Thank you Walker Books Australia for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Review:

When people say this book is the next Hunger Games they are not kidding. Actually, Scythe blows the Hunger Games out of the water with its fascinating; griping the edge of your seat with plot twists and leaves your heart hammering in your chest with the characters facing certain death.
The creation of this world if beyond fascinating. It has a futuristic feel to it, with advanced technology and records of all humans past or present stored in a database, which leaves you with the eerie feeling, as this could possibly be our future. Especially when you find out that Scythe’s are specially trained humans that gleam humans, randomly at any place, anytime and even in the comfort of your own home. Moreover, they can choose who they want to kill to reach their monthly target, which is interesting but yet so terrifying.
This story is based around two main characters, Cita and Rowan, who are chosen to be as Scythe apprentices and you follow them on their moral dividing quest of who shall live and who shall die. While both of the characters were pressured to be the Scythe’s apprentice, neither of them want the job. Cita would have to be up there with one of my favourite characters of all time, not only is she smart and determined, she speaks her mind and is not afraid to kick some butt. Rowan on the other hand is sensitive and eager to please but you do see some great character development by the end of the novel. I cannot wait to see how these characters grow again in Thunderhead.
Let me also state that this book also has the bad guys, what great book wouldn’t? But let me put in perception how bad these characters really are. Not only do they dabble in politics, blackmail and deceit, they also like to gleam in masses. Imagine sitting on a plain getting ready to take off and then the Scythes come aboard and declare you all dead. Mind you, I may have left out that if you run from a Scythe the punishment is death to your whole family. Face death or be a coward and all those you love will be killed. Cool concept right? Anyway, the bad guys like to murder in public, in the spotlight and kill by the masses while others prefer to kill quietly and in the quiet of the victims home.
Imagine though, living in a world where you live in a world where you are immortal, feel no pain and become detached from life but there is only one thing to fear, the gleaming. This book really does leave you questioning life, questioning death and think about what truly makes you alive.
I loved this world, modern day with futuristic qualities were human mortality has literally fled and left the coop. The characters are unique, and I loved reading about teenagers that are actually curious and question everything about life and others not just themselves, you usually just get teenagers that only think about themselves. And that writing style: god damn, I bloody loved it!!
Overall this book is fascinating and I am screaming internally for Thunderhead. I have never needed a sequel this bad in my life.

Rating: 5/5

Publisher: Walker Books Australia

ISBN: 9781406379242