#neal shusterman
Scythereview: kinda spoilery
★★★★★
Scythe is one of the best scifi books I’ve read in a long time. It makes readers think about so many things—death, technology, knowledge—in ways that most of us probably avoid. It was interesting to read about a world most people would consider to be a utopia, no conflict, no sickness, no natural death…one that could so easily be turned upside down—not just by the scythes, but by anyone who decided they wanted to know more. All of mankind’s knowledge is at their fingertips, it isn’t too much of a stretch to think that one day someone will become curious and go looking through the Thunderhead, and then find weaknesses that will bring the Thunderhead and society as they know it crashing down around them. Also, the Scythdom, Scythe Goddard has already proven that there is discontent and a desire for greater power, though most of his immediate followers have been killed in the first book, there are always more looking to grasp on to whatever tendrils of power they can find. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series, but most of all I’m very excited to see if chaos and destruction will reign in the end.
Post link
Dry
by Neal Shusterman & Jarod Shusterman
Drop everything right now and get this book and a liter of Smart Water.
It is not surprising that Dry is an unblinking-eyes-glued to the page-terror-filled car-crash that you can’t look away from type of read. It does, after all, have Neal Shusterman at its helm. Co-written with his son, Jarrod Shusterman, I suppose is proof that genius may in fact be genetic.
You may remember Shusterman from earlier entries about the incredible and terrifyingly possible world of The Unwind Dystology. If you were a fan of that, you will surely be a fan of this. A little Michael Grant’s Gone Series paired with Emmy Laybourne’s Monument 14 world but wholly Shusterman in eloquence and verisimilitude to our world today.
Dry opens with a sputtering faucet, as the Morrow family tries to fill Kingston’s water bowl. The tap is dry. So begins the “Tap-Out,” a water crisis for all of Southern California. Seemingly not an unsurmountable event- well if it weren’t for all of SoCal becoming a dust bowl in recent years and the Frivolous Water Act draining all swimming pools, fountains and the like. Because people can survive for a time without transportation, electricity and adults - but every body needs water.
So embarks the tale of three misfits: the stalwart Alyssa, her younger brother Garrett and the survivalist creepy kid next door, Kelton. Three shortly turns into four and then five once a gifted street urchin and preppy spoiled business kid join the mix. This motley collection of characters proves that even the unlikeliest alliances can form during a catastrophe.
Shifting in narration amongst our rogue troupe while alternately periscoping outside into the unraveling martial law mob landscape compounds the growing tension in the narrative. We learn the sum of all the stories whereas each character only sees from one perspective, and in this case, maybe ignorance is bliss.
I almost started to reread this book as soon as I turned the final page. It was that good. It made me simultaneously want to stock up on perishables and take shorter showers. But this is the type of book-satisfying hydration that is not just skin deep. It is worthy of book-group discussions about mob mentality, about what lengths people will go to in order to survive, about conservation and climate change. But then, this at the core of all Shusterman novels: a serious question about humanity disguised as a YA page-turner.
And doesn’t that make you a little bit thirsty?
Post link
Challenger Deep
by Neal Shusterman
Japanese Book Cover
Illustration by Chiaki Otonai (おとないちあき)
Post link
*anything happens*
Hayden: “Don’t worry boys, papa’s got this”
Hey AWOLs! What are some of your favorite books/series (besides Unwind of course)?? I’m curious and looking for some good new reads.
I honestly don’t think I can even count the amount of times my jaw has dropped while reading the Unwind series. At least 5 times per book!
Struggle #2 of being in the Unwind fandom:
Its so hard to explain the concept of Unwind to someone without sounding like a psycopath…
Hey fellow AWOLs! Question: Who is your favorite character from the Unwind dystology & why?
I’d have to say Cam, he’s just so lovable and always confused haha. But Hayden is a close second!
Bam: You’re an odd bird, Hayden.
Hayden: This coming from a stork named Bambi.
Bam: Call me that again and I’ll deck you.
Cam: I love you.
Rise: ugh.
“There is an email going around offering processed pork, gelatin, and salt in a can. If you get this email, do not open it. It’s spam.”
The struggle with the Unwind series is that when something mind blowing or catostrophic happens in the book you can’t talk about it with anyone because NO ONE ELSE HAS READ IT…
“I’ll make a deal with you,” Hayden says. “I won’t say a thing to anyone else, but I get to speak my mind with you. Fair enough?”
“Absolutely not! And if you try, I’ll rip your lousy tongue out and sell it to the highest bidder.”
“Point for Bam! You truly excel in disturbing imagery. Someday I may want to study under you.”
- Unsouled by Neal Shusterman
“They have elevated him on a pedestal, but Cam has come to understand that a pedestal is nothing more than an elegant cage. No walls, no locks, but unless one has wings to fly away, one is trapped. A pedestal is the most insidious prison ever devised”
- UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
“The Akron AWOL in my storm cellar. Can’t be an accident. It was fated, man! Fated!”
“You kicked me in the nuts. That wasn’t fate; it was your foot.”
- UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
“The scariest thing of all is never knowing what you’re suddenly going to believe.”
Post link
UNWIND: Neal Shusterman | Aesthetics
Connor Lassiter & Risa Ward & Levi ‘Lev’ Jedediah Calder
“I’d rather be partly great than entirely useless.”
― Neal Shusterman, Unwind
Chills all over
Post link
