It’s been a while since we’ve found a book series that ALL of my kids enjoyed as much as this one. We started this series when they were 8 to 14, but now everyone is a year older. To be honest, the premise of this series is a little gruesome, but as my sensitive child says, “it is NOT creepy.” If your kids liked the Hunger Games, this would make a really good follow-up!
Scythe Details
Title: Scythe
Author: Neal Shusterman
Publication Year: 2016
Website: https://www.storyman.com/arc-of-a-scythe-series/scythe
Age Group: Middle School, High School
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I am always happy when I find a book series that my kids are excited to listen to. When we get in the car and the first thing they say is, “Can you turn on the story?” I know we’ve found a winner. Honestly, it’s been a while since we foud one like this that everyone was excited about. We’d actually re-listened to a couple Harry Potter books for the third time before I decided to try this. It was an instant success. This story takes place a few hundred years in the future, when technology has advanced to the point that people can survive “splatting” off buildings and an artificial intelligence known as the Thunderhead has taken over caring for humanity.
The one aspect of life that the Thunderhead has NOT taken over is death. Instead there is a group of chosen individuals known as scythes whose job it is to “glean” people in order to prevent the problems of overpopulation. Generally speaking, scythes are honorable and respected. The first book is all about 2 teenagers, a boy and a girl, who become apprentices to see if they have what it takes to be promoted to the scythdom. There is a romance aspect, but it’s not graphic. The concept is gruesome and some of the scenes are bloody, but the level of detail provided is not really disturbing, even to my child who does not like anything having to do with death. Even he says it’s weird that he likes these books, but he really does.
We have finished the first three books and are currently on the last book, though it is really more of a collection of short stories, which we are still enjoying thoroughly. Honestly, I can’t believe I didn’t know about this series until now. It is on the Time 100 Best YA Books of All Time, though I think the way I heard of it was through Mary Hanna Wilson’s book club on Outschool. These books are so well written, with interesting charcters and a lot of surprise twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. If you enjoy dystopian futuristic novels, then I think this one will definitely be a winner for you too. If you feel a sense of foreboding doom regarding that rapid development of AI and are prone to anxiety, you may want to sit out this book that was ahead of its time.
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Michelle has a PhD in Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor's Degree from the California Institute of Technology. 
I love how you described your family’s reaction — it’s always a good sign when everyone’s begging to turn the story back on! Scythe really does hit that sweet spot between dark and thought-provoking without being too much for younger readers.
It’s always great to find a series that keeps all the kids hooked. Thanks for the recommendation, adding it to our reading list.
I hope they like it! The more concerned I become about LLMs changing the course of human history, the more I feel like this series was ahead of it’s time! 😜