Scythe (Arc of the Scythe #1)

By: Neal Shusterman

Blurb:

Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Review:

I thought the idea behind Scythe was interesting. Humans are immortal and to avoid overpopulation they create a group of people legally allowed to kill them. Sounds promising. It ended up being weird and boring for me.

How is it alright for the group of people who are allowed to kill humans allowed to do it in any manner they desire? Why is there no rule that they have to do it in a humane way? Why do they get to choose whoever they want to kill, as long as it’s not obvious that they’re targeting a specific group? Why is there no real oversight on this group at all??? Why was only having ten rules for Scythes not a red flag?

I think the issues with this system are incredibly clear. I received no answers in this first book and I’m debating on whether or not I want to read the next. Things aren’t looking good.

2.5/5