Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Arc of a Scythe #1

Two teens are forced to murder—maybe each other—in the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology.

Thou shalt kill.

In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed (“gleaned”) by professional reapers (“scythes”). Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythe’s apprentices, and—despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation—they must learn the art of killing and come to understand the necessity of what they do.

Only one of them will be chosen as a scythe’s apprentice. And when it becomes clear that the winning apprentice’s first task will be to glean the loser, Citra and Rowan are pitted against one another in a fight for their lives.

4 Drink Me Potions

What can I say about Scythe?

Honestly? After taking a couple of days to think about it since finishing this book, I’m not sure I can put it into any better words. But here IS what I would say.

Scythe is deeply thought-provoking and makes you question bigger things such as morality and good and evil. Who is allowed to take a life? At what cost would this come? How does human nature tie into it all? Can you maintain your own soul when you are charged to take lives as a duty, over and over again?

All these things swirled in my mind as I was reading this book. And this book could be read pretty quickly but I had to take my time with it.

Citra and Rowan were both ordinary individuals living out their boring day-to-day lives. Very rarely do people around them die – otherwise known as being gleaned in this somewhat far off society on Earth. But then they both encounter a scythe and life as they know it becomes completely different.

I loved reading their stories from both their perspectives. It may not have been first person, but it was still really descriptive about their thoughts and feelings as they trained as apprentices to a Scythe Master. I loved the snippets at the end of each chapter that took insight into certain Scythe Masters’ thoughts about what they did and why they did it. Although they may seem random at first, everything tied together well in the end.

I felt that Neal Shusterman did an amazing job building this world that seems plausible as technology and data grows. But the most amazing feat he accomplished was the ability to capture complexity of human conscience and the in-between gray areas behind people’s intentions and actions. That is what kept me going throughout this book.

The only reason I couldn’t give this a full 5 star rating was my annoyance with Rowan at times. I’m not sure what to make of him nearer to the end, although I do hold out some hope that things are going to more than what they seem. Yes, I know that sounds vague but let’s not give away anything too much, right?

As for romance, I was so sure that there’d be more between Rowan and Citra but they weren’t together all that much in the story to truly develop anything stronger than attraction in my mind. I’m not sure what the ending implied but I look forward to seeing what’s to come for the both of them and the whole Scythedom as some crazy things really shake up its workings then.

Overall Recommendation:
Scythe provided a wonderful platform for a story about morality behind every action. As a Scythe or even as a simple apprentice, our protagonists Rowan and Citra learned so much about the workings of their immortal society and the role of scythes that is far more complex than simply killing a certain quota of individuals. In such a complex world that may not be so far off into the future, Shusterman did an amazing job building a believable society and its own problems that need to be solved. Overall, this story was one that made me think and it followed me long after I closed the last page.

3.5 star, YA

Review: A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia A. Cole

December 30, 2017 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: A Conspiracy of Stars #1

Octavia has only ever had one goal: to follow in the footsteps of her parents and become a prestigious whitecoat, one of the scientists who study the natural wonders of Faloiv. The secrets of the jungle’s exotic plants and animals are protected fiercely in the labs by the Council of N’Terra, so when the rules suddenly change, allowing students inside, Octavia should be overjoyed.

But something isn’t right. The newly elected leader of the Council has some extremist views about the way he believes N’Terra should be run, and he’s influencing others to follow him. When Octavia witnesses one of the Faloii—the indigenous people of Faloiv—attacked in front of her in the dark of night, she knows the Council is hiding something. They are living in separate worlds on a shared planet, and their fragile peace may soon turn into an all-out war.

With the help of Rondo, a quiet boy in class with a skill for hacking, and her inquisitive best friend, Alma, Octavia is set on a collision course to discover the secrets behind the history she’s been taught, the science she’s lived by, and the truth about her family.

3.5 Drink Me Potions

**A Conspiracy of Stars comes out January 2, 2018**

Thank you Edelweiss and HarperCollins for this copy in exchange for an honest review

I always love a good book that ties in a bit of science into it, and A Conspiracy of Stars definitely adds this wonderful layer into it well.

In some far off planet where humans escaped after the demise of this Earth, they’ve learned to survive among the new life forms found here. Whether it be fauna or flora, the surviving humans on that fateful spaceship learned to categorize and utilize the animal and plants’ abilities to live and even thrive in such environments. I thoroughly enjoyed the curiosity and learning aspect of this book through the eyes of our protagonist, Octavia.

I will admit, it can get a little slow and dry, even for someone who can appreciate the bits of science here. And what normally keeps me going is a good romantic element to the story, but it lacked somewhat in this area as well. Octavia is very much focused on being a scientist (or a white coat as they call it), but she does develop some sort of new attraction to her classmate Rondo as they get a bit closer.

The suspense of what’s happening in the labs the students are now accessing as part of their studies does build up if you can hold on long enough. And there’s of course a wonderful mystery surrounding the nature of Octavia’s strange symptoms whenever she interacts with any species on this planet directly. It wasn’t all too unpredictable but how it all tied together was definitely interesting.

