Thunderhead
(Arc of the Scythe, #2)
by Neal Schusterman
Pages: 504 // Published: January 9, 2018 // Genre: Fantasy, Dystopian
Summary as Provided by Publisher
Rowan and Citra take opposite stances on the morality of the Scythedom, putting them at odds, in the chilling sequel to the Printz Honor Book Scythe from New York Times bestseller Neal Shusterman, author of the Unwind dystology.
The Thunderhead cannot interfere in the affairs of the Scythedom. All it can do is observe—it does not like what it sees.
A year has passed since Rowan had gone off grid. Since then, he has become an urban legend, a vigilante snuffing out corrupt scythes in a trial by fire. His story is told in whispers across the continent.
As Scythe Anastasia, Citra gleans with compassion and openly challenges the ideals of the “new order.” But when her life is threatened and her methods questioned, it becomes clear that not everyone is open to the change.
Will the Thunderhead intervene?
Or will it simply watch as this perfect world begins to unravel?
My Thoughts
Guys. Guuuuuuuuuuuyyys. This book wrecked me.
Like I’m still hungover from it, and I can’t even deal. I’ve been pushing this review off because my brain is full of non-sense, sooo… here we go!
First off, once I started this book – I could not put it down. I devoured it in huge chunks. I thought the book was insanely smart and paced incredibly well. I really enjoyed Scythe, but it was the perfect set-up book for Thunderhead. Where Scythe was focused on more of the intricacies of the Scythedom, this was stepping back and looking at the world as a whole. That being said, here enters Thunderhead, the AI that runs the entire world essentially. We get to peak inside it’s brain and it is … awesome!
If you haven’t checked out my review of Scythe, click here.
The politics in this book was SO well done and highly entertaining. It was amazing to see all these different wheels spinning and then coming together into this EPIC ending. Fair warning – you will HATE and LOVE the ending.
I honestly can’t say much more as I do not want to spoil it for anyone. If you’ve haven’t picked up Scythe, I highly recommend it. If you thought Scythe was just OK, then you need to drop everything and read Thunderhead. Because it was so much more.
I NEED THE NEXT ONE NOW.
Since Neal Shusterman recently liked my tweet, and is officially not officially my best friend now, I will politely ask him to send a copy of The Toll to my address as soon as humanly possible. It’s what best friends do.
Let’s have some fun! So if you haven’t read the book, the Scythes, are appointed beings who are responsible for killing or “gleaning” individuals in order to keep the population under control. As part of becoming a Scythe, you can choose your Scythe name, typically after someone famous that you respect or relate too.
For example there is a Scythe Faraday, Scythe Curie (Marie Curie), Scythe Renoir, Scythe Angelou (Maya Angelou) and even a Scythe Beyonce. So here is my question to all of you…
What would be your Scythe Name? Let me know in the comments!
This is a tough one but here are a few I think I would like…
Scythe Nigella Lawson
Because if you ever heard her say the world chocolate, you literally want to take your clothes off. Plus she’s my spirit animal.
Scythe Ali Wong
Because she is effin hilarious, and makes #momlife the bomb dot com.
Scythe Katherine Johnson
If you’ve never heard of her, Katherine Johnson is an African-American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. manned spaceflights. Most notably, the movie Hidden figures was based on her efforts during the trip to the moon. So yeah, she’s awesome.
As always, thank you for stopping by and…
HAPPY READING!
Ahhh! This one took a moment for me to formulate a coherent opinion on as well. Immediately after finishing I was pissed… I mean – what the <bleeping< was that!??!??. And then I put it down and days passed and I kept coming back to it in my head. And with some (emotional?) distance that ending was absolutely brilliant! How many years forward are we going to jump? What is the world going to look like? The options are literally endless and I NEED TO KNOW!! Plus, I read in an interview with your man Shusterman (i’m sure he sent it to you cuz you’re bfs now) that NO ONE stays dead in this series…. so…. 😉
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Hahahahaha! HOW MANY YEARS FORWARD?! I know the possibilities are flipping endless.
Like when the Thunderhead “screamed” for me my like heart dropped. Dammmmmnnnnit. Amazing!
Yes our most intimate interview just hanging out with wine; he will spill all the secrets!!! Muahaha.
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Okay. Scythe Beyonce cracks me up. That’s an actual character in the book? I think I would be Scythe Abigail Adams.
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Haha yes in passing but she exists! Very nice choice!
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Scythe Beyonce actually broke me.
I love this book so hard. The ending. My poor heart!
Me: No… No. Nooo. NO! NOOOoooOOoo! … no?
The ending: LOLz
And the cultists! What the ever loving what!?!
The only complaint I have is the cliffhanger because I despise cliffhangers. But that’s it. I adored this book. Book hangover commence.
Hmm. I would have to think really hard about my Scythe name. Maybe Scythe Helen Keller? Maybe Scythe Maggie Smith if we’re going more recent.
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How are we functioning after having our minds blown haha! I know I seriously went through the same roller coaster of emotion!
I totally agree, I hate cliffhangers but the possibilities of the next book are like enormous.
Awesome Scythe choices 👌 both are solid and little bit more cultured than mine 😂
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I had to put a lot of thought into mine. If fictional characters were allowed I would TOTALLY call Honorable Scythe Minerva McGonagall. She reminds me of Scythe Curie actually. For some reason I can’t pin down.
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Oh. My. Gosh. The ending for this book just wrecked me!! I loved this book to the moon and back. I absolutely CANNOT wait for the next book. It needs to be here like yesterday. You should ask that best friend of yours to slide me a copy too 😜
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Ditto 🤫 I will hook you up!
It was so good!! I’m glad you loved it too😭
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Hahaha sounds like a plan to me!! 😀
Ughhh it really was though! It was such an amazing book.
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And I think I’d have to go with Scythe Rowling. ‘Cause why not?
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YES YES YES! 👌amazing choice! You will probably have to fight someone on that one!
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Yeahhh I think that would be snagged pretty quickly xD or Scythe Disney! Could you imagine?!
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I still haven’t read scythe!! I feel so very sad…. I really need to take times to read all of these books that I have and never have time for!! TOO MANY BOOKS!!! 😢😭😭📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
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IT WILL NEVER END. But deep down we like this feeling… lol imagine no TBR! How boring life would be!
but YES what are you doing?? Go read them!!!!!!! 👉🏻👉🏻👉🏻👉🏻
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…. I think I’ll read the books for the 5 blog tours I have coming up this week first…. Then we’ll talk! 😂😂 How do I keep getting myself into this mess?? 😂📚📚📚📚
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Hahahaha! I can’t wait to see what you thought of When life gives you Demons. I finished it last week and I still need to put my review out.
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That one’s Thursday! I can’t wait!! 😀😀
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