Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Thunderhead

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:

Cinnamon Girl - Lana Del Rey
Everybody's Watching Me (Uh Oh) - The Neighborhood

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bill369's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

Why did I choose this book? It's simple it's a sequel to a great book. And this was an even better book than the book I read before.

Although I still love Scythe Curie, I have grown to love Scythe Anastasia more. She's original, relatable and innovative. I love her way of ending people. She's thoughtful and shrewd. I am not sure when I started to like her more, but it was about halfway through the book. There's not much more to say and stay spoiler-free, therefore that's all I got.

I haven't changed my mind about the theme, perhaps I would just like to add that I fancy the detail put into Thunderhead and the world structure. I was a little worried that since it's a sequel I wouldn't be learning about this fascinating world anything big and new, however, I learned a lot about this book and it's a big reason why I gave this book 5 stars. It's just all thought through so well that I can't dislike it.

I got 2 sections of text which spoke to me. Again a big reason why it's a 5-star book. The first one is on page 320. I like it because it was a major moment in Scythe Anastasia's life. It's a line said after a dinner together with Scythe Curie and other Scythes after big Anastasia's success against Goddard.
The lines are:

It was as the meal was wrapping up, and the scythes were embracing and going their separate ways, that something occurred to Anastasia. She turned to Scythe Curie. “Marie,” she said, “it’s finally happened.” “What has, dear?” “I’ve stopped seeing myself as Citra Terranova,” she said. “I’ve finally become Scythe Anastasia.”

The other one is on page 356, it spoke to me because sometimes I wish for the same thing. They're just nice lines I want to remember. The lines are:

Anastasia turned away from the other scythes, enamoured of the view. It was a pleasant distraction from the moment at hand. It would be nice to be like those fish; to have no concerns beyond survival and blending into the school. Being just a part of the whole, rather than an isolated individual in a world turning hostile.

The ending was thrilling and I can't wait to read the last book of the series. I'm curious how will things work out, because at this point it could go down real easy, but at the same time, it could all be solved quite well too. Guess I'll just have to stop speculating and run to borrow the third book to find out.

Throughout this whole review, I have been giving reasons for rating this book highly and now there's not much to add. It's a good, fast, thrilling and adventurous book. I love it, it's great to escape reality, and it does the job. I have no complaints. It's everything I want it to be.

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readwithde's review against another edition

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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.

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gonnachangethislater's review against another edition

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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

4.0

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aviery's review against another edition

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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

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