At the end of the day, this book made for a fun read that could be quickly gobbled up no matter if you’re uninterested in the technical details of taxonomy and species in general. A little bit of romance and a huge dollop of suspense goes a long way into creating a fun story formula, and I felt this story has enough of it to be enjoyable.

Overall Recommendation:
A Conspiracy of Stars is a mystery at the heart of it. From Octavia’s strange symptoms to the going-ons in the middle of the night at the labs she’s been wanting to work at, there is definitely something weird going on in this faraway planet the humans have settled on. While I normally enjoy a decent amount of romance in any book, the bits of romance and attraction between Octavia and Rondo was satisfying enough without detracting any bit from the suspense that’s building in the central plotline. I think overall this is an interesting book and I look forward to seeing more from this series and author.

2.5 star, YA

Review: Ally by Anna Banks

December 20, 2017December 19, 2017 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Nemesis #2

Princess Sepora of Serubel and King Tarik of Theoria have formed an uneasy truce between their kingdoms since the deadly plague began to rip through Theoria.

Since their feelings for each other are entangled in politics and power, they must use their own trusted resources to find common ground.

But when traitors with powerful allies arise from unexpected places, Tarik and Sepora face challenges that will change both of their kingdoms forever.

Will they learn whom to trust—including each other—in time to save their kingdoms, their relationship and even their lives?

2.5 Drink Me Potions

I was looking forward to reading Ally after the first book’s set up, but the storyline felt haphazardly slapped together. Slow at times, but rushed and hurried in other areas, there was little room for new character development yet plenty of space, apparently, for misunderstandings between our two protagonists, Tarik and Sepora.

Where do I even start?

There were certain highlights to Ally that I admit to enjoying.

1) The continual romantic tensions between Tarik and Sepora. I did find this kept me somewhat interested in finishing the book as I wanted to know if they ever could resolve the deep-seated trust issues they had with each other stemming from book 1. However, it got a bit unnecessary later on (more below).

2) Exploration of a bit more of the world they lived in. There were little moments of expansion about other kingdoms and how they lived, for example her mother’s home kingdom of Pelusia.

3) The mystery behind the Quiet Plague that has devastated Tarik’s home of Theoria since the very beginning of the series. I always love a good solution to the main ailments of a book, especially if it’s conducted well.

But as you may imagine, these very things I liked were also flipped on its head and were the things I thought weren’t good enough.

1) The misunderstandings between Sepora and Tarik take a turn for the worst (if that’s even possible). I honestly sided with Tarik half the time and was extremely annoyed reading from Sepora’s POV. She felt lied to and used for her ability to Forge yet Tarik had never truly made her feel trapped about using her abilities for his kingdom. In fact, he gave her room to make these decisions on her own without truly forcing it on her as he could have.

Yet the stupidity of their situation couldn’t all be her fault. Tarik just couldn’t admit to Sepora about his darn feelings half the time, expecting her to know about what he felt as any Lingot could, but she would have to solely rely on his actions to relay what he truly meant as words can so easily be used for deception.

Just…arghhh. The endless misunderstandings between them got old real fast. Was this really all necessary to keep the story momentum going? Plus, the way thing were resolved super-duper fast in the span of a few TINY chapters in Part 5 just wasn’t satisfactory. No matter how much I enjoyed the ending.

2) World building is only as strong as the time spent lovingly crafting it and stoking it into the main storyline. I felt this was poorly done, with little random facts such as the Pelusians love for DISGUISING thrown into the book for fun like an afterthought to make the book more interesting besides problems in Tarik-Sepora land.

3) And what of the mysterious plague? It wasn’t so mysterious after all, falling prey to my initial prediction for its cause. And the cure? Also such a throwaway. “Oh hey, here’s the *thing* that can heal your people, says the Master Healer.”

I don’t know if it’s just me not rubbing well with Anna Banks but this is the 2nd series I really wanted to like by her and it just falls short. With so many stories out there in this genre, there’s really no time to waste on a book that doesn’t stand out from others. I did enjoy the romance component to an extent, but there were too many things that I found at fault with the book. If you enjoy a story mostly centred on its romantic tensions between the girl and her lover interest, with all else INCLUDING the action of impending war – which totally fell flat in its execution and lasted mere pages – acting as a secondary component of the book, then you’re in luck. This is YOUR book! Otherwise, I’m not sure I’d suggest you try.

Overall Recommendation:
Ally was a promising sequel and conclusion to this series, but it really fell flat with my expectations. While the book had many advantageous parts to it – mysterious plague, impending war with other kingdoms, world building, tensions between lovers – none of these things were really explored extensively. Aside from spending way too much time on the misunderstandings between the protagonists, the other things were not given the appropriate amount of time to flourish into a genuinely amazing novel. If these things would bother you, I recommend you don’t read it. Otherwise, fans of Nemesis may enjoy it well enough.