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marareading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
3.0
I did still enjoy this portion of the series, but not as much as the first book. I am still very excited to see where the series goes, but it does suffer a bit from "second book syndrome". The ending was unexpected, and I was definitely shaken because I was not expecting such a twist! It made me more excited to see what happens in book three.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Self harm, Torture, Death, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Violence
laurajordensharris's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence
cepbreed's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
I cannot put my finger on it, but this sequel lacked the bite of the first story. When a new dystopian world is introduced there is so much to uncover, so many mysteries, and this book dashed the opportunity to capitalize off of the excitement by droning on into the semantics. By that, I just mean it could have been much more straightforward. I can say that I absolutely adored the twist and it was very well done. I will be vague; this choice furthered the plot much more simply than a new introduction could. I am very impressed with how the Thunderhead was handled. It is hard to write an omniscient AI this compelling. However fun the world-building is, I was still missing a lot of interaction between Citra and Rowan.
Song:
Song:
- Cinnamon Girl - Lana Del Rey
- Everybody's Watching Me (Uh Oh) - The Neighborhood
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Blood, Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Confinement, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Hate crime
apricothopeful's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Torture
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
rara_pp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Genocide, Murder, Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Minor: Abandonment and Confinement
readwithde's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.5
Once again, I was shocked and surprised by this series. I love how seamlessly the story fluctuates between action, drama, emotion, and philosophy; it is like reading the best parts of many different genres.
Mainly, I view this as a story of four pairs: Rowan & Citra, Faraday & Curie, Goddard & Rand, and Grayson & The Thunderhead. In each pair, the two have to separate (or are separated) to fulfill their own mission. While there is mutual respect between some pairs, others fall to infighting or distrust. By the end of the book most of these pairs have reunited, now able to face this new era of humanity together.
I was able to guess many of the end of the book twists, but much of the middle was a surprise. I had no idea how much I would love Grayson's story, or even what would happen with Tyger. It made the book go very quickly in the middle, but the end seemed less impactful and a bit slow when you can guess what is coming.
I loved the duality through the book, not only by having these pairs working both together and separately, but even how the unsavories were similar to the scythes in many ways; even the tonists and scythes have similar rituals. These binary pieces constantly swirl parallel to each other as the book's DNA, all while The Thunderhead is forced to sit back and allow humanity to forge its own path.
All of this might make you think this is a dense and philosophical book, but the plot is fairly straightforward, fun, and action-packed. The characters just have a lot to deal with, and when it has to do with matters of life and death, it is heavier than a typical YA futuristic dystopian novel.
Mainly, I view this as a story of four pairs:
I was able to guess many of the end of the book twists, but much of the middle was a surprise. I had no idea how much I would love Grayson's story, or even what would happen with Tyger. It made the book go very quickly in the middle, but the end seemed less impactful and a bit slow when you can guess what is coming.
I loved the duality through the book, not only by having these pairs working both together and separately, but even how the unsavories were similar to the scythes in many ways; even the tonists and scythes have similar rituals. These binary pieces constantly swirl parallel to each other as the book's DNA, all while The Thunderhead is forced to sit back and allow humanity to forge its own path.
All of this might make you think this is a dense and philosophical book, but the plot is fairly straightforward, fun, and action-packed. The characters just have a lot to deal with, and when it has to do with matters of life and death, it is heavier than a typical YA futuristic dystopian novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
aviery's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Medical trauma
Minor: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
alisazhup's review against another edition
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.
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
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Blood, Cursing, Genocide, and Gun violence
megloveswords12's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Bullying
booksthatburn's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Body horror
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Genocide, Gun violence, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Fatphobia and Body shaming
CW for fatphobia, body horror, gore, animal attack, genocide, gun violence, violence, child death, suicide, major character death, death.
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