Scythe, by Neal Shusterman (BOOK REVIEW)
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.
“Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy. The best we get is pleasantness”
It's hard, when I sit down to write a book review and I'm genuinely speechless; in the best way. When I first heard of this book I was immediately intrigued by the entire concept of it. "Thou shalt kill"!? Um yes, take my money.
“Human nature is both predictable and mysterious; prone to great and sudden advances, yet still mired in despicable self-interest.”
“Have we ever had an enemy worse than ourselves?
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.
“Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy. The best we get is pleasantness”
It's hard, when I sit down to write a book review and I'm genuinely speechless; in the best way. When I first heard of this book I was immediately intrigued by the entire concept of it. "Thou shalt kill"!? Um yes, take my money.
From the very first page, I was completely sucked in. This entire world full of different standards and systems, was so fascinating. Obviously it's very dark, but it's so interesting, to me. It's so crazy to be able to see what the world could look like if completely different moral values had absolute dominance.
I loved the plot in this book. The high stakes were so satisfying. I loved the training-trope, where it's the master and the students. It was very much like a movie layout, and I haven't ever read a book like that. Shusterman has a very interesting way of doing plot twists. They're almost not plot twists; just crazy things that you don't expect. I enjoyed that part of this book a lot.
I think Shusterman did an amazing job with world building. Every time I opened this book, I felt like I was being transported to another reality. The societal norms were so ingrained into every corner of this story, that the morals almost didn't seem out of the ordinary.
Because Shusterman spent so much time and effort on the plot, the characters weren't very "personal". But, I didn't mind it. This book wasn't necessarily written for the reader to know about the characters lives, it was more about present politics and revolution. I usually want to know the characters and be able to attach to them so much more, but the plot itself was sufficient. But even with the plot taking over most of this book, I still felt attached to the characters. No, I didn't really know who they were, but I still really liked them. I think it helps because this is a series, so after three books you should at least feel a little attached to the characters. They were very well written and I loved just reading about them. The changing POVS were done really well. I usually get annoyed at them, but Shusterman, *three claps*.
There was a teesny weensy bit of romance and the little bit of it was absolutely heart-wrenching. We kind of got, rivals-to-lovers and forced-proximity. What's not to like?
Yes, this book was quite violent. But my friends and I agreed that due to us starting our "dystopian book journey" with The Giver Quartet and then moving on to The Hunger Games, we were quite prepared for this book. I think slowly easing into intensity, in this genre, is the best way to go. That way, you know what to expect. Because of this, the violence didn't really bother me. I definitely was aghast at everything that was happening, but I wasn't having trouble sleeping at night.
I didn't have any annoyances with the writing. Everything was clearly explained and I don't think I found myself having to re-read stuff over. I had some trouble remembering which character was who, but there were a lot of people to keep track of. Shusterman's writing style is really crafty. He really plans out every single detail and weaves every point together quite nicely. A lot of the lines in this book were so thought provoking and done with great intention.
I love books that challenge and question human nature. The kind of book that may be uncomfortable, but deals with important conversations. This book begs the question, what if there was no longer natural death? What if we mortals overcame death? There would have to be some sort of death system, and in this book, that's where the Scythe's come in. It's a very disturbing concept, but an important one.
“Have we ever had an enemy worse than ourselves?
I give this book a 9 out of 10 and recommend it to ages 14+
PRESS HERE to purchase this book.
Happy Reading!
-Ariana :)
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