Parent reviews for Scythe: Arc of a Scythe, Book 1

This book is a fantastic book with a well-developed world and great story telling. Readers will think deeply about mortality, AI systems, and ethical issues. There is A LOT of violence in this book, with many mass killings. Weapons include flamethrowers, axes, knives, poison pills, and others. Characters are forced into situations where they must kill. One character breaks another's neck. There's little swearing and sexual content.

I disagree that this book tells children that killing is ok. Those in the book that took lives in violent ways were the bad guys, and that is very clear. Yes, the book is about the necessity of death. It's not wrong. We need death to survive on this planet and it happens naturally. In this novel, death has been conquered, so overpopulation is a problem. The reputable Scythes take great care in selecting who will die, while making sure not to target any one gender, race or age group. The two main characters struggle throughout this novel with the morality of being a Scythe. This book offers a lot of good talking points for adults with kids. I believe a great deal of learning can occur through the reading and discussion of this novel. If you allow your child to read it, please make sure you discuss it with them.

My 10 year old child and I read together often. When I first came across this book, I wasn't too sure this was something my daughter would enjoy. As we submerged more and more into the world of Scythe, we realized that even thought it has much violence, it reflects politics. This book encourages self confidence and correctly represents everyday life. It also shows the benefits of living simply and being grateful for the good things in life. My daughter's self esteem grew quickly, and I have watched this book change her positively. Overall, this book promotes good values and is an excellent way to introduce everyday topics to your child.

I am a mother of three children. All though this story is a page turner and a jaw dropper, it has sensitive material. The story scythe teaches about life and death and really does make children and adults think about our population control and our future. There are many sciences of messy deaths and some errie pages of the “scythes” who are in other words, the killers. Definitely not for children to young or to sensitive. Know your child. I could not recommend more.

To story takes place in a death free world, where scythes are used to murder people in replace of natural death. Murder is discussed every vividly in the very first and continues throughout the book. This book in my opinion is not a good read for a 12-15 year old and 16 might be pushing it. I would approach this book with caution and read it prior to your children reading it.

As an adult, I love this book, but it's way too disturbing for a 12 year old! These are 6th graders. I can't believe Common Sense would give it a 5 on the violence scale and then rate it 12+. With all the killing in this book, there's no way it would even be PG-13 if it were a movie. This would fall into the slasher film category. Granted, there is a justified reason for the killing, as in preventing overpopulation in a world that has conquered natural death, but people are killed in all kinds of horrific ways. If they were all just given a pill (and one woman does die this way), it wouldn't be quite so bad, but geez. All I'm saying is parents beware. Do not automatically trust the rating on this site. I would hope a kid who is not ready for this book would stop reading, but you never know.

I’m 10 and this book is very violent but I only read teen books books kid books aren’t very entertaining for me also it was a very amazing Read would recommend for an advanced reader

Amazing! I haven't stopped thinking about this since I finished it 4 days ago. I was unsure of this at first because the synopsis sounded very dark and serious. However after reading the prologue I was hooked. The concept is fascinating. I loved the moral questions that came up and this "perfect" dystopian world it took place in. It was very thought provoking and there were numerous jumping off points for discussions which would make this a great book for educators. Our main characters, Rowan and Citra were equally complex and interesting. I loved watching them grow and adapt to the difficult situations they're placed in. Through them the author was able to demonstrate a lot about humanity in general and the power of choice. We have a great side cast and VERY compelling villain as well. I felt like each character had an important part to play, there were no "throw aways". This is definitely among my favorite books of the year. The ending was so clever and unfolded differently than I expected. I am ready for more! This is one that's going to stick with me for a long time and one that I'll recommend my family read. Content Notes: - Violent and Dark Themes - Some language, mild - Great on Audio

I read this book after my 11 year old daughter. In fact, she recommended it. There is a some violence but there's alot of opportunity to talk about good/evil and all the shades of gray in between. You can use it to talk about population control pros and cons and introduce the practices in China and India or you can use it to talk about culling herds if your child has a science bent. There's also opportunity to talk about finding meaning in life and discovering your place in the world. In reality, the scythes aren't so much different from actual death, which you never know when will strike. The interesting aspect is how the scythes interact with each other and how even the most incorruptible of people can start to become corrupt under certain circumstances. It's an interesting story all the way around and certainly better written than the Hunger Games in my opinion.

This book give major details in murdering and homicides, and gives young kids an image that killing is ok, I recommend this book to 17 year olds because it requires maturity.