BOOK REVIEW: Scythe (Arc of Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman
7:30 AM
Title: Scythe
Series: Arc of Scythe #1
Author: Neal Shusterman
ISBN: 1442472421 (ISBN13: 9781442472426)
ISBN: 1442472421 (ISBN13: 9781442472426)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date: November 22, 2016
Grab a copy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Synopsis:
Synopsis:
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.
2 words: MIND. BLOWN.
I didn't even know where do I start to describe how much I love this book! Scythe is set in a world which deadly diseases, hunger, poverty, crime, and other issues that our world is facing today no longer exists due to the help of an AI entity called the "Thunderhead". Thanks to the Thunderhead humanity is immune from the harm of deadly diseases, they can die and be revived the next day, and reset turn their age back to their desire age if they want to. However, since there are no longer threats to human life, population will continue to grow; this is where Scythes came to exist.
The Scythes, or the Scythedom, is a wide group of people in charge of regulating the population growth. And by "in charge", I mean, they are authorized to perform legal killings, or gleaning, as they call it, a certain number of people each year. Kind of like harvesting, but instead of crops, they harvest lives. They're the Grim Reaper, but alive.
What I love the most about this book is the overall concept as well as the plot. It isn't everyday that you get to encounter a book that will challenge your moral compass on how you weigh the right and the wrong. This book is induced with challenging topics about morality as well as food for thought about how will our society fare in the coming years what with continuous advancement of our technology and research. Although this book receives an A+++ for me because of the over all concept and plot, I have a tiny wee bit of a problem with how vague the author portrayed the world in this book. The pacing of the first part of the book is a bit slow for me, but it picked up somewhere in the middle and got me at the edge of my seat! The characters and their character development is something that I love about this book as well. Not to mention, the plot twists and butt-kicking scenes that had me squealing and cursing like a sailor!
Overall, this book is beyond words amazing. I am honestly surprised that I would love this book so much that it got me out of a reading slump! If you're into books that will challenge the way think of what is right or wrong, this one is for you.
My rating:
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