Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - 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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rara_pp'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

4.75

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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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