Book Review: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

My Review:

Right off the bat the bestest things this story has going for it are its originality and it’s well-written. I haven’t read any story, YA or other, that comes close to the premise of this book.

We have conquered death. No one dies naturally anymore. You still age, but when you get tired of looking old, you can reset to a younger age. At the time that this is taking place you can reset into your 20s, but the possibility of resetting into your teens was near IIRC. So to maintain population control, Scythes are used to choose people and glean (kill) them. You have a 50/50 shot at reaching your 5000th birthday before getting gleaned 🙂

What’s it like living in a society where death has been conquered(for the most part)? One hobby for adrenaline junkies is to throw oneself off of a 40-story building, enjoy the ride down til you splat on the sidewalk, spend 4 days speed healing and come out good as, or better than, new. Your first speed healing treatment is covered – any subsequent stays, you have to come out of pocket.

Something else this story has going for it – The Thunderhead. What we know as The Cloud today evolves into the Thunderhead. A repository for all the knowledge in the world. You no longer have to study anything, just ask the Thunderhead. It analyses just about everything. Take for example, infrastructure – the Thunderhead analyses and determines what roads need to be built to meet the needs of the population. The only thing the Thunderhead doesn’t mess with is population control. Society believes that that should still be in the purview of someone with a conscience.

That someone is the aforementioned Scythe. A sort of Grim Reaper without the grim, unless they’re visiting you then I guess it would be dreadful. A Scythe and their family are immune from being gleaned as long as the Scythe is on the job.

Those individuals that do not want the job, are best suited for the job. Throughout the book I kept thinking, I want that job! I saw the value and the importance of it. The benefits for me and my family did not escape my notice. Something else that did not escape my notice was the fact that I would have to kill people. I’d have to meet my quota of bodies for the rest of my life.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to be apprentices under The Honorable Scythe Faraday. Neither wants the job but walking away isn’t a good option.

The plot painted itself into a corner leaving only four possible outcomes, two of which would not have made any sense. I was underwhelmed with the ending. Don’t get me wrong – the ending makes sense, but I didn’t care for it. Having said that, I am not sure what I would have preferred. Maybe your baby boy here is outgrowing YA 🙂

You and your family members have a 50/50 shot at making it to your 5000th birthday. You could guarantee a 100% shot if you were selected as a Scythe. Could you do the job?

I will definitely continue on with the series. Highly recommended. Put this on your TBR if it’s missing, move it up if it’s already there.

How cool is that cover?

4/5 Stars

• Title: Scythe
• Author: Neal Shusterman
• Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopia
• More Info On Goodreads