Book Review: Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1)

About The Book:

  Title: Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1) 

  Author: Neal Shusterman 
  Pub. Date: November 22nd, 2016
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers  
  Pages: 435

  Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia 

  Rate: 5/5 stars 

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.

Review:

“You have three hundred sixty-five days of immunity." And then, looking in the eye, said
"And I'll be seeing you on day three hundred sixty-six." 

Rowan

Neal Shusterman is one of my absolute favorite authors. I've been reading his books since I got into YA like 10 years ago. It's no surprise I couldn't wait until his debut of Scythe, just as it's also no surprise that I absolutely loved everything about this book. As was his amazing series Unwind, Mr. Shusterman's Scythe is a groundbreaking dystopia with a brilliant plot that you HAVEN'T seen before. In Scythe, there is no more death. People can live up to hundreds and hundreds of years, adjusting their cells or "nanites" to make them look younger or more attractive. But something has to control population growth, right? That's where the Scythes come in. The often revered Scythes have the duty to "glean" people, and when you are gleaned, you are dead-dead (not just deadish). As you'll read, all Scythes have a different way of gleaning. Some are peaceful, some are quick, and some are downright savage. Scythe Faraday chooses two apprentices to teach his ways to and ultimately become a Scythe.

Citra

Citra and Rowan are the two main characters that were chosen to be the apprentices. They both have their differences, but I honestly think they both are kindred spirits. Rowan floats by in his life, not wanting to stand out to anyone, while Citra is high-strung and hot-tempered. A common theme occurs between them: when Scythe Faraday chooses them, they both hate the idea of one day becoming a Scythe and having to glean. The evolution of Citra and Rowan throughout the course of this novel is sensational. If the names were erased and you look at them at the start of the novel and then at the end, you might not recognize them as the same characters. They literally go through SO much throughout Scythe that rocks their world, it changes them on a personal level. There is clearly something between Citra and Rowan, but it never overwhelms the plot like a lot of YA novels do.

"This wasn't going to be a gleaning, it was going to be a massacre" 

Scythe is a frightening reality about what happens when you die. Like mentioned before, there are no "accidental deaths" anymore, hospitals are instead used to revive you after you get in an accident that would normally kill you. I think it's such a scary thought that when people are in these revival centers, life goes on all around you. People are so desensitized to death that nobody really stops to look at the consequences. The writing in this book is really quite beautiful and makes you examine the impact death has on your life. I will recommend this book to everyone. What am I saying? I ALWAYS recommend Neal Shusterman to everyone, he's a literary genius. Read all of his books!

"We are angels of death - 

It is only fitting that we swoop in from the heavens" 

- Jocelyn