Review: The Scythe - Book One

Author: Neal Shusterman

Genre: Dystopia

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.

Where do I start? I don’t even know how to describe this book, so I will give a curious fact about me: I grew up in the highest point and moment of The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and Divergent. In fact, until today, even though I first read The Hunger Games more than 10 years ago, the saga continues to be on my top five favorite books. But I am not here to talk about THG. I am here to talk about Citra and Rowan.

After so many years I was craving for a book that could offer me something like what Divergent gave me (at least the first book); a dystopian world, interesting characters, and a tiny bit of romance. Luckily, The Scythe gave me that!

Imagine a world free of disease, no hunger, no poverty, no war, where you can be almost immortal. This is something to blow your mind, right? Neal Shusterman did that. He did it with such perfection and mastery that as I was reading, I just couldn’t stop. The guy was a genius in this book.

In the book, all knowledge was restored in a database and because people don’t have diseases or die, they came up with the Scythes. They are people whose job is to kill people, so the Earth doesn't get overpopulated. As time passes, there is the necessity of having more Scythes and that is when we meet Citra and Rowan. Honorable Scythe Faraday takes on them as new apprentices and he teaches them about the role of a scythe, the responsibility, how to manage that, and everything they need to know to be an honorable scythe and not just a person who likes to kill and enjoy the power to do so.

Citra and Rowan are authentic characters, very similar but also so different at the same time. Faraday, together with his new students, makes an amazing team as they enter this world of the Scythes community and their lifestyle. Personally, to me, this is an important aspect of a book: the relationship between the characters and I can say for sure that this book didn’t have this problem. The chemistry was so good and I actually thought: ok, he kills, but is his job… I think I can deal with that, is not totally his fault….

Courtesy of the artist (I didn't find their name or @)

Something really interesting about this book is the technology because it shows the power it can have. The database controls everything, cars, lights, everything so easily that is scary. How far can the technology go? This book did a great job of making me think about that. Technology can be so useful if we can use it to do good…

If you like books that are focused on romance, this book might not be for you. We have little pieces (really small), but we still have a silhouette of something that can grow in the future, so I do think reading the second book is a good idea if you liked the first one, just like me.

I don’t want to spoil anything so I think I will stop here… But here are some nice quotes to peak your interest.

“With nothing to really aspire to, life has become about maintenance. Eternal maintenance.”

"According to the rumor, there is someone out there who is seeking out corrupt, despicable scythes. . . and ending their existence by fire. One thing is certain: He's not an ordained scythe. And yet people have started to call him Scythe Lucifer"

“My greatest wish for humanity is not for peace or comfort or joy. It is that we all still die a little inside every time we witness the death of another. Only the pain of empathy will keep us human. There’s no version of God that can help us if we ever lose that.” 

Keep up with the drama!

Gabi