Review: Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

Title: Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe #2)

Author: Neal Shusterman

Release Date: January 2018

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Young Adult

Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:

Rowan and Citra take opposite stances on the morality of the Scythedom, putting them at odds, in the second novel of the chilling New York Times bestselling series from Neal Shusterman, author of the Unwind dystology.

Rowan has gone rogue, and has taken it upon himself to put the Scythedom through a trial by fire. Literally. In the year since Winter Conclave, he has gone off-grid, and has been striking out against corrupt scythes—not only in MidMerica, but across the entire continent. He is a dark folk hero now—“Scythe Lucifer”—a vigilante taking down corrupt scythes in flames.

Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order” scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish” so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world. But will it help solve those problems, or simply watch as perfection goes into decline?

My Review:

WHAT HAS HAPPENED?!

I have to admit that I didn’t enjoy Thunderhead as much as I did with Scythe. With Scythe, I finished the entire book in 3 days, while for Thunderhead it took me a week to finish it. But nevertheless, I still enjoyed it a lot, and it was a great sequeal! It did not have the “Second Book Syndrome” because it was still able to maintain the excitement and suspense from the second book, and brought it even higher in the latter pages. Sure, it did had a few dull moments that was slightly dragging, making me not to finish it sooner, but like its first book, once the ball started rolling, there was no more stopping it!

I really enjoyed that we got to see more of the inner workings of the Scythedom and Thunderhead, and how these two big institutions had a major impact on the lives of everyone. When we learned the history and current situation of the two in the first book, in Thunderhead, we got to see the gears working and the conflicts that arise constantly. I also loved how we got to see the Thunderhead’s thoughts before each chapter, and how much of a big deal it is. There were more politics and protocol surrounding the plot of the book, which definitely made the book more interesting.

Aside from our favorite characters, we get to have a chance to have new characters, such as Greyson Tolliver. It took me some time to get used of his character and tried how to see how he would play in the book. It was only until the latter chapters that we get to know how much of an important character he is in the book! I want to know more what happens to him in the final book. As for my favorite characters, namely Rowan, Citra, and Scythe Curie, we got to their character developments rise and their interaction with the other characters.

As usual, we get the have the plot twists – really HUGE plot twists! Once the plot twists appeared in the book, things just kept going and I hurriedly flipped through the pages. And that ending! OH MY GOD! That was something I didn’t imagine that will happen! That ending has beautifully written and executed, so I give it a huge thumbs up even it crushed me to the core.

I cannot wait for the final book to come out! I NEED IT!