Scythe by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Synopsis
Scythe takes place in a “perfect” world. There is no crime, no hunger, no age, not even death. Society has a solution to all of life’s problems. Yet… with that comes its own set of problems, such as how do humans live their lives when they don’t only have 80-odd years to live? How can humans grow without any true challenges and no real consequences? And the biggest concern, what happens to the population if it keeps growing and no one ever dies? That’s where the Scythes come in. The Scythes are tasked with keeping the population in control. In this book, a Scythe teaches two apprentices in the art of killing… but killing with compassion and without bias. (Does that sound strange and backward? Yep! That’s why it’s interesting.)
Review
Something I really liked about this book was its thoughtful view of life and death. I’ve gotten so tired of stories where death is handed out like candy to anyone who gets in the protagonist’s way. There is little thought to the lives taken or the consequences of such a choice. While there is quite a bit of death in this book, it is not taken lightly. The mentor to these apprentices teaches them to respect those that must die, and that they should never get used to killing. It should always sting, always hurt, because that’s how they know they’re still human. I was touched by the way they spoke to those that would pass away and how they dealt with their families. One early chapter had me crying because of the compassion and sorrow expressed by one of the apprentices.
Another thing I appreciated was the vivid characterization. I really felt like I knew who these characters were, and I liked who they were. I rooted for them. Rowan in particular. This is a slight spoiler, but he goes down a bit of a dark path, but I always rooted for him because of his deep compassion he’d shown early on. I appreciated Citra’s strong and driven attitude. I loved Scythe Faraday and all the many layers to his characters. We see him scoff, scold, laugh, and weep like a child. Scythe Curie was another favorite. I imagined her as Judie Dench because both women can command a room like no other.
All in all, a very interesting beginning. I look forward to the next two books.