Still reading Hold Back The Stars by Katie Khan ALSO Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Started Scythe, by Neal Shusterman. I love the concept: a near future in which technology has overcome disease, aging, and even death itself, so the government culls the population through a mysterious lottery-based system.

It's a YA novel, so of course the main characters are a pair of teenagers who are recruited to become "Scythes" and carry out said executions. Surely the two are doomed to fall in love and join some sort of underground resistance, etc etc.

In spite of my cynical YA-fatigue, the writing thus far is snappy. I think I like it.

Just finished Scythe, by Neal Shusterman and I just purchased the sequel Thunderhead.

Finished Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Started Voices of Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich

Planning on finishing Scythe by Neal Shusterman this week and The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas. AB is a re-read from like 2013, and that's been...interesting.

Scythe is reading more like an expository tale, so I'm a little disappointed by that. Neal Shusterman comes up with some wild worldbuilding though, let me tell you.

I've been sitting on Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson for a month now, but I'll pick it up again this week thanks to some more encouragement from a friend. I told him all the things that were stressing me out (I'm like 100 pages in) about the story, and he was like ....just...keep...going....

Scythe, by Neal Shusterman

I’m re reading this one in preparation of the third book supposedly coming out in the fall. I loved it the first time and I loved it the second time. I don’t typically read YA fiction, but this one is pretty interesting to me. I really like Shusterman’s world building. Despite the drama that happens throughout the book, Earth is now more utopic than dystopic, and it’s fascinating to think about. It’s refreshing to imagine a future where things go right, rather than wrong. Beyond that, the idea of scythes is fun. The key to being a good scythe is not wanting to be a scythe at all. But I wonder how many readers think the lifestyle would be fun if they lived in that world, I’m guessing a lot of us.

FInished: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston ,

then just after : Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Now reading: Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman , i'm not as much into the story as the first one, but it's still a good story.

Scythe, by Neal Shusterman

I've read a few popular Young Adult series, and YA really isn't my thing. This year I decided to try one YA novel that was "on the rise" in popularity. I chose this one, and I'm really enjoying it. It's easy reading, but the writing is a lot better than the average YA book, and the premise is fairly original. My only mistake was picking a series that isn't yet finished. After A Song of Ice and Fire, I swore I'd never do that again. Because of GRRM, I have trust issues!

Last week:

Scythe, by Neal Shusterman: finished the last three (?) chapters today. This was a cool book! I mean, yes, it is YA and it has its tropes, and a lot of them are very annoying now that I recognize them, but it's readable and it's not cringey (except the romance between the two main characters... that IS cringey as heck, but then, they're teenagers). It's definitely a well thought out book with a lot of great concepts, but there are some question marks there still. The biggest example is why let the scythes choose their weapons if they're only required to kill? It should be a lot more humane and realistic (because come on, in the future, what 'government' agency will send legal killers with morning stars after people?) if all scythes killed in the same painless way - like with a pill or so. But that's ok. It is YA, you have to allow for some flashiness.

Peter Darling (Austin Chant): a really really really weird book to be honest. I looked forward to it A LOT, but seriously, what? I was hoping to have a cool M/M romance, but it truly was disappointing in this regard and more propaganda for trans people after all. Also, I don't understand the ending, because if Hook likes guys and in reality... no spoilers. Anyway. Don't read this. It's a light read. It's easy. But it makes no sense and... well it makes no sense. That's the worst thing a book can do, make no sense.

I finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid recently -- really enjoyed it. I don't care to read about famous people often, real or not, but I found myself captivated by this old hollywood glamour of a character. I also finished a very good one-shot manga called The Gods Lie .

I bought Scythe, by Neal Shusterman at a library sale for $1 despite growing out of YA (used to love YA due to readability, but now I love to read darker, grittier stories not often found in YA). I'm 70 or so pages in and I'm liking it, but I am slogging through it a little bit. Maybe I'm being a little biased?

Since last week I finished
Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
Scythe, by Neil Shusterman
and Baccano Vol.6: 1933 <First> The Slash -Cloudy to Rainy-, by Ryohgo Narita

and just started reading The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner.

Finished The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon

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Currently reading

- fiction: Sadie, by Courtney Summers

- audio: Scythe, by Neil Shusterman

- non-fiction: The subtle art of not giving a f*ck, by Mark Manson