A review by bill369
Smrtka by Neal Shusterman

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

I got to this book because I've grown to like the author's writing. He writes the ideal escape the world books for me and I like this one too. It has a good thought, it's easy to read and not too sad. I like sad books, but from time to time I need a break and this was the break.

My favourite character is Scythe Curie. I like her because she's wise, empathic, self-disciplined and overall quite likeable. I feel like the author wants the reader to like her because from the start the reader sees excerpts that make the reader wonder who she is and the further the reader gets, the more she's pictured in the good light. And I wouldn't be against that, don't get me wrong, but perhaps I'm missing something negative about her because when I truly think about her I can't picture her as a whole. There's this piece missing to understand her. Maybe that's what the author wanted, but I find it rather annoying. I hope I will get to know her more in the next book.

Cool dystopian world book. I love these, therefore I obviously like the theme of the book. I like how many thoughts are represented here. The most interesting of all is the thought of stagnation which made me think a little more and I have come to the conclusion that I wouldn't want to be immortal, even though I don't want to die yet. And that's so because my limited time keeps me motivated and focused on my goals because I know I got only one shot and I don't have forever.

My favourite lines are on page 367. They are my favourite because it is a nice and emotional moment between my two favourite characters in the book. It's just really nice. I love how Scythe Curie is finally more open to Citra and honestly who doesn't like this moment?
“I don’t know. All I know is that if you lose today, Citra, I will never
forgive myself.”
It was absurd to think that the great Scythe Marie Curie, Grande Dame of
Death, would care so much for her—and would even think there could be
any failure on her own part. “I’ve had the benefit of being trained by the two
greatest scythes who ever lived—you and Scythe Faraday. If that hasn’t
prepared me for today, nothing could have.”
Scythe Curie beamed with bittersweet pride. “When this is over and you
are ordained, I hope you’ll do me the esteemed honor of staying on with me
as a junior scythe. Others will make advances—perhaps even from distant
regions. They’ll try to tell you there are things you can learn from them that
you couldn’t learn from me. Perhaps that’s true, but I do hope you’ll choose
to remain anyway.” Her eyes were on the brink of tears. If she blinked, they
would fall—but Scythe Curie kept them pooled on her lower lashes, too
proud to be seen weeping in conclave.


The ending turned out 
really well. I thought I would cry, because one of the main characters would die, but in the end Citra was smart and solved the situation well.
  It had quite an open ending, but I'm fine with it, because it is a book series after all. I like the ending.

This book isn't a 5 star, it was great, but for a 5 star, I would have to cry and care deeply about it. It was fun and well written, but it's not a 5 star for me. As I said perhaps I would make the characters a bit shadier, but otherwise, I don't know what I would change. Also, I do want to point out, that characters do have some past, but it's not very dark or anything. If it was up to me, I think I would add more to their backstory. But as I said before I like this book, it was a good, fun and quite relaxing read. It's not a must-read, but if someone wants to and is looking for a more easy fast-paced book, then they'll be content.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings