Welcome to the end of Book 2!
Or perhaps the beginning for you. I promise not to ruin anything. Scratch that. I promise not to ruin anything about THUNDERHEAD. Scythe spoilers will most certainly be present here.
If you’ve found your way to this page, but haven’t seen my review of Scythe, go read that first.
Irma Gerd!
No that’s not the name of my aunt.
Though, if it were, I imagine her with a big ole mole on her cheek with a long black hair sticking out you can’t help but stare at and imagine plucking at every family reunion.
Moving on…
If Scythe was book of the year, Thunderhead is book of the decade!
Well….okay I don’t know if I’m ready to give it that designation, I mean, we’re only 30 days in out of 3,652.
Thunderhead surpasses Scythe in every possible way.
We get to leave all the upfront worldbuilding infodump behind and plunge right in.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t still more information to glean…
Hahahahaha.
Do you see what I did there?
“Oh, come on T.L. Stop it and get on with it.”
If you insist.
Thunderhead Book Review
Thunderhead starts with Rowan, err Scythe Lucifer, gleaning wicked Scythes.
At least that’s what he was doing before the book opened up. 10 months, or something like that, have passed since the close of Scythe and Rowan is keeping up his vigilante appearances.
Except the Scythe he decided NOT to glean in the end (because maybe if he almost gleans someone they’ll change their wicked ways) really probably should have been gleaned.
You just keep an eye on that guy: Scythe Brahms.
It’s an interesting opener comparatively to the slow start of Scythe.
A lot happens.
The end.
Seriously, though, what else am I supposed to say about Thunderhead? Nearly every page is important and every single event is loaded with information that if I shared would ruin the experience for you.
A New Character
The one thing I can probably safely speak about is Greyson Tolliver.
He has a funny name doesn’t he? It kind of just flows off the tongue.
It’s elegant.
But the kid is anything but. In fact, he’s kind of awkward. I imagine him as the lanky nerdy kid.
That’s probably inaccurate. The kid is, after all, in a Nimbus Academy, learning to become one of the Thunderhead’s agents.
Except that he breaks the #1 rule mere pages after it is explained to him.
*Facepalm*
It’s for a good cause though, you’ll just have to read to find out why.
Greyson is important in Thunderhead, but I get the feeling that he’s going to be even more important in The Toll. Which I’ve already started.
And Old Plots
Even writing the headline for this section feels like it’s too much.
Let’s just say the New Order, that is, the scythes that were aligned with Scythe Goddard, have not backed down simply because Goddard is gone.
And holy crap what happens.
Oh, man.
The beginning, the middle, the end. It’s just too much.
Who could have seen all that coming?
Not me.
That’s for absolute certain. It kept me guessing the entire time. The entire. time.
Masterful, Shusterman. Just plain masterful.
I leave it at that.
5/5 stars with absolutely no reservations.
Check out my review of The Toll by Neal Shusterman or this list of books like Scythe.