Reviews with content warning for Genocide - Thunderhead

I asked myself one thing as I prepared for this book review: is Thunderhead better than Scythe? The question led me to creating a very scattered mind map where I tried comparing the events, plot and character development, and overall feel. My conclusion? You cannot compare them, Scythe is a wonderful pilot (is that what the first book is called?) novel, it not only sets up a strong universe and stronger characters, but the plot stands on its own and engages the reader from beginning to end. This isn’t a Scythe review though, that one’s already been written. (Go read it ;))

Thunderhead is a great sequel, it goes bigger, while following the trajectory of the first novel. Oftentimes, the sequel of a novel has a plot that differs very dramatically, and the connection between the two is present, but one is not often in direct correlation with the other. It is very clear why the events in the sequel happened, when one takes into account how Scythe ended.

The plot for Thunderhead is incredibly intricate, filled with so many small subplots that seem to have no connection, until they are all tied together in the end, and it becomes clear how one plot point cannot exist without the other. If you know how much I love Leigh Bardugo’s Six Of Crows, you’ll know that my favorite thing about that duology was how the reader was only given enough information to be able to theorize and follow the plot, only for everything to be flipped over and completely changed (in a way that is SO much better) later on. That’s exactly what happens in Thunderhead. I assure you, you cannot begin to predict how every little action a character makes will set up a much larger event later on. Talk about the butterfly effect!

When I started connecting all of the different subplots, there were 2 that seemed to stand on the outskirts for a majority of my frantic arrow drawing: Rowan’s arc, and one of a not-to-be-named Scythe doing something in Egypt (that’s where I’m from!). Soon enough though, I realized that Rowan’s story was actually integral to the unfolding of the story, but in a way that was so incredibly discreet, I couldn’t see it for so long (And seriously, it’s so cleverly done). out the different subplots and drawing connections. And about the Scythe-who-shall-not-be-named… well, I have a theory that this little plotline is setting up something HUGE for the final book, so I’ll let you know if I’m right when I read it.

All of this is to say: the plot? Chefs kiss!

Also, it needs to be said how the ending was so unexpected it gave me whiplash, and after I finished reading it, I had to go back and read it all again just to make sure I read it right. Because no way in hell that’s what actually happened! How could I have missed it! (It is what actually happens, I’m still wrapping my mind around it actually. It gives me a headache to think about.)

Now onto the characters!

There are SO MANY NEW ONES!! YESS!! Shusterman is an ARTIST when it comes to creating characters and I ate them all up. Shout out to Greyson Tolliver, you precious little cinnamon roll. You deserve the world and I will give it to you. (I mean it, I’m seriously considering writing a fanfiction for him. He deserves everything. I’ll kill for him.)

I was absolutely blown away by the character growth in Scythe, and I still am! Yet, the characters we know and love continued to grow so much while staying true to the chore of their identity… it was just SO powerful.

Rowan’s ability to cling onto the goodness within him after everything he was put through (poor boy was really put through the meat grinder, then Shusterman took him out and stepped on him, then ran him over with a truck, dumped acid on him, and put a bow over it) was so grounding to read. Yet, he remains empathetic and heroic to the point of fault. He is the perfect antithesis to the goodness Citra embodies, while also clinging onto a goodness that is much more heartbreaking and hope inducing. He's a stupidly good person who is guards those he loves with his life, feels deeply beyond what he is capable of handling, and is clever and skilled, but impulsively stupid at times. Rowan's what happens when good people are made rotten by a rotten system, and they desperately try to cling onto goodness for their own sanity. He's smart, he can fight, he can love, and he's really funny. Rowan loves and hates in ways much bigger than himself, and watching him reap the consequences of trying to remain whole after being broken again and again, will fill you with only an ounce of the love and sorrow he feels; and you will love him for it. I just love Rowan so much. He’s so well written I can see him as clear as if he were standing in front of me, I can feel everything he feels and I feel for him so much. In my humble opinion, Rowan had the most character growth in Scythe, and yet, he continued to grow in Thunderhead. I mean, the amount of strength and development in his character actually makes me emotional. He’s so beautiful. I love him. I LOVE HIM!

I could talk about every character, but that would take forever. So there are two that I will combine here: Citra and Curie. Seeing their relationship grow was so fun. I loved reading their dialogue, their banter. It was so easy to believe how much pride and love they had for each other. Curie continues to be a mentor while being a best friend and motherly figure. She makes sacrifices that will leave your heart beating weakly on the floor in front of you, and listen– I know this is all words on a paper– but I swear I could see the love in her eyes when she spoke about Citra. Citra also grew tremendously, and watching her become Scythe Anastasia was like reading the work of a literary genius (because it was exactly that). Amazing, fantastic, beautiful, spectacular, magnificent.

