Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Toll

Incredible.
Each book was better than the previous one. I'm glad I stuck to it.
I loved how we had so many POVs but were still kept in the dark for the major plots so it kept the story intriguing. I couldn't stop reading, I just wanted to know what would happen next.
At some point, it started to circle a little, but I was still hooked on the story. Tho, the thing that got me mixed up a little was how the chronological order wasn't really followed.
The story takes place 3 years after the sinking, but it is important to know what happened in between. Yet, it goes back and forth between periods and I'm the kind who needs some order in a timeline to not get lost, but it was still manageable.
Goddard has not changed. He is still execrable. He still gets on my nerves.

Love turned Rand weaker I feel. This is not a bad thing but didn't feel like the psycho from the first book.

Greyson was okay. He was a little bit of a pain in the "rear" being the martyr and the big guy at the same time.

But he got better more the book advanced. We could see, by the end, why he was truly chosen

2 things bothered me tho :
1.

Faraday's depression. He was important for a while then became nothing. It was kinda sad and a little useless by that point. He discovered the atolls and then... nothing but complains. I do understand his feelings but at what point was he a necessary character. And the little deception when they opened the bunker. I was waiting for the big reveal.

Citra and freaking Rowan. Why??? First, their relationship is sooo intense, I feel it's a little overtop. Yet, don't get me wrong, I'm still a stucker for them both. That's why my heart literally shattered when she was killed in the final scene and Rowan had to wait another freaking 117 years before getting together. They are like another type of Romeo-Juliette lovers and it was painful to read. Torture.

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bridget_magpie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This was such a long journey! So many things happened in this book, more than 630 pages of slow but constant development of the story. I liked how things ended, I really didn’t expect what is going to happen. I loved how well the characters were written, I’ve read that they’re working on making the trilogy into movies which sounds so good! Cannot wait!

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silversparkles50's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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leof555's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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a_cera_t0ps's review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was kind of hard to read, especially compared to the others in the series. I'm conflicted on how I should review this book. On one hand, it had it's moments, and those moments were strong, but there was so much going on, and it felt like too many threads were being waved all at once. The pacing was a little funky because of that, and now instead of our 2-3 main characters, we had like 8 different perspectives and 3 different new forms of the journal entries. There was so much that this book did, and I feel like it had plenty of really, really good ideas, but there were just too many. I understand that each part of the story was connected to each other, but what it added was outweighed by how it started to stop working. The entire book is so plot driven that it accidentally sacrifices the characters. There are some wonderful moments, but all of the relationships introduced and/or created barely have any time to develop.

A big thing about this book was the pacing. The ending is built up to for the entirety of this book, yet it is crammed in with no proper send off. The last 100 pages holds the primary narrative. It feels like the author got carried away with the in-between scenes that he lost focus of the primary plot. Brief character exploration scenes and years worth exposition goes from being subservient to the story to becoming 93% of the text.

I know that Neal Shusterman is a wonderful author, and I can even see his excellence in this book as well. There are scenes and ideas that hit so hard, that deserve to be published and read, but there was just too much book for one book here. As the 3rd novel in a series, it's odd to me that it felt like the season of a TV show right before it's taken off the air, especially considering that, even though this book is the official finale, there was a spin-off book.

The reason I say I'm conflicted is because I enjoyed this book. But I was also weary and disappointed. I've read worse books than this and not minded, but the reason this one is so hard is because I see how it was imperfect and yet simultaneously almost perfect.

I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea and think that thid book sucked, or that Neal Shusterman is a bad or iffy writer. I think, to a certain degree, the panic and overwhelming nature that is portrayed in the story makes it as good as it is. I'm really just. .. well, conflicted.

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bookishlucy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don't know how to put into words how I feel about this book. Neal's worldbuilding is so expansive without being overwhelming or confusing. While there are a lot of different characters, even new ones not previously introduced until this book, I connected with all of them. The ending was an emotional roller coaster and I basically sobbed through the last 70 or so pages.
It's been a while since a series has moved me this much and I'm already wishing I could experience it again for the first time.

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erynelle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I’m glad Rowan and Citra got their ending, although I wasn't expecting the way it happened. In a way everyone got their happy endings.

I’m so sad Greyson unsavory-ed the Thunderhead 😭 do I understand it plotwise? Yes. Do I like it? Actually, no.

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