A review by lindakat
The Toll by Neal Shusterman

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

 

Definitely my favourite of the three which surprises me because when it was at its peak popularity I heard a lot of people were disappointed with the ending. I honestly can’t work out why, it was the ending the series needed. It was the only path that would have made sense even though it was heartbreaking. 

There were lots of moments throughout where I just stopped reading and reflected on plausibility and humans innate (though inexplainable) need to destroy what they create. This is what I love about well written dystopian futures, when it feels applicable to current life, like yes, that could be our future because at its core that was what Scythe was to me, a story about people. Sure, there was a completely different world, a new religion, death existed in a new form but at its heart (or at least to me) it was about people. Even Goddard, as the villain, in the end had told his story in a way that sounded reasonable from where he was sitting. As a character reader, that’s what I want, complex characters that make sense no matter the setting they’re thrown into. 

I also loved the dual timeline at the start of the chapters with the original Scythe’s journals and how everything came together in the end and the series was completed plot hole free. Such brilliant writing. . 

Brilliant series, hope the movie/TV show is going to do it justice.