Book SynopsisIn a perfect world, what is there left to fear? A stunning new Collector's Edition of the New York Times bestseller, with a new piece from the author.A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021)Collector's Edition with a new author's note.Two teens must learn the "art of killing" in this, the chilling first book in the award-winning Arc of a Scythe series.In a world where disease, war and crime have been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ("gleaned") by professional scythes.Citra and Rowan have been selected to be scythes' apprentices, and despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation, they must master the art of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.Scythe is the first novel in a thrilling series by Neal Shusterman in which Citra and Rowan learn that a perfect world comes with a heavy price.Trade ReviewThis powerful tale is guaranteed to make readers think deeply. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *This first volume in an anticipated trilogy offers forbidden love, mass murders, cool philosophical musings, and a well-developed futuristic society—plenty to guarantee interest in the planned two followups. * BCCB (starred review) *Shusterman starts off this series in dramatic fashion as he creates an engrossing world that pulls readers in and refuses to let them go… A truly astounding, unputdownable read and a fast-paced beginning to an excellent sci-fi series. A must-have. * School Library Journal (starred review) *Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman's dark tale thrusts realistic, likeable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions. A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. * Kirkus (starred review) *Scythe owes an obvious debt to Unwind (2007) and its sequels, and this succeeds as a sort of shadow companion to Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking trilogy: instead of exploring the ways in which men are monsters, this deals in what happens to men when there are no monsters. When our reach does not exceed our grasp, when comfort is more easily obtained than struggle, when our essential humanity doesn’t burn out but becomes slowly irrelevant, what becomes of us? Readers will find many things in these pages. Answers to such unsettling questions will not be among them. * Booklist (starred review) *
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