Scythe (book review)

It is rare that one comes across a novel that is truly original. Often, we just see characters and plots that are reminiscent of so many others we’ve read, albeit seasoned in some slightly new way. Stories like those are enjoyable, if not for their uniqueness, but perhaps for their familiarity.

This is no such book.

The world-building is new, for sure, and I commend Shusterman for it. Very fun. But world-building is just the construction of the stage on which a play is acted out; it cannot stand on its own. After the novelty of it, I expected Scythe to fall on its face.

But it didn’t.

The characters of Scythe are a hero-pair. There is romantic tension, but this isn’t a romance. It’s just something… different. This story has action, subterfuge, dark villains and a plot that forces us to ask ourselves: where is the human race is going? And when we get there, what happens next?

And the answer seems to be: the same thing that always happens. We screw it all up.

Super fun. Great book. Just read it.