This anthology of stories set in the world of Scythe is actually fantastic. Neal Shusterman's writing is so captivating, and the addition of some similar voices bring fascinating stories to life.

The fact that we got Scythe Goddard's backstory and you didn't even know it until the last page of the chapter? (If you figured it out beforehand, good for you, I happen to be dense) The worldbuilding is endlessly phenomenal, and everything stands so well within the world of Scythe. Each story packed its own punch, and there was no shortage of WTF moments that caused me to keep reading (not-Trixie anyone?) Really, really outstanding addition to the world of Scythe, and I will never get over how good this series it.

One last shoutout to the easter egg on the cover, the space suit, which I literally did not see until I got to that specific story.

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.***

Thank you for the advanced copy!

I am a fan of the Scythe series, so reading this title was not a hard sell. I've seen how students from 8th grade through 12th devour Shusterman's writing, and really love the world he creates in Scythe. This new anthology for the Scythe series is a lot of fun. Obviously everyone will have different opinions on which characters and backstories were more thoroughly flushed out through these short stories, but simultaneously there is at least one story in this book for everyone to enjoy. Gleanings also provides really excellent examples for short story writing, in a fun and engaging way. I would highly recommend!

Thank you Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC!

I was so excited to be back in the Scythedom universe and learn more about its history. Schusterman's writing is always engaging and his characters are so complex I feel conflicted about my feelings toward them. I highly recommend reading the first three books before reading this one, but readers new to the series will do just fine with this one.

Gleanings is out now!

Neal Shusterman can write a good story. He's great and world building and complex plotlines. But he's also good at heteronormativity and fatphobia. It's rough because I wanted to love it, much like I felt with the rest of the series, but was constantly reminded that Neal thinks being fat is bad and that queer people basically don't exist.

Shusterman's Unwind series is one of those that I actually remember reading as a teenager and I really was hoping to continue loving his stories as an adult. There's no doubt he can write a good story, but I hope to see some improvement in the future, especially regarding the fatphobia. It's 2022 for god's sake. Being fat is not the worst thing that can happen.

Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe is a new addition to the Scythe series. This book does not offer a new or additional storyline; rather, it is a collection of short stories that expands the Scythe world, gives us background on events and people that are merely referenced in the original trilogy.

I felt Gleanings stayed true to the original series, while further exploring concepts and characters in the Scythe world.

Like an short story collection, there were hits and misses. My favorite stories were The Mortal Canvas and Anastasia's Shadow. The stories involving Scythe Curie were great additions, that really built out the lore around her! Black Night's Tango (I think only in the Barnes and Noble Special Edition) was really nice too.

My life could have been improved by never reading Never Work With Animals. That shit was freaky. But otherwise all the stories were a solid 3-4 stars!!

If you loved the Scythe trilogy, this bonus book is definitely worth picking up!!

Wow wow wow. This book was amazing! I was beyond excited to receive this as an ARC because I love the Arc of a Scythe series so much. This book took me back into the Scythe world, reuniting with old characters and meeting new ones, getting the inside scoop on events that took place during the series, and so much more. This was a perfect addition to the series and I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

The Arc of a Scythe trilogy is one of my favorite series ever - I love Rowan, Citra, the Thunderhead, Scythe Faraday and Curie, and the intricacies of this world without death. ⁣
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So obviously, when Neal announced last year that this book was coming together, I just about died (oops)! I was so excited to return to the Scythedom and read stories about old and new characters.⁣
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Neal truly delivered with this collection of short stories - I can’t even begin to tell you how much I laughed, smiled, and cringed with every story I read. My favorite is definitely A Mortal Canvas (when you read it, you’ll see why). ⁣
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Anyone and everyone who is a fan of the Arc of a Scythe series is going to love this collection. It’s just a really great addition to this world, and each story reminds me why I loved this series so much!

I LOVED that Neal Shusterman came out with another book in the Arc of a Scythe series, because I loved the original trilogy so much. This is a book of short stories that Shusterman co-authored with a couple of other authors, featuring some new characters and some familiar ones. I always loved the scythes and the Thunderhead the most so I loved that we got more stories about different scythes.. From the time directly after the Thunderhead took over to the time period when Rowan and Citra were lost underwater, there are a range of time periods.

The only thing I did not love was that it was a co-authored book, and even without seeing who wrote each story it would’ve been easy to tell which ones Neal Shusterman did not write himself. The stories by David Yoon and Jarrod Shusterman were fine, but they were not the best in the book. Neal Shusterman just has a distinctive voice that made the first three books so good.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced reader’s copy!

