A Re-read of THUNDERHEAD By Neal Shusterman | Book Review

Back in 2018, when I first read Scythe by Neal Shusterman, I was blown out of my mind by its cool concept. I read the second book THUNDERHEAD almost immediately after that. Unfortunately, I found it underwhelming and to the extent that I decided not to go ahead with the series. But with the release of the third and final  book “ The Toll” ,  I wanted to give  it a try and for once finish a book series.. LOL ..!!   However, as I was about to start it, I realized how little I remember of the story of Thunderhead. That's how I got around to re-reading this book.  Surprisingly, it was an absolute joy to read the second time around.

Also, lately  I am having so much trouble finding the motivation to read. So, in a way this re-read has turned out to be quite a life saver for me reading-wise.

The first book, Scythe is based on a cool concept of a utopian/dystopian world where the world is so advanced that human race has conquered everything – even death. People no longer die of natural causes or accidents. In order to control the crisis of population explosion, there are these Scythes (these are basically humans) who are in charge of gleaning(killing) people. Every year, they have to fulfill this duty of killing a particular number of people using their own methods. The  two  main characters Rowan and Citra are apprentices to a scythe Faraday. The story essentially revolves around these two.

The story of Thunderhead starts a little after the climax of Scythe. Rowan has gone rogue and taken upon himself to do justice and put Scythedom through a trial by fire . Citra is a junior scythe who wants to rid this world of corruption. A few new characters are introduced but I can't reveal further than that because SPOILERS.

What I Liked?

1.       The cool concept with a riveting plot that kept me on the edge of my seat. The plot twists were plenty and provided the required shock value.  I was shocked at some of the twists even during my re-read.

2.       The easy writing style with a fast paced plot made the reading an enjoyable experience.

3.       I also loved the social commentary within the story. It explored some relevant themes without making it sound preachy.

4.       The thing that didn't work for me the first time was the new character Greyson which at that time I found totally insignificant and unnecessary. But this time around, I realized how much of an important character is he to the overall story.

5.        It was a well done sequel which had me excited about The Toll which btw I have already started.

The only let down for me was the villain which at times felt a bit cartoonish .But this issue didn't in any way deter me from reading.

RATING- 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ( 5/5 )