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A review by jenny_librarian
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
adventurous
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
I get why people like this book, but I couldn't see past all the worldbuilding holes. Stuff like heteronormativity and fatphobia displayed as if they weren't problems that should be solved in a "perfect" world. Or the fact that no one being disabled actually sounds like eugenics. Those details stuck to my mind and kept me from enjoying the story as others have.
I didn't find the story groundbreaking either, although there are some interesting discussion points that could be brought up in a book club or class reading, such as the role of scythes, the necessity of population control, the ethics of gleaning, the ethics of the Thunderhead, etc.
And can we talk about Volta's last gleaning? the whole classroom thing was taken right out of Star Wars, down to the very thing he tells Rowan before dying.
"I gleaned him... I gleaned them all..." (Volta, p.385)
"I killed them, I killed them all." (Anakin Skywalker, Attack of the Clones)
. . . I mean, at least be original about it.
It did not help with my appreciation of the book that the author seemed intent on dropping some sort of romantic storyline in there when the two main characters have absolutely zero chemistry. Citra had more chemistry with Faraday and Curie than she ever did with Rowan, so that whole thing at the end made no sense. At most, they had a mutual physical attraction, but I wouldn't call it love. Therefore, the ending doesn't make me want to forge ahead with the trilogy at all.
I didn't find the story groundbreaking either, although there are some interesting discussion points that could be brought up in a book club or class reading, such as the role of scythes, the necessity of population control, the ethics of gleaning, the ethics of the Thunderhead, etc.
"I gleaned him... I gleaned them all..." (Volta, p.385)
"I killed them, I killed them all." (Anakin Skywalker, Attack of the Clones)
. . . I mean, at least be original about it.
It did not help with my appreciation of the book that the author seemed intent on dropping some sort of romantic storyline in there when the two main characters have absolutely zero chemistry. Citra had more chemistry with Faraday and Curie than she ever did with Rowan, so that whole thing at the end made no sense. At most, they had a mutual physical attraction, but I wouldn't call it love. Therefore, the ending doesn't make me want to forge ahead with the trilogy at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Fatphobia, Police brutality