Scythe | Book 1

Thoughts from 1% - 4% | This is a crazy concept!

"Humanity is innocent; humanity is guilty, and both states are undeniably true. We must, by law, keep a record. It starts on day one of apprenticeship—but we do not officially call it "killing". Its not socially or morally correct to call it such."

The VERY FIRST page is fascinating! I see it as a complete lack of wanting any kind of association to potential accountability, so they changed the word of what they do, because 'murder' is socially & morally looked down on—Biblically accurate governments/humans. Also the idea that humans are innocent AND guilty no matter who they are is always great to explore. I'm excited to get into this!! This concept is NOT easy to write,, fingers crossed the author didn't take any short cuts writing nuisances & complexities of characters, this series NEEDS the gray areas for it to work.

The first chapter begins with someone trying to solve an algebra problem. Yall.. I think this series is foreshadowing to me it's going to torment my soul.. 😰

A scythe, Citra knew, could choose the color of his or her robe—every color except black.

oh shucks, guess I'd never be fit to be a scythe (I'd morally object to it anyways). If I can't wear black, what's the fucking point?!😣😅

Since the scythe's wardrobe is meant to be bright colors, and they're described by Citra—'perceived as the best of humanity'. I have a feeling this system is going to be very symbolic of Angel's, & Christian religion in general.. Corrupt & oppressive as fuck. This concept is FIRE! I am SAT!

Scythe's don't have to age? they can choose their aged appearance?..😨

This scythe makes me physically uncomfortable.. Reminds me a ton of how soldiers would visit homes and make themselves comfortable in any way they pleased. The movie 'Fury' has a scene like that, and it's sooo uncomfortable & disturbing to watch.

Then the scythe moved to the door, the knife still in his hand, leaving no question as to the method of their neighbors gleaning.

So they really do just be MURDERING people & calling it a fancy word instead... You'd think they'd want to use injections or something to end lives painlessly to make "gleaning" seem more reasonable, BUT NO!— my jaw is on the floor. The propaganda & societal psychosis has got to be fucking CRAZY!...

The fact that their robes are purposefully bright, and they "Glean" using methods that are violent. I think that symbolism is to show that they put on a facade that they don't hide the blood they've spilled. Where as if they wore black, it's harder to see spilled blood. BUT there's never any blood remnants seen on them after they've killed someone.... WOW THIS CONCEPT!

Returning the knife you killed someone with, for them to continue to use is INSANE— WHAT?...

"We are all accomplices. You must share the responsibility."

I am in a perpetual state of shock over the audacity & logic used by scythe's— my mouth is agape most of my read so far, and it's only just the start of the book. this is WILD!

Thoughts from 5% - 25%

Are you telling me that accidental deaths don't happen at all? Death as a whole has been "cured"??? This seems extremely unlikely but I'll wait for more explanations to cast judgment.. Then this means the society they live in a "utopia" with dystopian methods.. mmkay. OFC humans in charge monopolized "death" too— naturally...

OHH.. Humans in general dont even die of old age? I assumed that was just a Scythe privilege..🥴😳

"turning the corner" is basically a bodily "reset"..

Fight, flight, or freeze instincts... I personally 'freeze'.... Which is the WORST one to have.

People irl die from a "luck of the draw". Scythe's just replace the things that kill humans at random & arguably 'unfairly'. The difference here is Scythe's make it personal—money is made from reviving harmed citizens, & reversing ages.. This is all still unethical in my eyes, and who knows how fair the rules actually are. They're not even fucked up grimm reapers, they're humans under law made by other humans...

The pleasure of your company is requested at the grand civic opera

Is this an attempt to recruit Citra to become a Scythe? Is it Faraday who sent it? The wording is too proper to not be a scythe..

The two mc's have met already this early in the book?! okay. Love that.

IT IS HIM!..

Art and writing WOULD feel more flat and boring in a post-dying world... 'Death' is why humans appreciated the beauty of life, joy, & tragedy more.

