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A review by caidyn
The Toll by Neal Shusterman
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
CW: death and deception
Wow. What a finale. It wasn't perfect, but it was a very satisfying ending for me.
The story picks up after the end of The Thunderhead. If you haven't read it, I'm probably going to spoil it, so y'all should look away now who haven't read it and want to remain as pure as possible for this series!
Gone? Good.
Citra and Rowan have gone missing and are presumed dead. The Thunderhead has now deemed everyone unsavory except for Greyson. Scythe Goddard has lost his damn mind and has taken over the scythedom of MidMerica and has decided to stop the limits on gleanings. Aka, scythes can now glean whenever they want to and however many they feel like. The whole world is going to hell in a handbasket.
This book was completely different than the other ones. There were so many new characters and perspectives, along with trying to get used to this new world since it had radically changed between the end of the last book and the start of this one. It definitely took a learning curve. It's been months since I had read the first two books and part of me kind of wished I had read them last month so I could really remember every detail before going into this.
I really loved how the world expanded in this book. We got to see how other scythedoms work and how other countries are. I gotta say, I loved the queerness aspect of the one world we really got exposed to. It was wonderful! Probably my favorite part of the book right there.
All in all, a satisfying end to this series. I'm really sad to see it go! But, I also can't wait to be able to reread the series so I can fully see the arc from start to finish.
Wow. What a finale. It wasn't perfect, but it was a very satisfying ending for me.
The story picks up after the end of The Thunderhead. If you haven't read it, I'm probably going to spoil it, so y'all should look away now who haven't read it and want to remain as pure as possible for this series!
Gone? Good.
Citra and Rowan have gone missing and are presumed dead. The Thunderhead has now deemed everyone unsavory except for Greyson. Scythe Goddard has lost his damn mind and has taken over the scythedom of MidMerica and has decided to stop the limits on gleanings. Aka, scythes can now glean whenever they want to and however many they feel like. The whole world is going to hell in a handbasket.
This book was completely different than the other ones. There were so many new characters and perspectives, along with trying to get used to this new world since it had radically changed between the end of the last book and the start of this one. It definitely took a learning curve. It's been months since I had read the first two books and part of me kind of wished I had read them last month so I could really remember every detail before going into this.
I really loved how the world expanded in this book. We got to see how other scythedoms work and how other countries are. I gotta say, I loved the queerness aspect of the one world we really got exposed to. It was wonderful! Probably my favorite part of the book right there.
All in all, a satisfying end to this series. I'm really sad to see it go! But, I also can't wait to be able to reread the series so I can fully see the arc from start to finish.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder