Earlier this year, I wrote, “It would be great if I could manage to write at least a few lines about each book that I finish in 2024.” It was an easy thing to write but it’s not so easy to do. The only way to tackle it is one book at a time, so let me get started with this post about the first book I finished this year.
Scythe by Neal Shusterman, A
The premise: In the distant future, a seemingly benevolent AI has taken over the world. Human disease, pain, aging, and death have been largely eliminated through technological developments, and the AI entity (known as the Thunderhead) keeps everything, including food production, running smoothly. But though people rarely die naturally (at least not permanently, unless their bodies are destroyed beyond redemption, as in a fire), it was decided that a certain number of people still needed to die each year, so the Scythes were created. Scythes are experts in weapons, combat, and the methodology of death, and their role in society is to end lives. It is supposed to be a moral, principled job, never driven by bias or love of killing. By law, the Thunderhead cannot interfere with the scythes, so it’s an entirely human system, and over time it has become corrupted. When apprentice scythes Citra and Rowan find their existence threatened by this corruption, they have no choice but to try to fix it, each in their own way.
My reaction: I originally bought this book as a Christmas present for Livia, but then worried it might be too dark/mature. I decided to read it first, then give it to her if I thought it was OK. Time has passed, and I worry less now about what Livia reads, so perhaps I needn’t have bothered to read it myself at this point. However, I’m glad I did. Though the subject matter is dark, the book is a real page-turner with some great plot twists. I haven’t specifically given it to Livia to read, but I told her that she could if she wanted to. I’m currently reading the sequel.