Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Thanks to the polar vortex and temperatures colder than, oh, everywhere, I hunkered down and finished this in 3 days. It was long but moved at a good pace, I think. I’m not sure this would have ever landed on my TBR list if not for my YA book club. It’s dystopian/sci-fi ish and the first of a series, which isn’t my usual thing.
The Scythe are a select group in the post-mortality world where humans no longer die naturally, who are tasked with culling the population by randomly selecting people to kill. There was a lot of great writing and the characters were deep and complex. I can’t say I 100 percent buy the concept of the future where all the world problems are solved and managed by the cloud, which has evolved to contain all human knowledge and allegedly maximized efficiency of all resources. Except of course, the Scythe, who function on the outside of the society with their own rules.
The main plot involves two teenage apprentices as they complete the year-long training and transformation to scythedom. There are likable and loathsome characters and plot twists, and it t kept my interest to the very end. I enjoyed it but I don’t know if I will continue the series, I liked the ending but don’t feel drawn to continue the story. 4/5 stars ⭐️
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Just-Joshin Reads 