Yesterday I wrote about Wendy Donawa's soulful poetry and today I present something completely different: a dystopic novel for teens in the "children killing each other" genre launched so successfully by Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games.
At first I was doubtful - do we really need another murder-based dark dystopia? As the first in a trilogy, I thought I'd try it based on uber-librarian Tracy Kendrick's recommendation. I'm a little squeamish about gore so didn't think it would be my thing.
Scythe is set in a world where there is no death, and life is ruled by a computer mastermind that keeps everything running smoothly with no crime or bad behaviour. In order to control overpopulation, a society of privileged Scythes is formed, who go out killing people every day. The heroes of the story are two youths who have been chosen as Scythe apprentices, Rowan and Citra.
In these kinds of books, success rests not on believability in the real world, but coherence in the fictional situation, and I have to say, Shusterman masterfully draws us into the tension and conflicts. Although it is a perfect world, naturally humanity f***s it up, leading to much drama, danger and excitement.
Frankly, I found it quite enjoyable and recommend the book for people who like dystopic teen novels. I am not sure anyone in my audience fits that category except for Tracy, but Hey! there it is.
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