Reviews

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

chalkie2106's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

nilla_beanie19's review against another edition

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4.0

Wow. That ending. I need time to process.

Update- So I am rating this as a 4.25 star for now. After talking about it with my book club I fell more in love with it and all the little details. I personally have this thing inside me that says I prefer book one but I enjoyed both a lot. That being said I have rated his book higher because I loved all the little details and how this story was told. It’s a little convoluted I know but it is what it is. Excited to see where we go in book three.

sgmlilja's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

lvinvader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Fuck Goddard

rugbygirlreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

greenleafbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

New favorite. I’m not ok right now.

tigerlipgloss's review against another edition

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4.75

A little slow to start, but the ending is spectacular. 

sweetsorrows's review against another edition

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5.0

the constant incorporation of new, but important, characters was refreshing and kept the story exciting. some of it felt like filler, but the thunderhead always knows it serves a bigger purpose.

katykelly's review against another edition

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5.0

Excellent continuation of the story, a welcome return to the world of scythes.

I've been anxiously waiting for this since reading the first in this series. This is definitely one series that you MUST read in order, as it follows on directly from Scythe and will make little sense alone.

In the 'post-mortal' world where we no longer have to worry about growing old (just reset yourself) or dying (you can be revived), the Scythes are still at work 'gleaning', taking lives as they see fit, with some taking a more moral stance on how this is done than others.

Following on from the events of Scythe, different factions within the gleaning world are starting to tear into the community as the scythes begin to take sides and politics and subterfuge are deployed. Citra is now a fully-fledged scythe beginning to make a name for herself with her humane gleaning, Rowan is still a rogue fugitive, stalking scythes he sees as unprincipled and corrupt.

We are treated to more in-depth scenes within their society, at the inner workings of the scythe world, and their structure. There are more scenes of scythe fighting (a little, I imagine, like the battles in the film 'Equilibrium'), and I could have read forever of the two conflicting narrations of the diverging lives of Scythes Lucifer and Anastasia.

My favourite parts though, were the regular narratives asides by The Thunderhead, the intelligence controlling the world. I adored the concept but also the voice of the Thunderhead. The addition of a new character, at first I was puzzled by - how the seemingly average and dull young man would fit into the story of scythes - but by the end I was as invested in him as I was in Citra and Rowan. Some lovely back and forth between the plots.

I don't think fans will be disappointed, it was an excellent continuation that leaves many questions, theories and guesses in the air. It's not often I read all three parts of a trilogy but I'm definitely going to be finding out how Shusterman concludes this epic.

With thanks to Walker Books for providing a sample reading copy.

kirstycreads's review

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

5.0