I really liked the idea of this story, and it started off pretty well. But by the time I was about 70% of the way through I was struggling to finish it. The story wasn't badly written. It was just that... it lacked depth. The concepts were good, just not explored in any way that delved below the surface shine.

The characters were for the most part, interesting. But I found I wanted to learn more about the older Scythes. Faraday and Curie fascinated me and I was actually more interested in their story by the end than the story of the two main characters who both seemed very young for their age, and whom I didn't really grow to like. One of the main plot points of the story (and I don't think this is a spoiler as its in the book's summary) is that of the two apprentices only one could "win" and the other would be gleaned. Finding out who would win was pretty much the only thing that kept me reading, but it occurred to me at some point, that I didn't really care one way or the other who it was. I wanted my curiosity satisfied, but I wasn't rooting for either character to come out on top. That seems a bit problematic to me.