Thunderhead: The global smash-hit YA speculative-thriller series (Arc of a Scythe)

You know, I think it's gotten to that point now where Neal Shusterman is one of my favourite authors. He just has this way of writing that has me completely engrossed. Thunderhead has got to be one of the best science fiction/dystopian novels that I have ever read. 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? I loved Scythe. I gave it 4.75 stars or something like that, BUT THUNDERHEAD IS A MASTERPIECE. Everything about this book was symbolic and hints at our own world. I say that Thunderhead is a dystopian... It's more of a utopia but with elements of a dystopia. You think that you're reading about this perfect world where disease, and death are conquered, where you're looked after by the Thunderhead, but no. There's problems. Of course there is. There wouldn't be a novel otherwise. Like Scythe, Thunderhead is split between the points of views of Citra and Rowen, but we have another perspective this time! We have Greyson. I didn't really like his POV at first. I thought it was a bit random of Shusterman to add another main character into the series, and then give him his own chapters. BUT STAY WITH IT. IT MAKES SENSE. And now Greyson has become one of my favourite characters. He has such a special relationship with the Thunderhead and it's just so precious and makes me want to cry. I can't say anything else about that because spoilers. I'll be really honest I'm finding it so hard to review this book because I just loved it so much, and I can't put all of my happiness into words... I'll try though... In Scythe, Citra and Rowen's storylines were interwoven, but it's completely different in Thunderhead. Their plot lines are totally separate. They don't really interact with each other and THERE IS ZERO ROMANCE IN THIS BOOK WHICH IS BLOODY BRILLIANT. Rowan was being a sort of Scythe vigilante and the whole of the Scythedom is after him, and all I wanted to do is wrap him in a big hug and protect him against all of the crap that was thrown at him throughout this book. Also, during Rowan's POV, we have an Unwind moment AND IT FREAKED ME THE F OUT. Unwind by Neal Shusterman... just read it, and you'll get what I mean. But THAT moment left me stunned. I couldn't handle it. There I was, sat on my Auntie's sofa in Holland, reading Thunderhead, and suddenly I just froze and had to take 5 minutes because of how weird it was. “While freedom gives rise to growth and enlightenment, permission allows evil to flourish in a light of day that would otherwise destroy it.” ― Neal Shusterman, Thunderhead With Citra's POV, it concentrated more on the political side of the Scythedom, and how things were just crumbling around her. There are so many twists and turns surrounding the political side of this book and my head was spinning - IN A GOOD WAY, I think? It was too emotional. Also... I'm counting the Thunderhead as a character. Because I love it. I absolutely love it. It's caring about every single human on the planet (apart from the Scythe's), and at the same time, it's calculating death. It's basically a super-duper upgrade of The Cloud. I can't write this review about mentioning the ending of this book. I don't know how to put my feelings about the ending down. It HAD ME SHOOK. Everything about it tore my heart out, stomped on it, then recycled it to do the same thing again. I just couldn't I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to throw the book against the wall. You know what I do need? The third book. Right now. I need to find out what happens. I have to know what happens to the characters, I need to find out what happens with the Thunderhead, and Greyson, and JUST EVERYONE. Guys, THIS is how sequels are done.

As much as I loved the first book, I didn't think it was perfect. This took everything from the first book that I both liked and disliked and improved on it all. I didn't expect it to go the way it did - particularly with the ending, but I loved it. It was soooo good. I said in my review of the previous book that I didn't think that it was as good as Shusterman's other series Unwind, but after reading this, I've completely changed my mind. It was great to see the world and characters develop. I also mentioned that the villains didn't seem that threatening in the first book; after reading this I can honestly say they are - with one in particular who I won't name - being absolutely terrifying. This book was much more fast paced than the first, and like Unwind, I loved the world that Shusterman has created. There was a small romance between the two main characters, Ronan and Citra, in the first book, which I didn't really mind but wasn't crazy about either. In this book however, there is no romance at all as the two of them are only together for about twenty pages max. Both of their stories were really interesting, and it was great to see them both, particularly Citra, develop as a character. I also really enjoyed that we get small pieces of dialogue from the Thunderhead's point of view at the end of each chapter. New character, Grayson Tolliver, was written superbly and I can't wait to see how his story pans out in the next book. I usually despise cliffhanger endings, but I loved the ending of Thunderhead. As annoyed as I am about having to wait a year for the next book, I thought it was written superbly. I really have no clue where the story is going to go next but I can't wait to find out.

Enjoyed reading this book. An interesting spin on what could happen in the future with no people dying a normal death.

As I was drawing to the end I was going to give this book 4 stars but the ending had me so shook and it filled me with so much adrenaline and I literally slammed the book down and finally breathed a breath that I didn't know I was holding in, and now I will slam my hands down on the table repeatedly demanding MORE SCYTHE MORE SCYTHE. The 2nd edition of Scythe was great It felt like a little history book of the Scythe world and it was so deeply interesting. The politics were a tad boring and had me skimming it a bit but I understand it was necessary. But a part of me is so tired of the politics parts of books and I wish that people wouldn't dedicate so much of the plot on it because it leaves me so utterly bored. It made me take almost a month to finish this book because to be honest I wasn't as amused with it as the first one and found myself more bored but I've already become so attatched to the characters I demanded more. I'm also so in love with this world and unique concept I'm glad I pushed on because to be honest it is such a wonderful series and I love this world so much and could happily read it over and over again

I don't always enjoy this kind of book, but the first book in the series surprised me. I wasn't thrilled by it so much that I couldn't put it down, but I did enjoy reading it. The idea is a very interesting one. However, by the time I was nearing the end of the second I was utterly hooked through and through. The end was, to say the least, unexpected. I was so taken aback, and so moved by it that I stood there for at least five minutes, trying to see if I had read it wrong. This is one of the best books I have ever read, and I do encourage people to read it. You must read the first one before you read this one though. Thank you for reading!

Although this book took a little longer to get into than book 1, it was incredible. It was more focused on character development than the previous book, but I really enjoyed that. It was a story of transformation. The chapters towards the end of the novel are what made the story for me as they were both very moving and hugely intense and full of thrill. This is my favourite book series to date and can’t wait to read book 3.

The world that Neal writes is so fun and interesting to be part of - visiting it again after Scythe was fun. Seeing how everything pans out in this heavily political scythe world. Still wasn't a fan of the romance, however it was more tolerable than it was in Scythe. It wasn't so bad. The plot twist and ending is... it's a major twist. Leads up the the perfect finale for Arc of a Scythe #3. We got to explore scythe archives, history and learn more about the Thunderhead. It's wild. Neal Schusterman has me hooked on his work after writing this. Can't wait for more.

I definitely enjoyed this more than book 1, even if I did spoil part of it for myself. I liked that we got to see a lot more of the world and the wider politics within the Scythedom as well as more characters. I also loved that the Thunderhead played more of a role in this book and had its own perspective shown too. The last 50 pages or so was just as stressful as it was fun. Too many trilogies seem to have the second book suffer in quality but this was amazing and I got book 3 as quick as I could.