“Hope in the shadow of fear is the world’s most powerful motivator.”
Scythe by Neal Shusterman is a dystopian fantasy that takes place on Earth hundreds of years in the future, a time where the threat of natural death has been eradicated and the sole enforcement of population control are scythes, a group individuals professionally trained to “glean” civilians. Citra and Rowan are chosen as two scythe apprentices, and find themselves the center of turmoil that begins to permeate the scythedom.
I immensely enjoyed Scythe. Shusterman’s world building was absolutely immaculate and detailed. I’ve found that fantasy authors can often fall into a world-building trap, either by being too vague or overly specific and tedious. However, Scythe does not fall victim to these dangers of fantasy writing, in fact, Shusterman managed to legitimately suspend my disbelief for much of the book, which is an uncommon experience for me when reading fantasy. Furthermore, I found the “post-mortal world” in which Scythe is set genuinely intriguing, and I was actually eager to learn more about it as I read on.
In terms of the plot, it was equally impressive. I am a huge fan of “apprenticeship” stories, and Scythe Faraday and Scythe Curie were admirable mentors to Citra and Rowan, as well as simply enjoyable characters. Additionally, I particularly found the dual perspective aspect of the novel to be appealing (as I always do). The switching POVs and the journal excerpts that were included between chapters allows the reader to piece together the complicated layers of Scythe’s plot. In this sense, Scythe seemed similar to a mystery-thriller; I found it suspenseful and engaging, and Shusterman was very purposeful in allusions and foreshadowing.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a riveting trilogy. Although I wouldn’t call Scythe a quick or light read, it really hooks the reader into the story, and definitely checks all the boxes of a captivating story.