The amount of perks Scythe's get is scary. No taxes, no paying, can go wherever they want, access to the best everything, etc..

Scythe's don't get gleaned?! Scythe's should also get gleaned occasionally, otherwise it's just a corrupt system with too much power..

A scythe tattoo would be so cool... I kinda want one now😅

Philosophy being a requirement makes complete sense.. Contemplating life often would 1000% make your choices as a scythe far better.

Faraday is growing on me and making me dislike him even more.. HOW?!..

taking a life was an act of conscious and unconscious. Since it could not be proven that the thunderhead had either, the scythedom was born. I do not regret the decision, but I often wonder if the thunderhead would have done a better job.

Taking life left up to humanity is interesting, because on one hand humans can appreciate life and death more so it makes sense for a human to choose,, but on the other hand, humans being in charge of which lives are taken is how politicans justified war crimes & found loopholes for selfish gain. There's a trolly problem game around this type of idea. People's thought processes/opinions teaches the ai over time how to choose in life or death scenarios... But I think if the ai could solve world hunger, poverty, and replace politicians all together, then it should also have an input on who and how people die,, but idk. I guess I'm coming from a place where I DO NOT trust humans enough to make the right choices without innate biases & ulterior motives... that's a lot to chew on and think about.

Not Faraday threatening the teenager, he'd glean him the day after the immunity was over🤣🤣 He's growing on me a ton right now.

Faraday's methods tend to be painless. So was the knife he took from Citra's kitchen just for show. He wanted to scare & intimidate Citra?.. that's what it seems like now that I have more context about his methods and character.

Why do commandments always come in 10?🤔 This series is very Christian religion inspired.

_Thou shalt kill no scythe beyond thyself

THAT rule is being broken, FOR SURE.

_Thou shalt have neither spouse nor spawn

Being a scythe is literally if 'Kings guards' and 'grimm reapers' combined together.. I see the vision now.

for to put oneself above all other laws is a fundamental recipe for disaster.

YES! EXACTLY!!

"I regret to inform you that this entire flight has been selected for gleaning."

These scythes are the worst! They act more like terrorists than reapers.. and side note, I don't get threatening & killing the families of the planned to be gleaned citizens because they resist. Just track down those specific people. It is completely natural to want to fight and survive death! Their method of gleaning is also just violence.... I'm sorry Faraday for judging you so harshly,, there's far worse Scythe's than you😳

That business man got my respect! He went out on his own terms. Fuck those Scythe's!

"If you have all these weapons, why did you take our knife that day you came to glean my neighbor?" "To gauge your reaction."

Is Faraday gleaning alone because it's his friend he's going to glean?— 😓

Putting a scythe to death multiple times as punishment...😰😳💀 holy fuck.

THESE FUCKING SCYTHES AGAIN!— Didn't Twilight teach us to never trust mfs who glitter & sparkle😂

Thoughts from 26% - 42%

This law is the one I have the most beef with. WHY must the ENTIRE family pay the price for the chosen person resisting being gleaned?! This actively angers me!

Faraday went against the law to not kill the family for the mans attempt to resist. 👏👏 Good man!

"We have immunity under winter conclave. and it cant be revoked—everyone knows that. What's the worst they could do?"

Now why tf would you say that, Rowan??.. seriously?!!

If the bedazzled Scythe's show up to the conclave to wreak havoc with their hostage I swear🥴😰

AYY! Curie is there! Finally get to meet the woman behind the journal entries.

There was a group of four or five scythes closer to the assembly chamber entrance, the doors of which were closed. They wore bright robes studded with gems

I. AM. OUT! I'm leaving. Good bye!!

Goddard is scummy as hell. Please tell me they get their shit rocked one day😑

Letting people live to a thousand years is excessive. I can't imagine wanting to live that long— 200 years maximum is enough. Immortality is more of a burden than it is a great experience, even if everyone else you care about is alive with you. Why not put a time limit on human lives? That would help with the population issue..

