Title: Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1)
Author: Neal Shusterman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2016
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Pages: 330
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Winter TBR
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.
I finally picked this up and it was really really hard to put down at the end of the night to sleep. I was immediately right into the story and the world that Shusterman creates. I wanted to understand how a world got to the point that we join the story. I loved that eventually we got to learn more about the Thunderhead. Hope that continues throughout the other two books. As to the scythes themselves, Citra and Rowan are great lead characters. But really makes it are the side characters. Scythes Faraday, Curie, and yes, even Goddard are fascinating figures to follow. I’m glad the book doesn’t fall into the whiny teen romance trap, but focuses on the questions of the scythes and death. Definitely have to pick up the second book in the series soon.
Arc of a Scythe:
#1 Scythe
#2 Thunderhead
#3 The Toll
Next up on the TBR pile:
