I absolutely loved the Scythe series by Neal Shusterman and was sad to leave it at the end, when I heard that there was going to be a collection of short stories set in the same universe I kept an eye out for its release. Amazingly I was approved for this on NetGalley and had to wait no longer.

And what a collection this is, if you’re a lover of the Scythe universe you will love this addition, and if you’ve not read the original trilogy I would advise you to read it first as there are some spoilers in here.

The collection has a real mix of tone throughout, from the darkly humorous to more serious additions, though I would say that the humorous stories really add to the flavour of Scythe, and would probably have to admit that two of the humorous shorts were my favourites but not my top story.

Meet Cute and Die Is hilarious, the fluffiest story in the collection but also one of the best, got to love Scythe Boudica’s preferred method of Gleaning.

The Persistence of Memory is a hilarious look at two Scythes of different temperaments in Barcelona, Dali and Gaudi… It is a look at the perceived competition between the two in Dali’s eyes, how one wishes to be flamboyant and the other more peaceful, absolutely loved the ending of this, and the theatricality of Scythe Dali.

Never Work with Animals who doesn’t like a shaggy dog story with a happy ending, maybe not the ending you would expect but hilarious especially with the bits of the Sythe’s past that are brought into the story.

The Mortal Canvas this for me though was the strongest story of the collection, looking at what could be lost with the onset of immortality and lack of challenge that only having one lifetime brings.

A great collection of short stories for lovers of Scythe and for all others as you don’t need to know the universe to appreciate great storytelling.

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