Mini Book Review – Scythe

Recently I have been reading Scythe; and it’s one of the best books I have ever read! Written by Neal Shusterman, and published by Simon & Schuster; Scythe is a young adult science fiction novel, set in a future utopian society, where death has been eradicated, but in order to maintain a level of population control, a special order exists, to choose who lives, and dies! I first bought this book back in 2018, but it’s now just now that I have managed to get round to reading it. And I didn’t want to put it down, I loved it soo much. The central focus of the story is on two apprentice Scythe’s. Scythe’s are Grim Reaper like people, who gain mass levels of respect from virtually everyone on the planet, as they can both kill people, and also grant others immunity from death. The story starts out pretty simple, as the two characters; Citra and Rowan are taken under the wing of a veteran Scythe, and are taught in the ways of a Scythe. But as the book develops, it likes to throw plenty of spanners into the works, as major twists take place, which continue to change the focus of the narrative. So what starts out as an un-easy apprenticeship, takes a dark turn, as the two characters get split, and are ordered to fight each other to the death. Then there are the despicable villains, who very quickly give you reason not to have any sympathy for them, and from there, it just gets more and more tense, all the way to it’s gripping conclusion. It was such an Awesome read, featuring an interesting story, in a world already filled to the brim with lore, whilst also providing further incites through a journal like system after each chapter. And in the middle of all that, are two amazing characters, initially brought together, but then forced to seperate, and each go down an entirely different route, one much darker than the other!