Book: Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Read From: 11th July - 16th July 2021
Rating: 3/5 stars
Summary: In a perfect world, the only way to die is to be gleaned by a professional Scythe. When Citra and Rowan are chosen to be apprentice scythes, they have no option but to learn the art of killing. However, corruption is the order of the day and Citra and Rowan need to stick together to fight it, until they're told that one of them will have to glean the other.
This book was so much fun. The concept was interesting and unique, and there’s just something about a dystopian world that will suck you in and leave you hooked - which is exactly what this book did. The utopia that Shusterman created not only felt extremely real (which was largely helped by the fascinating journal entries alongside extensive and detailed world building) but also paves the way for interesting discussions about society and population growth and control.
However, I found the characters really difficult to connect with and were this not the case, I genuinely think this could have been a 4 or even 5 star read for me. Whilst I enjoyed seeing how a rise in power can impact a character's thoughts and actions, I simply just did not care about them - even though I desperately wanted to! Citra was undoubtedly a strong and fierce heroine and you all know by now that I love a badass female character. I genuinely cannot put my finger on what was missing from her - or even if anything was missing at all! Rowan on the other hand… I was pretty impartial to. I liked his involvement in the story, I just didn’t like him. And again, I don’t quite know why! Perhaps a lot of my dislike for these characters stemmed from the completely unnecessary romantic sub-plot which felt like it was only included because of convenience? I really didn’t gel with it, but maybe this is explored better in the following books which I’m definitely still keen to read!
I would definitely recommend this all the same. I think the novel goes a lot deeper than it’s characters and, for me, a lack of connection to them didn’t completely hinder my reading experience. This is a young adult dystopian book that goes a lot further than your typical Hunger Games or Maze Runner, giving you the opportunity to delve deeper into a lot of the themes it explores. I'm so intrigued about the sequel, particularly as it seems like we get to know more about the Thunderhead which was definitely one of the most interesting aspects about this world in the first book. Super excited to see where this series goes!