Blood Mates Natalie (all human) and Ash (half human, half vampire) continue the drive to unseat the evil dictator Purian Rose and win justice for all races in the United Sentry States.
At the end of Phoenix (2013), Natalie was plucked from danger and restored to her mother and the father she thought dead, both key members of the Sentry rebellion against Rose. Meanwhile, Ash—aka the Phoenix, symbol of the grass-roots campaign Humans for Unity—heads home to Black City to regroup. They both have their eyes on the Tenth, the concentration camps where Rose has imprisoned the vampire Darklings. Each with allies both human and in-, they reunite there. Their alternating, present-tense narrations are joined in this book by a third, that of Edmund, whose story occurs 30 years before and provides both some flimsy back story and lots more angst. What with double crosses, secret missions, unlikely victories in skirmishes, obvious revelations and the occasional death, there’s plenty of action, but the blow-by-blow narration holds it in stasis. The characters are like bad actors in a high school play, emoting on cue and then moving to the next mark. The scientific improbabilities that have plagued the series from the beginning mount here, with the (protracted) climactic moment fueled by a laughably impossible medical procedure. Only for those readers who are dying to read the end of Natalie and Ash’s story. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)
Pub Date: June 12, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-15945-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
Categories: TEEN DYSTOPIAN FICTION | TEEN PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL | TEEN ROMANCE
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A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
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Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
Categories: TEEN FICTION | TEEN DYSTOPIAN FICTION | TEEN SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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Death proves impermanent in this sequel to Scythe (2016).
In a world run by the (almost) all-powerful and (almost) omniscient artificial intelligence Thunderhead, only the Honorable Scythes deal permanent death to near-immortal humans. Yet a growing contingent of scythes, feared and flattered by society and operating outside the Thunderhead’s control, are proving rather dishonorable. No longer apprentices, 18-year-olds Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch realize “the scythedom is…high school with murder” as they watch their fellow scythes jockey for power and prestige. Citra now gleans as Scythe Anastasia, questioning the status quo but also opposing the homicidally enthusiastic “new-order” scythes and their dangerous demagogue. Self-appointed as Scythe Lucifer, Rowan hunts other scythes whom he deems corrupt. Meanwhile, the existentially troubled Thunderhead questions its role as both creation and caretaker of humanity, sworn not to take life but fearing that its utopia will otherwise collapse into dystopia. Nationality and race are minimally mentioned—ethnic biases and genocide are considered very gauche—yet a population that defies death, aging, sickness, poverty, and war risks becoming bleakly homogenous, alleviated only by “unsavories” and scythes. This sequel digs deeper into Shusterman’s complex world and complicated characters, offering political maneuvering, fatal conspiracies, and impending catastrophe via a slowly unfurling plot and startling bursts of action.
Fear the reaper(s)…but relish this intelligent and entertaining blend of dark humor and high death tolls. (Science fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7245-7
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
Categories: TEEN DYSTOPIAN FICTION | TEEN SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEEN SOCIAL THEMES
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