Speaking of characters, it needs to be said that one of the most interesting developments was that of the Thunderhead’s consciousness. I went from seeing it as simply a piece of technology, to seeing its humanity and anguish, to fearing it because of said humanity and anguish. Watching the Thunderhead become more sentient, and not only question the world it created, but itself as well, was incredibly intriguing. I had never read anything like this, where one enters into the mind of a technological innovation, and watches it explore itself and the world around it.

I really do love finding things I don’t like about books, and I tried really hard to find it for this book too… but I couldn’t! And yes, I’m sad about it! If there’s anything I didn’t like, it was certain aspects of the plot that were incredibly grotesque and tragic, but I was supposed to not like them! I played right into Shusterman’s hands! I’m not gonna lie, there’s a part of me that feels that I’ve been defeated because I like a work written by a man so much. (No offence Shusterman, you’re a genius and I’ll pay good money to read the notes on your phone).

The book is amazing and I loved it, okay? It brought tears to my eyes. It abhorred and horrified me. It gave me hope. It made me laugh. It made me yell. And it went through all my tabs.

Overall Rating: 10/10 (duh)

Content Warnings

booksanna's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Loved the ending. Characters are so lovable. Also, interesting plot twists.

Content Warnings

alisazhup's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

AAAAHHHHH!!! This was a fantastic sequel.

The revival of Scythe Goddard. The Thunderhead's perspective on everything. Finding out how Scythe Anastasia gleans. The governing system of the scythedom. AWFul clubs for unsavories. The religious parallels.

My only gripe is the ending. Hear me out... sinking Endura was out of character for Goddard. I know he's the villain of this trilogy and enjoys killing people, but he's never above the law. He follows it and finds loopholes or tries to change it. That's what made him such an interesting character to me since book one: nobody could really lodge formal complaints against him and he could fool even himself into thinking that he was a good and honorable man. But maybe he's unraveling. I don't know.

Content Warnings

booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Thunderhead cuts a bloody swathe through your favorite characters while artfully pondering biases and death in a post-mortality dystopian society which still needs people to die. Sure to render your heart deadish.

Just like the first one, this book has a very high body count and no character is safe. I'm not saying your favorite character will die, but be prepared. The antagonist is great in a truly terrible way, I'm impressed by his depravity but also at how the author shields the reader so that we get the MC's reaction to the villain's awfulness, but we're insulated from some of how terrible it is. It's always very clear what happened, and that's it's awful, but because the MCs don't have the same language we do surrounding trauma and death there are in-universe euphemisms and language gaps which make it possible to read and enjoy what could (in the hands of a less caring author) feel like wading through blood to get to the plot. I was genuinely shocked by one of the plot twists, variously stressed out, and I hope the villain gets a comeuppance in the last book of the trilogy because goddamn I hate him, but I loved this book. It's grim and fantastic, pondering moral quandaries and the nature of existence via the quotes beginning each chapter, while also pairing that rumination with action in really great ways.

Now I'll get to my usual book two check. It does wrap up a character arc left hanging from the first book. Oh boy does it wrap it up, ummmm, yeah, not saying any more about that. I didn't cry, it's fine, I repeat that the villain is hateable and terrible. There is a really cool storyline which starts in this book and wasn't present in the first one. I love the MC at the heart of it, and I'm very excited to see what happens with him in the third book. I think it's accurate to say something major was introduced and resolved within this volume, several things, actually. There might be more to discuss with them in the third book, but if we don't come back to them I'm content with their resolutions. There are so many things to be addressed in the third book, it's a trilogy so I feel pretty good about the balance of resolution and open-endedness in this middle book. It kept some of the POV characters from the first book as well as adding a couple of new ones, their voices are pretty distinct from the recurring narrators (each of whom are very different from each other). It was never confusing when the narrator changed for me, their settings, tone, and motivations are separate enough that it was easy to keep track. And finally, I don't think this would make much sense if you tried to start with this one. It's a futuristic setting with a lot of specific language which was naturally explained in the first book, and trying to start here without that grounding would probably be very frustrating. However, if you vaguely remembered those terms but just didn't remember what happened in the first book (maybe if it had been a while between reading them) you'd probably be fine, the connections with the first book are subtly referenced enough to keep that continuity without feeling like they're rehashing anything.

I mentioned fatphobia in the first book, so I'm circling back in the second one to examine how it's addressed here. I think the portrayal of fatphobia is intended as one of the subtle (and occasionally not so subtle) ways to show that the society isn't, in fact, perfect. It's coupled here with some petty politics and a little bit of verbal bullying. I think it works, it's pretty mild but it gets the point across.

I love the narrator for the quotes at the beginning of each chapter, getting their perspective was great and it added to the story and the world-building in a different way that the quotes from the first book did.

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