Wow. This was an amazingly compelling dystopian young adult novel that was disturbing and thought-provoking on so many levels. Set in a future where there is no natural death, there is a designated group of individuals called to “glean” or kill people as part of population control. Citra and Rowan are teenagers selected to be apprentices and the reader begins a journey that takes them down different paths, but supposedly for the same destination.

Each chapter begins with a journal entry from a scythe (an individual who is responsible to glean) and these are deeply philosophical. This book examines the role of death in living, considers how death should be approached and/or administered, introduces twisted half-truths about the nature of humans, and reflects on how the actions of a scythe affect the scythe themselves–and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

The villain is truly an evil broker of half-truths for the purposes of manipulation and control. Citra and Rowan are protagonists the reader can really get behind. And yes, oh yes, there are unforeseen twists and a perfectly paced plot. This book was an amazing read, and this reader is a little worried that a book about death was so utterly riveting.

(Bonus thought: The audiobook version is outstanding.)

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 2 scatological terms; 1 anatomical term.

Violence/Gore: Many long discussions throughout the book about death and ways of killing/dying; reference to historical deaths, killers; characters “splat”–jump from buildings on purpose to kill themselves knowing they will be brought back to life; person states they are present to kill their neighbor and take a knife from the kitchen; poison is used to kill someone; shock is used to kill someone; discussion of the process of selecting someone to kill; 3 extended scenes of mass killings/murders (one on a plane, one in a food court, one at a place of business), mention of blood and hundreds killed each time; struggle in which someone’s jaw is broken; weapons training and sparring; individual relates a time he killed someone by sword; report that an individual took their life by stepping in front of a vehicle; character is severely beaten in order to teach them a “lesson”; teenage character as part of their training is required to kill about a dozen people with a knife, mention of blood all over him, people are later “revived”; 2 characters had to fight as part of test and one character does an illegal move and breaks the neck of another (because no one “dies” in this society this person will and is “revived”); verbal threats; character shocked; characters fight with martial arts; character takes own life by jumping from a high building (knowing that she will be revived); threats at weapon point; chase/pursuit of character; explosions destroying property; character shoots someone in knee, mention of blood; long, extended and descriptive scene of a group of scythes performing a mass killing of a particular group of people–including children; character “self-gleans” by slitting wrists, emotional upsetting scene; fight in which character runs someone through with a sword and beheads them, kills other individuals with sword and burns structure; character reflects on whether they are beginning to enjoy killing; as part of a test a character is required to kill a family member (who will technically be revived), emotional scene; report of a character killing a family member as part of a test; character uses various weapons to fight, brief and no fatalities.

Sex/Nudity: Female and male are attracted to each other; female and male kiss; female in a bikini takes a male away for a massage; male and female characters verbalize affection for each other; report that many years ago a man and a woman had an extended romantic relationship and lived together.

Mature Subject Matter:

Killing, murder, death, suicide, euthanasia, dystopian society, brain-washing/indoctrination, blackmail, abduction, corruption, bribery, mature discussions about death, mass killings, killings of children.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Drinking at a party, including a minor-aged character.