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A review by eesh25
The Toll by Neal Shusterman
5.0
4.5 Stars
This series might be as close to perfect as any series as gotten so far. Maybe tied with a couple of others? And it's not about ratings but about how I feel about the series'. I'm really happy with this one and the way it ended. I would still love a spin-off, but the arc that started with Scythe is complete.
As you might remember, Thunderhead ended at a somewhat baffling note. Goddard reached peak Evil Psychopath and sank Endura. And the Thunderhead lost it. After all of its efforts to make society as perfect as it could be, to make everyone happy, and then this shit happens? I don't blame the Thunderhead for marking everyone, except Grayson, unsavory.
There's also other stuff. Like Citra and Rowan getting dropped to the bottom of the ocean to freeze to death in a metal box. And Faraday heading off to find this "fail-safe" that the originals scythes built. Grayson's role that has to do with the Thunderhead's plan... Lots of arcs, each with their own contribution. And all of them being overseen by the Thunderhead who, in my opinion, is the real protagonist of the series. Unless you count humanity, which I'd rather not.
The mission is to save humanity, and the Thunderhead has a plan. It's moving all the pieces around. The other characters, plus new ones that are introduced, also have roles to play. But none as significant as the Thunderhead. The scale of this thing is so much bigger than what a few people have the power to do. Not against the power that Goddard yields as he goes even further down the rabbit hole of mass murder.
This is the conclusion to everything that's been building up since the beginning of the series. It might be one that some people don't like, and I won't call the book perfect, but it delivers on what was needed, if you know what I mean. And I, personally, loved it.
That said, if I could, I'd change one thing, which is Rowan's arc. He's been through a lot since the beginning and he's changed a lot. And while I can't talk about his role in the book, I wish he'd had a bigger one. Because it didn't feel like he had any, and he really deserved better.
Also, while it didn't bother me, I'm gonna issue a warning about the timeline. Officially, the book kinda starts three years after the events of Thunderhead, but there's much that happened in that duration so we spend plenty of time jumping from past to present to somewhere in the middle. And it might get a tiny bit confusing. But it all converges really well toward the end, so no worries.
Overall, a great end to a great end. And I'm almost sad that it's over. For one, I'm seriously going to miss the Thunderhead, who was the best part of the series, hands down. And I found the world to be fascinating. On the bright side, I'm excited to see what Shusterman will write next.
This series might be as close to perfect as any series as gotten so far. Maybe tied with a couple of others? And it's not about ratings but about how I feel about the series'. I'm really happy with this one and the way it ended. I would still love a spin-off, but the arc that started with Scythe is complete.
As you might remember, Thunderhead ended at a somewhat baffling note. Goddard reached peak Evil Psychopath and sank Endura. And the Thunderhead lost it. After all of its efforts to make society as perfect as it could be, to make everyone happy, and then this shit happens? I don't blame the Thunderhead for marking everyone, except Grayson, unsavory.
There's also other stuff. Like Citra and Rowan getting dropped to the bottom of the ocean to freeze to death in a metal box. And Faraday heading off to find this "fail-safe" that the originals scythes built. Grayson's role that has to do with the Thunderhead's plan... Lots of arcs, each with their own contribution. And all of them being overseen by the Thunderhead who, in my opinion, is the real protagonist of the series. Unless you count humanity, which I'd rather not.
The mission is to save humanity, and the Thunderhead has a plan. It's moving all the pieces around. The other characters, plus new ones that are introduced, also have roles to play. But none as significant as the Thunderhead. The scale of this thing is so much bigger than what a few people have the power to do. Not against the power that Goddard yields as he goes even further down the rabbit hole of mass murder.
This is the conclusion to everything that's been building up since the beginning of the series. It might be one that some people don't like, and I won't call the book perfect, but it delivers on what was needed, if you know what I mean. And I, personally, loved it.
That said, if I could, I'd change one thing, which is Rowan's arc. He's been through a lot since the beginning and he's changed a lot. And while I can't talk about his role in the book, I wish he'd had a bigger one. Because it didn't feel like he had any, and he really deserved better.
Also, while it didn't bother me, I'm gonna issue a warning about the timeline. Officially, the book kinda starts three years after the events of Thunderhead, but there's much that happened in that duration so we spend plenty of time jumping from past to present to somewhere in the middle. And it might get a tiny bit confusing. But it all converges really well toward the end, so no worries.
Overall, a great end to a great end. And I'm almost sad that it's over. For one, I'm seriously going to miss the Thunderhead, who was the best part of the series, hands down. And I found the world to be fascinating. On the bright side, I'm excited to see what Shusterman will write next.