read it sooner. Cannot wait to finish the series.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicide, and Violence

megan_j's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Self harm, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Genocide, Murder, Religious bigotry, Mass/school shootings, and Medical content

stwriter92's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

[Review Incoming]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Abandonment, and Child death

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Kidnapping

erynelle's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

+ I really liked the worldbuilding! 
- I did find Rowan and citra a bit irritating at times but also like they’re 16 that’s normal 
+

I love that even as Rowan became darker and more violent, keeping Citra alive was still his goal. Plus their “I love you”s at the end!! 😭

-unintentionally funny because

why is a random 17 year old boy more physically adept than humans with decades of experience 😭😭 like that boy should not be able to beat your ass!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Violence, Death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

cadybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Death, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Grief, Animal death, Suicide, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Blood, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror

kaylasbewks's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

A very poorly structured brain blurt review!

I have so many feelings towards this book. At times I found the plot too simplistic and almost cartoon like, but that links to a journal entry where life without death was compared to a cartoon.. which is amazing. I didn’t feel much for either Citra or Rowan throughout the entire book, I felt no emotional connection to them but I did enjoy watching their stories unfold.  The ending hit me quite hard, I adored the final line, “And if ever Scythe Lucifer comes my way, I hope he’ll see me as one of the good ones. As he once did.” it was incredibly powerful and left me thinking a lot. 

Scythe Farady, Curie and Volta were by far my favourite characters - they were all deeply misunderstood in different ways and I loved exploring their pasts and presents. 

The plot/twists were pretty predictable and they didn’t really shock me at all, but I was okay with that because I still enjoyed the story anyway. The world building is fascinating and I can’t wait to learn more. :3

I’m someone who actively avoids romance and I did roll my eyes at the beginning of Rowan and Citras ‘relationship’ but it developed in a way I found both enjoyable and surprising. If you’re a romance hater, read this book regardless. 🫵 I’m hoping it stays this way in the coming books, as I’ll definitely be reading them. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Child death, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Pedophilia

jadejade's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

If you want Young Adult melodrama with interesting worldbuilding, this might be for you. It explores what a world would be like where humanity has conquered death but still needs to cull people to avoid overpopulation. Of course a pair of teenagers end up being in the centre of events that will reshape the world. Of course they end up being so highly skilled (and within a very short period) that they are able to deal with most people who get in their way: I think towards the end of the book, one the character is executing flips while doing so. There's an antagonist who may as well be twirling his moustache, and there's a scene near the end which I swear was inspired by Anakin's speech to Padme in Star Wars Episode II about the Tusken Raiders he slaughtered. Thunderhead is giving me the slightest vibes of Aiden from the Illuminae Files, which is also piquing my interest.

I didn't mind following our two main teenaged characters but they aren't interesting enough alone to make me want to follow their story. However, I found the different philosophies of the different Scythes, and the general population's response to a world where death is not inevitable, to be interesting enough that I think I will continue the series. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Fatphobia, Torture, Medical content, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, and Grief