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A review by mxdegroot
The Toll by Neal Shusterman
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have some mixed opinions.
As with the second book, the majority of this book felt like a filler episode leading up to a very short ending. Was the build-up worth the ending? Yes??? Maybe??? I'm still torn.
I'm going to start off with saying that I absolutely hate the fact that the Thunderhead found the blind spot. I loved the implication of the blind spot existing as a reminder that no one/nothing is omniscient, and the Thunderhead finding it and taking over felt unnecessary and predictable. I would have loved it if the blind spot had stayed a blind spot.
Rowan and Citra's ending is an especially interesting thing. The whole point of the scythedom is that the ones who do not want to be a part of it, are the ones who should be, and from that point of view their decision to leave makes perfect sense. However, both of them have been fighting for roughly a thousand pages to make sure the scythedom stays the way it was designed to, and to just leave it behind in the end without (to their knowing) any end/solution to the conflict in sight felt very rushed to me.
Speaking of rushed endings:Goddard's death was simultaneously very satisfying and extremely anticlimactic. This is the man who has been manipulating, controlling and conquering the literal world for two books, only to be ended by the woman who has been by his side from the beginning and who had literally every opportunity to end him earlier? Come on. However, his quick death was a very nice reminder that no matter how powerful or dangerous he was, he's still not invulnerable.
That being said, the failsafe was absolute perfection. Humanity was never meant to rule life and death, so let randomness decide. The scythedom's ending was beautiful.
As with the second book, the majority of this book felt like a filler episode leading up to a very short ending. Was the build-up worth the ending? Yes??? Maybe??? I'm still torn.
I'm going to start off with saying that I absolutely hate the fact that the Thunderhead found the blind spot. I loved the implication of the blind spot existing as a reminder that no one/nothing is omniscient, and the Thunderhead finding it and taking over felt unnecessary and predictable. I would have loved it if the blind spot had stayed a blind spot.
Rowan and Citra's ending is an especially interesting thing. The whole point of the scythedom is that the ones who do not want to be a part of it, are the ones who should be, and from that point of view their decision to leave makes perfect sense. However, both of them have been fighting for roughly a thousand pages to make sure the scythedom stays the way it was designed to, and to just leave it behind in the end without (to their knowing) any end/solution to the conflict in sight felt very rushed to me.
Speaking of rushed endings:
That being said, the failsafe was absolute perfection. Humanity was never meant to rule life and death, so let randomness decide. The scythedom's ending was beautiful.
"You can't expose a lie without first shattering the will to believe it. That is why leading people to truth is so much more effective than merely telling them."
“We are imperfect beings," Munira said. "How could we ever fit in a perfect world?"
The darkest of deeds can be hidden beneath shining armor that claims to protect the greater good.