Scythe is a book about teenage confusion and maturity, artificial intelligence, and extremely futuristic and dystopian elements that all culminate into a truly fantastic and intriguing read. Scythe is set in a dystopian society where, due to overpopulation and essentially the elimination of human death, there are assigned humans whose jobs and lives are dedicated to the “gleaning” of others. The people who are gleaned are randomly selected citizens, however, this is necessary in the futuristic society due to the increasingly efficient and working medicines that allow humans to live much longer. These medicines unfortunately result in more people at a time than the Earth is able to handle, therefore, the term and occupation of scythe-hood was born. The main characters that this book focuses on are two teenagers named Rowan and Citra. Each possesses their own personality and strengths or weaknesses. The book starts with these two strangers being called out of school to meet with a Scythe named Scythe Faraday, who is attempting to mentor them to become new Scythes. However, normally, a scythe must only have one apprentice. Therefore, when the Scythe leaders were made aware that Scythe Faraday had more apprentices than allowed in his mentorship, he was forced to put Rowan and Citra in the position of fighting for the role of the Scythe. The story follows the troubles of Rowan and Citra and the near-death situations that they experience as they navigate finding their own paths, deciphering who they are and their own relationship, and surviving a society that is seemingly out to destroy them. Scythe was one of my first good reads in a while, mostly due to its fast-paced nature and unique premise. I tend to stay away from dystopian or sci-fi books in general, mostly because they tend to be extremely cliché or just depressing. However, for me, Shusterman found a perfect balance between a believable, yet truly intriguing dystopian society, combined with a sense of kind and moral humanity. This glimpse into a possible future was also able to somehow remind me that regardless of whatever technology or obscure practices the future holds, humans are still humans and that can never be taken away. This was an amazing read and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a casual, fun book that will unknowingly change your perspective of the world and teach you some things along the way.
Sonali S.
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