"A woman hurls herself on your blade, offering herself as a sacrifice to prevent you from gleaning her child, and dies. what do you do?"

The answer is in the question, no? Take her sacrifice & let the boy live. OR revive her and glean the boy.

Apparently my 'or' answer was "correct" not my first answer.... I hate that!

Why is Curie asking Rowan & Citra such personal questions, but everyone else related to the job questions?.. this is fishy...

Goddard's journal entry... I am disgusted, & repulsed by his enjoyment of taking life.

Is Curi in Goddard's pocket and that's why her journal entries have been introspection & talking about corruption... I'm suspicious.

NO FKN WAY FARADAY GLEANED HIMSELF—WHAT?!.... He wouldn't just leave them alone don't piss me off.

Wait.. Did he do it for them? so Rowan and Citra would be free of having to glean each other?... I didnt expect to be this affected by Faraday's death... I want justice! I am upset!!

Citra is going with Curie! YAYY! BUT Rowan is going with Goddard??!!?!?! 😳😰🤬 FUCK THIS! ! !

Thoughts from 45% - 56%

Citra thinks Faraday was killed, but I'm still leaning towards he chose to end his life to help them. The last thing he told Rowan and Citra before he left was a massive indicator, at least to me..

Rowan's chapter. fuck.. How's he fairing so far?😥

What is Goddard planning??... why is Esme "the most important person there"?.. 🤨

I am swimming through this book. It's such a fun read so far!

Wait, I thought that rule broke when Faraday died??.. was I wrongly assuming it actually became null & voided?😓💀

"To be painless is to be gainless." "and I wish for you to gain much."

Goddard is a sociopath, holy shit! I worried Rowan would have THIS type of shit happen to him..

I will say this much, the nanotechnology removing all healing pain from ones body is strange to me. I'm not a fan of the lack of vulnerability humans have. It's just odd to me how little pain they feel, so inflicting injury/death almost means nothing beyond an inconvenience. Their relationship with life and death is very detached & objective. Humanity post-mortality is a victim of their own success.

Fire can still kill people. So then death isnt completely cured now is it? I figured there'd be some kind of loophole like this with nanotech. I also think exploding/grinding up someone is beyond revival as well. What I'm getting from this information is that the thunderhead IS imperfect & can't solve everything (obviously but you get what I'm getting at). The thunderhead likely also miscalculated other things—giving humans the responsibility of taking life, and being in charge of themselves taking life, is going to reveal a bunch of other errors like Goddard. There was already a blind spot the scythedom had to retroactively make a law for.. What happens when a scythe decides to take over within using those loopholes to be invulnerable to punishment? Scythe's not being allowed to ever glean each other is a fundamental flaw that's going to bite them in the ass... wow this tangent went all over the place😂

These cult/religious groups would be very interesting if their beliefs were about feeling pain & vulnerability—wanting to go back to expierencing mortality & going against everything the scythedom & thunderhead do.. It seems that way by the fact they tend to permanently blind themselves, don't turn a corner, or use nanotechnology to fix/heal injuries.

"Death by Scythe is not a natural death. We tonists do not acknowledge it." "I don't want immunity."

Ahhh, I think I may be right.... interesting. I want to know more about their beliefs.

Is it not the job of the gardener to shape the tree as much as possible? and shouldn't the branches that begin to reach unreasonably high be the first to be pruned?

I know Goddard is talking about the citizens he gleans specifically,, but subconsciously I think he's also talking about Scythe's (himself) reaching unreasonably high and should be pruned. Which brings us all the way back to what the very first page of the book talked about—how all humans are guilty and innocent... That's how I interpret Goddard's journal entry anyway.

If Rowan accepts Goddard grooming him, this will get far more tragic..

