Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman, David Yoon, Jarrod Shusterman, Joelle Shusterman, Michael H. Payne, Michelle Knowlden, Sofía Lapuente Series: Arc of a Scythe #3.5
Also in this series: Scythe
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on November 8, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Source: Blog Tour, The Publisher
My rating:
The New York Times bestselling Arc of the Scythe series continues with thrilling stories that span the timeline. Storylines continue. Origin stories are revealed. And new Scythes emerge!
There are still countless tales of the Scythedom to tell. Centuries passed between the Thunderhead cradling humanity and Scythe Goddard trying to turn it upside down. For years humans lived in a world without hunger, disease, or death with Scythes as the living instruments of population control.
Neal Shusterman—along with collaborators David Yoon, Jarrod Shusterman, Sofía Lapuente, Michael H. Payne, Michelle Knowlden, and Joelle Shusterman—returns to the world throughout the timeline of the Arc of a Scythe series. Discover secrets and histories of characters you’ve followed for three volumes and meet new heroes, new foes, and some figures in between.
Gleanings shows just how expansive, terrifying, and thrilling the world that began with the Printz Honor–winning Scythe truly is.
Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org
Looking to fill the void in your life that’s been festering ever since you finished the final book in the Arc of a Scythe Trilogy? If you’ve been missing Shusterman’s unique brand of intellectually stimulating dystopian, you must pick up this book of short stories immediately. It does not disappoint! The book explores multiple aspects of the dystopian world, including origin stories of some of the Scythes we’ve come to know and love (or hate), events happening in other places in the world during the main action of the trilogy, stories told by the Thunderhead itself, and stories set after the Toll. I have to say that I really enjoyed all of them. I sometimes find short stories to be unsatisfying, but the fact that we already have a full trilogy’s worth of worldbuilding established makes these stories feel a lot fuller than a book of random stories in random settings. I enjoyed the experience of reading each one, knowing I wouldn’t have to wait 100 pages for answers. 🙂
I did read a recap of the Arc of a Scythe trilogy on the Riveted by Simon Teen site before I jumped into this book, which helped me a lot. I don’t know that I would have enjoyed the stories as much if I hadn’t read that refresher. If you’re like me, and the details of books go out of your mind like a sieve (even books you love!), you might want to give it a read. I also wouldn’t recommend reading the short stories if you haven’t read the series yet. I just don’t think they’ll have the same impact. But, if that is the case, you have the opportunity for some amazing reading ahead, because you definitely need to jump into reading SCYTHE now!
Fans of this series are sure to love GLEANINGS! Who doesn’t want more action and more answers from a series they love?
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via Rockstar Book Tours so I could provide an honest review. No compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
Haven’t started the Arc of a Scythe series? Start your journey now!
About the Author
Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including the Unwind dystology, the Skinjacker trilogy, Downsiders, and Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award. Scythe, the first book in his latest series, Arc of a Scythe, is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows. Neal is the father of four, all of whom are talented writers and artists themselves. Visit Neal at StoryMan.com and Facebook.com/NealShusterman.
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1 winner will receive a finished copy of GLEANINGS, US Only.
End November 8th, midnight EST.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
| 10/24/2022 | A Bookish Dream | Review/IG Post |
| 10/24/2022 | @jacleomik33 | IG Review |
| 10/25/2022 | The Moon Phoenix | Review/IG Post |
| 10/25/2022 or TBD | Ooodlesofbooks | Review/IG Post |
| 10/26/2022 | Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers | Review/IG Post |
| 10/26/2022 | pluvioreads | Review/TikTok Post |
| 10/27/2022 | A Dream Within A Dream | Review/IG Post |
| 10/27/2022 | @readerofthewrittenword | IG Review |
| 10/28/2022 | @just_another_mother_with_books | IG Review |
| 10/28/2022 | two points of interest | Review |
Week Two:
| 10/31/2022 | booksaremagictoo | Review/IG Post |
| 10/31/2022 | Feed Your Fiction Addiction | Review/IG Post |
| 11/1/2022 | MandaTheBiblio | Review/IG Post |
| 11/1/2022 | Book Briefs | Review/IG Post |
| 11/2/2022 | Jael Just Reading | Review/IG Post |
| 11/2/2022 | The Momma Spot | Review |
| 11/3/2022 | @drew_ambitious_reading | IG Review/TikTok Post |
| 11/3/2022 | @thebookishfoxwitch | IG Review |
| 11/4/2022 | Karen Dee’s Book Reviews | IG Review |
| 11/4/2022 | onemused | IG Review |
I’m listening to the audio book.
I’ll bet this would be great in audiobook form!
I have a copy of the first book–this series is more than thought-provoking and I’m excited to continue on.
Everything that Shusterman writes is like this. He is a master of writing thought-provoking social commentary that doesn’t feel like social commentary. I honestly think the man is brilliant.
Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed Gleanings. I love this series and want to reread it next year.
That’s great that the publisher put up a refresher. My daughter loved this series and talks about the books on a dissertation level. It could be interesting getting other authors’ interpretations of this world.
I have GOT to get started on this series! I loved the Unwind series by Shusterman so I know I’ll like this one too. Great review!