Sponsored by Scout Press and Dark Horses, the astonishing debut novel from Susan Mihalic.
15-year-old Roan Montgomery trains under the laser focus of her father, but she’s come to realize that their relationship goes dangerously beyond that of rider and coach, or daughter and overprotective parent–and she’s ready for it to stop. But to save herself, will she have to sacrifice her dreams? In the tradition of My Dark Vanessa or My Absolute Darling, Dark Horses is a searing, stunning novel not to be missed.
Welcome to Read This Book, a newsletter where I recommend one book that I think you absolutely must read. The books will vary across genre and age category to include new releases, backlist titles, and classics. If you’re ready to explode your TBR, buckle up!
Today I have a pick that was recommended to me by multiple readers when I was still working in the library, and I am so glad they all ganged up on me until I read it!
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
I read Unwind back when I was a teen (it was the first dystopian YA I remember reading and I was enthralled), but hadn’t picked up a new Shusterman book until no fewer than five different teens at my library insisted I read this, and it blew me away. It’s set a couple hundred years into the future, where death has been defeated. Modern technology has not only found a solution to aging (anyone at any time can “reset” themselves to age 25), but they can reliably bring back anyone from death, provided your body and brain aren’t completely destroyed. To compensate for the fact that death no longer controls the population, the Scythedom is founded. Scythes are humans who are revered and feared because they choose people at random to die a humane death. Rowan and Citra are two teens who have just been chosen as Scythe apprentices, but only one of them can ascend to the role of a Scythe. What they don’t know is that they’re about to be sucked into an epic struggle within Scythedom that will change their world forever.
I love a great premise, and not only is Shusterman’s world convincing and fascinating, but the plot he’s come up with for his two teen protagonists is riveting. As teenagers who have never had to comprehend their own mortality, their training mainly consists of lots of philosophy lessons (Scythes take a professional name and always choose from the great thinkers of history), and understanding what it means to be an empathetic human being, which provides plenty of moments for insight, but in a really engaging way. Of course, not all Scythes are noble, as readers see this “perfect” solution becomes inevitably twisted by corrupt Scythes who are grabbing power, unchecked, at an alarming rate. Rowan and Citra start out as competitors, but as forces beyond their control attempt to use them and pit them against their mentor, they find ways to team up and rebel against the system. The writing is smart and darkly funny–the perfect tone for a book about death, honestly–and the plot had some truly amazing twists that kept me hooked. This is a high concept book that will make you think, but in a fun way, I promise.
And I might as well advise you to just pick up the sequels, Thunderhead and The Toll. You’ll want them!
Happy reading!
Tirzah
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