Two different interpretations of the phrase "killing machine".. interesting. Faraday saw it as someone who enjoys the act of taking life, and Goddard sees it as someone who robotically takes life with no enjoyment.

"Without the threat of suffering, we can't experience true joy."

I agree with that. You need the bad to be able to fully appreciate the good. HOWEVER, to use that as an excuse to take pleasure in killing people is a massive jump between logics and morality I can not get on board with! You can glean someone painfully but do so with compassion & empathy. Goddard & his elegy just don't care or respect humans at all besides what they can do for them..

I think an aspect of this I didn't fully consider until now—the Scythe's would be mentally affected & possibly have things like antisocial personality disorder, PTSD, anxiety, depression, etc... Are mental disorders cured?.. I don't remember whether or not that was explained...

Thoughts from 57% - 80% | Things are getting crazy!

I am very very strongly against this! I don't care if the people are being paid and are there "willingly", this kind of training is dehumanizing!

Rowan's moral compass is officially broken. His old self is soulfully dead. I feel physically nauseous.

Humans cured mortality, not death.

I'm exhausted & digusted of Rowans pov, PLEASE im begging, take me back to Citra😭

a Scythe named Prometheus?!.. His journal entry suggests there's a fail safe, that if the scythedom fails & breeds self interest the thunderhead can intervene! I sigh with relief!! but what would the solution be? to wipe out all Scythe's? Similar to how God caused a flood to "reset" humanity?...

Goddard wants the families of the gleaned to watch Rowand train?!— that IS just straight up torture and nobody can convince me otherwise. I NEED Goddard and his goons gone, or removed from being Scythe's altogether!🤢🥴

"Actually Scythe Goddard didn't grant me immunity. He can glean me any time he wants, but he doesn't. That makes me even more special, dont you think?"

It's an illusion to make her feel like she's special & safe! Knowing Goddard, Esme is probably a "fail safe" to make Rowan &/or others do as they're told..😖

In a profession where a conscience was a liability, who would want one?"

"The mortals knew how wrong it was, but somehow we've forgotten."

Rowan is spitting FACTS! Good, his morals haven't completely vanished! I'm relieved!

I like Volta! I'm glad Rowan has someone in that fucked up group he can confide in who still has a conscious & empathy😭

Speaking of gleaning a president and his cabinet, you wanna do that again for us, Curie?... please?!

"They were bribed to say it was a self-gleaning."

🤨🤔 that makes sense. citizens are terrified of Scythe's so they'd definitely lie if paid to... I'm starting to believe Faraday was killed. Also, I didn't type this out before now but I also thought maybe it was a fake self-gleaning, to take himself out of the equation and come back later...

These two are actively trying to lose to each other!.... 😂💀

Rowan being disqualified means neither win?!!.. OH MY GAWWDD. I fucking hate the scythedom! Just null and void that stupid gleaning eachother rule and let them compete properly! This is ridiculous!🤬🙄

I get the vibe Xenocrates may get gleaned by Goddard, and that will give Rowan reason to believe Citra's theory.. am I crazy to be feeling this?🤨

"My greatest mistake was choosing you as an apprentice all those years ago."

OH.. 😳 Why am I getting "Im the worlds greatest superhero." "You're my greatest failure." vibes?.. maybe i'm just very 'the boys' brain rotted..

Goddard closed his fingers around it, and ever so gently, ever so inconspicuously, brought the edge of the dagger just an inch from Esme's neck.

I FUCKINFJ CALLED IT! GODDARD KEEPS ESME HOSTAGE FOR LEVERAGE SAKE!! I HATE THIS MAN!

and then Rowan realized there was only one reason for xenocrates to hurl himself into the pool: because Goddard ordered him to.

WHO I FEEL LIKE RIGHT NOW🤯:

Citra's pattern recognition is incredible—thankfully! keeping a knife on her as she checks the door,, she knows some fuckery is up.

