Fabulous reads – A YA thriller you should be dying to read
Book review - Scythe by Neal Shusterman.
Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1), Neal Shusterman, Pan Macmillan, ISBN: 9781140637924
IN a world where death has been conquered and humans have reached a state of near perfection, a select few, known as scythes, have been chosen to ensure the world’s population levels remain in check.
Governments have relinquished their power to the Thunderhead, an artificial intelligence that literally runs the entire planet. Its only limitation is that it cannot control the Scythedom.
Humans are, for the most part, immortal. Even so, the planet can only hold a certain number of people and continue to sustain life. Shortly after the Age of Mortality, scythes were introduced and they are the only entity that can end life.
Two unlikely teenagers are chosen to become apprentice scythes, a position they do not want – and this is the exact reason they were chosen for the roles.
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The duo have been given one year to learn and perfect the art of killing and, after three trials, only one of them will be chosen to become a scythe. The other will have no choice but to return back to their normal life.
While neither character wants the position, they soon realise what is a stake if they aren’t accepted. They soon discover that a rot has begun to fester among the scythedom, and they may just be the answer to its problems.
The YA genre has been inundated with stories that literally meld into one another with very few unique reads. What sets Scythe apart from the rest is its bold setting and intricate world building. The characters were intriguing enough in the beginning but about halfway through I felt a sudden disconnect. The novel’s ending was definitely a redeeming factor but it wasn’t enough to get me to pick up the second book.
If you enjoy YA and would like to tackle something different, then this one is for you.
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