3/5 stars
Scythe has one of the most unique premises and worlds I have ever read. Humanity has conquered death, but to keep the population under control, scythes are chosen to be the ones to administer death to humans, to kill them. The politics of the scythedom was intriguing and the world was close enough to ours to be familiar but different enough to be fascinating. Citra and Rowan being chosen as scythe apprentices, which neither of them really wants to be, was an interesting concept and I was excited to see how it played out.
The pacing of the plot was good too; I felt like the book was moving quickly and keeping me entertained, while not being rushed. And there were certainly some twists and turns that I wasn't expecting.
But what really kept Scythe from reaching its potential as a decent to good YA sci-fi were the characters. They were all just...utterly boring. It's as if the author just looked up YA tags and created characters solely based on the most prevalent tropes. Citra is our Feisty and Sarcastic Female Character, and Rowan is our Serious and Moody Boy. That is truly about it on their characterization.
I was disappointed at the beginning of the book because we are given no time to get to know Citra and Rowan's personalities before things start happening to them, so there's not a lot of investment in them from the outset. Then as the book went on, I realized they had no personalities, so we couldn't have gotten to know them.
Citra was an okay character. She obviously didn't have a lot of depth, and like all of the characters, I didn't feel like I knew her that well, but she was likable enough I suppose, and moderately interesting. Rowan was so boring. Scythe is written in third person, and for most of Rowan's first chapter, I thought the main character was actually his friend Tyger (I didn't read the synopsis before starting the book), because Tyger was really interesting and already seemed more multi-layered than his boring friend Rowan. But no. The main character was boring friend Rowan.
Not only are the characters fairly flat, it seems like the author is holding us at arms length from them. Do not get inside their head, do not understand what's behind their emotions, do not know their motivations for their actions, do not pass go, do not collect $200. We are told "Citra is frustrated." "Rowan is nervous." "Citra is angry." But why?? How?? What are they thinking and feeling, I want to see it!!
Throughout the book, Citra and Rowan change and evolve a ton, from normal kids to trained killers, and they change their minds about so many things, from scythes themselves to how they see their world, but we are only ever told that they have changed themselves or changed their minds. We never actually see it or understand the process and emotions that led up to this change!!!
I have never read another book that needed romance less than Scythe. It just made absolutely no sense. Citra and Rowan had absolutely no chemistry together. Zero. Nada. Zilch. None. (On an unrelated side note, why do all of the words that mean 'none' start with either Z or N?)
It was painfully clear that the author created this world, these characters, this plotline, with no concern or thought for the romance, then just stuck it in there because it's a YA Dystopia, and those are required by law to have a romance. It. Just. Made. No. Sense. Citra and Rowan kind of hang out and study together for a little bit? But never really talk or learn about each other and get to know each other. But scythes are ~forbidden~ to have romantic relationships. And then you'll never guess. Citra kisses him. *gasp* And then they are separated and doomed to long for each other from afar. And then Citra tells him she loves him. And he says he loves her back. You may be wondering if you missed something. You did not. This deep and abiding love came about when they had all of those profound conversations and got to know each other and then built up their romantic relationship. Wait, that never happened? What?
I know YA (and especially sci-fi/fantasy YA) is notorious for insta-love. But this was beyond insta-love. This was "love" completely out of left field, with no foreshadowing, no build-up, no clear development at all of these supposedly love-like feelings.
Sigh. Another book with a promising plot, only to be pulled down by flat characters and an idiotic "romance."
Stay tuned for my reviews on the next two books of the series!! Will it get better from here or will I be crushed under my disappointment and the extreme hype that doesn't follow through??
3/5 stars
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