"What I did? I didnt do anything! what am I being accused of?" "An ancient crime called murder. The murder of honorable Scythe Michael Faraday."

I. AM. LIVID! HOW DARE YOU!— CURIE SAVE OUR GIRL PLEASE!!😭

That journal entry is so obviously forged!! Faraday was never scared of his students— I am so angry & in awe of the audacity, I'm audibly laughing😂 If they try planting his ring on her or in her room at Curie's im going to lose my mind.

"Poor Marie must be beside herself, to have lived with the girl for months, and not known."

Do NOT insult Curie's intelligence & intuition! She definitely knows this bullshit is to get Citra out of the way. FUCK YOU for insinuating she's dumb enough to fall for it.

FUCKING FINALLY THE THUNDERHEAD "STEPS IN"!

SHE'S TALKING TO THE THUNDERHEAD!!——🤯 🤯 ....oh this is getting REALLY good!..

Who the fuck is Gerald?😂 ..okay no but seriously who is he and why did he kill Faraday?

The thunderhead has a personality I enjoy. I was not expecting to like them as much as I do.

Faraday and Curie were together at one point?🤯 So basically Citra is Faraday & Curie's adopted child. Curie took Citra as an apprentice because of Faraday... Idc if that's canon or not, I'm making it so for myself to make the story & relationships more devastating😭

"I have special permission from our high blade to fire on you if necessary." he warned her. "And I have no permission from anyone, but I am more than happy to do the same." said scythe Curie.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CURIE! WHAT A WOMAN!!👏😊 Faraday, I understand you completely. I too would risk being punished to multiple deaths to be with Curie.

As of 80 percent—Curie, Citra, thunderhead, and Faraday are my favorite characters. Everyone else either sucks, or I just don't care enough. Goddard is a good antagonist but he needs to do something else for me to like him as a character.

Thoughts from 81% - 100%

haha, I like Possuelo.

FARADAY!! ALIVE?!! WHAAATT??! 😭😭 I feel INSANE right now! I predicted this!— was "Gerald" his birth name?... OH MY GOD FARADAY IS ALIVE!😭👏

Scythe Faraday smiled. "Yes, your poisons. Are you my apprentice or not?" Citra couldn't help but smile right back at him. "Yes, your honour, I am."

IM CRYIJG😭😭 I am so happy right now!!

Of course the author gives me a Rowan chapter after that high— How dare you, I don't care for it! Bring Faraday and Citra back to me!😤

Its absurd that we are free to determine our method and criteria for gleaning, but not the number of gleanings we accomplish

Goddard wants to be a genocidal maniac so bad— the limit when he does mass killings is literally ~200!! AND HE WANTS THERE TO NOT BE A LIMIT?!... NUTS.

I just had a thought.. Rowan is going to be beside himself when he finds out Faraday is alive to be disappointed in him....

"Promise me you'll be a better scythe than I was."

Volta deserved a better mentor!! He deserved better!😥😣

My greatest wish for humanity is not for peace or comfort or joy. It is that we all still die a little inside every time we witness the death of another. For only the pain of empathy will keep us human.

PREACH FARADAY! PREACH!!🗣

GODDARD & HIS ELEGY ARE DEAD!! 🎶No one mourns the wicked!🎶

Rowan has gone off the deep end though... 😬 I'm scared this means he's going to become worse before he gets better..

He was dressed in the one color that scythes shunned—black

Hell yeah Rowan! Work that black robe!

I'm NERVOUS😭

"Then let it be known that Citra Terranova shall wear the ring of Scythehood, and bear the burden of all the ring entails."

Scythe Anastasia? I LOVE THAT name for her!

FARADAY CAME TO DRIVE THE GET AWAY CAR FOR ROWAN— I'm not crying, it's just a really boring reunion, and my eyes got tired reading it😭😭

Scythe Lucifer? oh that's a badass name for Rowan.

Im so excited for book 2!😁