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cerilouisereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Violence, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
c_serpent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Five out of five stars for Faraday, who remained my favorite character in the whole series.
Total score: 5/5 stars
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
semogecarg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
rachelditty's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
It's about love and compassion. It's always been about love and compassion.
I think the only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars is that I don't love the dip in narration from Rowan toward the end when he's in the Lone Star region. I felt like he got a bit sidelined after he was nearly burned to death.
Reading about Scythe Faraday and Murina at the beginning, hearing the Thunderhead's siren but not understanding what it is, and knowing they're about to be marooned on a secluded island where no new will reach them, was incredible to read. It's upsetting and tense, and just like not knowing when Rowan and Citra will come back, you have no idea when Faraday and Murina will learn about Endura. And the whole time, Faraday has such hope and faith in Curie. It's so sad.
The Thunderhead really does evolve into one of my favorite characters in the series. It makes jokes to Grayson, who rolls his eyes but secretly finds them funny. Understanding the Thunderhead's thought process is so interesting and sympathetic to me. It monitors Grayson because it can't embrace him. It doesn't give him reassurance or scorns he doesn't need, but that doesn't mean it isn't afraid for the state of the world and the people on it. My favorite scene in the book is when Scythe Morrison comes to glean Grayson, and the Thunderhead has to work around its own programming to help Grayson escape. I love that it finds ways to sneak around the blind spots of its own rules. Chapter 23, "How to Glean a Holy Man," is my favorite chapter.
Scythe Constantine is such a gray character. You don't want to trust him because he's hunting Rowan in book two, but is also a confidant of Curie and Anastasia. When Rowan and Constantine see each other in this book, and Constantine is kind of gloating only for Rowan to respond with "I love you too" is such a fun dynamic. I would have loved to see more of them hating each other in a begrudgingly allied way.
The Mile High Gleaning is blood chilling. Watching Rowan succumb to the fact that he really will die in front of thousands of people, only for Goddard to turn everything on its head and glean the audience, is awful to watch. Rand tried to make things better, but she only made things worse. It's such a punctual point of Goddard's inability to return from this line of morality he's crossed, aside from Endura, and literally everything else that's talked about in this book.
Jericho was always such an interesting character to me. The captain was intelligent and loyal, and was always there to provide a sense of calm to the other characters. I loved Jericho's dynamic with Grayson, and with Anastasia, and having the captain be the one to be a middle-man for Grayson and the Thunderhead, and then be the character to bring up the idea of vessels, was such miniscule foreshadowing that was incredibly done. Even the similarity in Hello Grayson. It was just so well lined up. I'm glad Jericho and Grayson stayed together after everything.
I cannot even express how amazing I think the end of this book is, and the end of the series. The founding Scythe Da Vinci putting hints to the failsafe in not only a children's song, but the ENTIRE Tonist religion? The two prongs being the transmitter? The Tonist's putrid water of diseases being the ten diseases in everyone's nanites once the diamonds are destroyed? The fucking signal the transmitter lets out being a G-flat (or is it A-sharp?). It's all just so INCREDIBLY smart and well-rounded, I cannot believe it all comes together so seamlessly.
Grayson marking the Thunderhead as unsavory for what it did to Jericho, saying it, like humanity, can be redeemed in his eyes in time. Scythe Faraday and other scythes in his footsteps taking the chance to not choose people for death, but help them pass on in a calm and painless manner when they become sick, giving the family the chance to mourn and giving the person a fast passing. Rowan being there when Citra finally wakes up, after hundreds of years in space, having turned a corner so he looked the same to her. It's all about love. The whole series was just about humanity's compassion for one another and the love we show. It's so good. I cannot express how good it makes me feel by the end. It's about love. It's always been about love.
Quotes I Loved:
"'If the bar can't be lowered... then the floor must be raised,'" (p. 185).
"'Why stress my emotional inanities by thinking of terrible things?'
A fine philosophy until the terrible thing comes to you," (p. 217).
"'A successful lie is not fueled by the lair; it is fueled by the willingness of the listener to believe. You can't expose a lie without first shattering the will to believe it. That is why leading people to truth is so much more effective than merely telling them,'" (p. 308-309).
"The rest of the world saw them both as symbols. Intangible light to guide them in the darkness. She understood now why ancient peoples turned their heroes into constellations," (p. 444).
"If there was one thing Rowan had learned, it was that no one could be trusted to stay true. Ideals eroded, virtue tarnished, and even the high road had dimly lit detours," (p. 529).
"'Only a moment ago,' Rowan tells her. 'Only a moment ago,'" (p. 631).
What an incredible series.
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
janin's review against another edition
- 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
my criticisms below:
- also i found the thunderhead's magical workaround in creating cirrus a little too.. simple?
- and lastly my god look how they massacred my boy. my poor baby rowan was nothing more than citra's loverboy in this book. captured, escaped, captured, escaped, and when he finally had citra in his arms? boom dead sorry dude you gotta wait another 117 years to be with her! horrible, give the man a break!!
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Suicide
headinthepages's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
I think Shusterman has created something genuinely brilliant, with characters you really root for, a plot that keeps you engaging and magnificent, thoughtful world building.
I honestly absolutely LOVED my time with these books and the audio narration my Tremblay was fantastic throughout!
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Gore, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
unicornofthesea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
marareading's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
raichou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Sie erkundet eine Welt ohne direkten Kontakt zum Thunderhead und dem Aufstieg des machtgierigen Scythe Goddard.
Ich muss sagen ich habe bis zu den letzten 100 Seiten nicht gewusst wie der Thunderhead alles was schief gegangen war, wieder gerade bigen will, auch wenn Hinweise durch das ganze Buch eingestreut wurden.
Ich werde die Charaktere sehr vermissen, vor allem Greyson und Jeri sind mir sehr ans Herz gewachsen.
Vielleicht werden all ihre Leben im Nachfolger Gleanings wieder aufgegriffen oder zumindest erwähnt.
Ich bin sehr gespannt.
Moderate: Violence
medini_l's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War