Maximum Occupancy

I try to jot down notes throughout my reads on my phone, this is a new habit I am building as a mother and an aging person born in the nineteen hundreds. I was used to scribbling aggressively in cursive when a thought came to me, because back then I was able to stop what I was doing in order to transcribe my thoughts. But then I had a family.

And also there was that one time I tried to write for a local blog and the much younger tech bro who was recruiting my free and desperate labor was like “Whoa pen and paper!” when I pulled out of my journal from my bag several years ago. I still have many journals and always carry my current one on me, I just hide it in my outdated carpet bag of shame, only those who know me best are aware of my lame habit (so you).

If this combined review for all three books seems disjointed - the above paragraphs are my attempt to explain that. I read all three within a couple of weeks, but also with other novels in between. Overall, I enjoyed them all and am regretting ignoring this recommendation for as long as I did. (Which is to say was at least a couple of years.)

Initial impression is that this is novel about a fucked up dystopian future society in which we have conquered death and have not been conquered by an all knowing AI. Two teens, male and female, are selected in an unusual apprenticeship to become one of the Scythes responsible for keeping the population within manageable means. You follow their journey and are introduce to a potential future - if aging and death were working the way we would want it to - within our control.

In most trilogies the first book pulls you in, but fizzles out on the story and momentum as it moves on. It gets trapped in trying to get back to the same incredulous setup that was the premise of the first book, even if the characters had spent the entire first book escaping from said hellscape. This series does not fall into that trap.

As a series, it does a good job of setting up the events, how such an unbelievable premise would work, and integrating serious plots and motivations for the characters. All three books work, make sense, and overtime let you in on the scene. I would get lost in the worlds.

Even when I think I know where it is going, there is still a surprise to the set up and use of popular tropes seen in this genre by use of deflection and sleight of hand. This is a new world and future from a talented writer, Neal Shusterman can answer questions about how this works, while keeping the story moving along with his action sequences very well.

The writing is built on conversations and following different characters POV, leading to this being a quick read. But do not be mistaken, the execution is astounding and come from an amazing imagination. It starts off dystopian but is a science fiction novel at heart. Speaks of AI, where technology could lead us potential, ethics, how power and people will always be corrupt no matter the utopia presented. It speaks to racism, borders, gender binaries, biases, religion, politics, and institutions.

It is a good series because I feel it is optimistically realistic, for the most part. Which is a weird thing to say since it is about death, ethics and morality, amongst other serious and complex subjects. Plus when the death gets going in some of the books it gets going and is final. There is not a complete happy ending, but there is closure.

For readers who are willing to give young adult books a chance, this is the style book that you will be able to love and recognize for what it is. I believe this is one of those situations in which because the main characters are young adults, this is why it is grouped in science fiction and marketed to teens. This is not just a young adult novel, do let that limit you from reading it.

So in summation, one of my favorite young adult series in a long time. I loved and love it and think you might as well.