What a treat to return to the universe of the Scythe trilogy! I’m not usually a series reader, but Arc of the Scythe is one of my all time favorites, so I couldn’t wait to jump into this anthology. Like any collection, some stories were better than others. To me, the standouts were A Martian Minute, which gives us the origin story of a well known character, The Persistence of Memory, and A Death of Many Colors. I haven’t read the original trilogy in nearly two years, so with some of the stories that came after the events of The Toll, I could have used a little refresher, but if you’ve read the books recently (or just have a better memory than me), you’ll have no problem keeping up. Neal Shusterman’s writing is exceptional as always, and I loved that he collaborated with other authors on several stories. If you’re a fan of the original books, you will love this!

If you love the Scythe series, this anthology of short stories will make you happy to have!

I received an ARC copy of Gleanings, and as a fan of the series, I was gasping and laughing aloud with this one! The stories are heart-wrenching just like the series, giving you some extra insight into the glorious world of Scythedom. I won’t give any spoilers by saying WHO the stories are about, but you’ll get to the end and they will drop the ball and you will be like 😱!!!

Loved it!!

Unfortunately because this only was accessible to me through the Netgalley app, I could not read this one in time due to it expiring before the pub day. I really wanted to read this one because the trilogy is one of my absolute favorites. If this had been able to send to my kindle app I would have easily read it and reviewed it.

I loved reading about characters we knew in the trilogy and reading stories that were mentioned before. All the stories were really interesting but maybe my favorite was the one with the murder dog. It was both hilarious and terrifying.

The Arc of a Scythe series is one of my favorites (and I ahve a few students who are hooked on it as well). I was so excited toi get the ARC of this book.

Shusterman and several co-authors tell more scythe stories that involve characters that we already know.
about this world and some of its characters. I was excited to see folks like Scythe Curie againand even Goddard (although I'm not a fan of his--the story here about him was good).

Definitely recommended reading for those fans of the Arc of a Scythe series. This is a nice collection of new material focusing on their world.

I was thrilled to see that Neal Shusterman was returning to the world of the Arc of the Scythe. Though I don't normally like short stories, these were all engaging and gave interesting insights into familiar characters.

The Arc of a Scythe series is one of my absolute favs, so when I saw Gleanings on NetGalley, I might have squealed with glee (I totally did).

The Arc of a Scythe series has concluded, but the author (and several co-authors) had more stories to tell about this world and some of its characters. And I was totally thrilled with that. I recently finished the last book in the series, so I remembered some of the characters mentioned in Gleanings. One of my favorites was Goddard’s origin story. Like most readers, I wasn’t a fan of his, but he was a fascinating character I wanted to know more about – and my wish sure was granted. I also enjoyed seeing Scythe Curie in a couple stories and learning what became of her. A big smile split my face when Scythe Lucifer/Rowan made an appearance. That story was also one of my favorites even before he showed up.

Although I loved the end of this series (seriously, I can’t tell you how much I loved that ending), I was sad to see it conclude. Getting this book of short stories set within that world was like an early Christmas gift. If you haven’t read Arc of a Scythe, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s filled with magnificent world-building, complex characters, and jaw-dropping moments.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Neal Shusterman’s writing and world building is amazing as always. Definitely worth the read if you love this world or are a fan of Neal’s writing in general

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing the ARC.

There was absolutely no question when I saw this book was available as an ARC - I needed to have it.

I absolutely LOVED the Scythe Trilogy, and I recommend it to all of my friends who derive any enjoyment from science fiction/dystopian literature. It is fantastic. And Gleanings is no different.

As an anthology, there are stories that are better than others, but there is not one bad one in the group. And for anyone who loves Scythe as much as I do, this book provides a great deal of insight into the characters that we experienced in the main trilogy. Definitely required reading for those who want to stay in the Scythe world a little bit longer.

Another great addition to an already masterful series.

Yet another great addition to the series!
I thoroughly enjoy Shusterman's books and this one is no different. I'm not usually a fan of series, however this one definitely kept my interest. I really enjoyed the extra insight to the characters. I would recommend this book if you enjoyed Scythe!

What a delight to be thrown back into the world that Scythe built. I enjoyed it just as much as the series and know that my kids who felt the same way about Scythe will be just as pumped to read Gleanings.