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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
Deaths are depicted throughout; gleaning is described but not gratuitously
Language
Barely any
Mild language appropriate to YA
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief romantic content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Moral complexity around choosing who dies; a villain who enjoys killing; philosophical weight on mortality
What this book is about
In a future where disease and aging have been eliminated, an order called the Scythehood is responsible for keeping population in check by 'gleaning' people. Citra and Rowan are reluctantly apprenticed to a humanitarian Scythe, but as they learn the craft, they discover a faction within the Scythehood that enjoys the power of death. Shusterman's YA dystopia is a remarkably thoughtful meditation on mortality, power, and what it means to take a life responsibly.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Deaths as the novel's central subject
Moral complexity around the ethics of killing
A villain who enjoys having power over life and death
Reader Verification
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