The book Scythe by Neal Shusterman is a great book. Scythe is a well articulated book that has been beautifully written by Shusterman. I loved this amazing read that had thrills and chills throughout the book. The world of Scythe takes place in a futuristic world where there is no natural death. Death is only administered through Scythes. Scythes “glean” (which is their word for kill) people to keep the population under control, because as one could envision without death, the population would grow at a massive rate. Furthermore the Scythedom was created to prevent the population from getting out of hand. Scythes have to be chosen very carefully. How they are chosen is much more simple than one may think. They are chosen by the scythe that wants them as an apprentice. Then, after one year of apprenticeship, they are considered by the jeweling committee to be a scythe or not. The scythes have a quota of how many people they have to glean. If the scythe had anger issues then, the scythe might exceed the quota of people they need to glean.
   

The book Scythe follows a teenage boy and girl from different families. The girl’s name is Citra Terranova, she is very competitive even when she doesn't want to be and hates failing (more than most people). Citra has a small family that consists of Ben, Citra’s brother, and Citra’s mother and father. She can be sassy at times and very sweet and kind at others. The boy is named Rowan Damisch, he is very nonchalant about things like his school grades and how he is thought of at school. Rowan’s family is much larger than Citra’s, so it’s hard for Rowan to get any attention or acknowledged at all. Rowan’s best friend is named Tyger. Tyger has a hobby of doing something called “splatting”, where he jumps off a building, and one should know what happens next.
   

After the book introduces the characters, it starts telling the story. Citra is at the dinner table with her brother, mother and father. Suddenly, there is a knocking on the door, and Citra’s mother stands up to answer it. Citra’s mother looks like she is in shock, and for a good reason, a Scythe has shown up at their door. Citra and the rest of the family stood up at the scythe’s arrival. This Scythe introduced himself as Honorable Scythe Faraday. Then the Scythe surprised them all by saying he was here to have dinner with them. That night they had ziti for dinner along with  Honorable Scythe Faraday. Suddenly, Citra made a comment, “ If you're here to glean one of us, just get it over with and stop torturing us!” The table erupted into a dispute. Suddenly, the Scythe said that he was there to glean their neighbor and had just stopped by for some food. Just like that, Citra’s life had changed for the better or for the worse.

The book Scythe is written beautifully and uses a variety of language other than cursing when something bad happens. The author did a great job making lovable characters and evil antagonists that one could hate. The tone of the book is very clear, depending on the scene. The characters have meaning to the story and almost always have some lesson that they teach. The Scythes that you meet throughout are memorable by a nickname or something that they personally do. I love the world that makes Scythe, however, something that could make the book better, is if the writer would introduce the characters when they enter into the storyline. Another thing that could have been better, is if the characters had some kind of bond other than friends or apprentices. However, the book is amazing, and it was an immersive story that one would enjoy.

My overall opinion of Shusterman's Scythe is that it introduces loveable characters that one would root for in the story. The book introduces a very interesting concept that the book has, which is the way the world turned out. The book uses the perfect amount of detail in the story to keep someone interested and describe the place or feeling. The story has characters that have in depth opinions, or people who are still a mystery to the reader. The author did a splendid job of making two opposite characters who are both in the same boat. The journal entries in between chapters bring powerful statements to the table that open your eyes to the world. This is a book that anyone could enjoy reading, and one should look into it sometime in the future.