It’s been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver.
In this pulse-pounding conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.
Have you read my reviews of the first two books in the series? If not, here they are: Scythe | Thunderhead
Neal Shusterman has been my favourite author for a long time now. Ever since I read Unwind as a teenager, and then discovered Challenger Deep which quickly became my favourite book ever, Shusterman has been right at the top of my auto-buy authors list. So when I got an early copy of The Toll in the post, I almost cried.
The Toll is the third book in Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series. Set in a dystopian world where overpopulation is controlled by scythes, people who are chosen to kill seemingly at random, the books follow teenagers Citra and Rowan as they are both ordained as scythes and go on to lead very different lives.
I finished the book a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to wait until release day to publish my review, which has been so difficult! But now the time has come: today, 7th November 2019, is the day The Toll is published in the UK, and am I beyond excited for everyone to read this masterpiece of a book. As this pulse-racing series concludes, The Toll really does go out with a bang. (Am I being literal there? I might well be. Who knows. You’ll have to find out.)
Why The Toll is the Perfect End to the Series
Not only does this book pick right up from where the previous one left off, but it does it in such a way that has you gripped right from the start. What happened to the isle of Endura? Where are Citra and Rowan? What’s happened to everyone else? The Toll leaves no questions unanswered, and does a great job of making all the ends meet from the two previous books. It leaves you satisfied, but equally wanting more.
As well as introducing new characters and exploring familiar ones in more depth, the book explores what happens when a world so intricately kept together by the Thunderhead (which, after the second book, we know a lot about) begins to crumble, and everything collapses into utter mayhem. Scythe Goddard, an evil dictator-like leader with awful intentions, has free reign over the world, and it quickly becomes carnage. He does things that genuinely made me gasp and want to throw the book across the room. I’m telling you now, you’re in for a ride.
“It leaves you satisfied, but equally wanting more… I’m telling you now, you’re in for a ride.”
The thing I especially like about The Toll is that we get an in-depth look at the political side of the scythedom and the laws that keep the system functioning. We see more of the other areas of the world, other scythes that we haven’t yet read about, as well as scythes that we know very well (if you loved Scythe Faraday from the previous books, you’ll be very pleased to know that he features heavily in this book, and that made me so happy.
This is the kind of book that keeps you up at night reading because you can’t stop. Just when you think it’s going to calm down, it picks back up. And when you think the ending will come to a nice, easy end, it laughs in your face and takes you on one heck of a journey. Honestly, I’d say that when you’re coming towards the end, make time to read the last 200-or-so pages in one sitting, because it’ll be impossible to stop.
The Toll is everything I could have asked for and more. I’m sad that the series has come to end, but I’m glad I had the pleasure of reading such an incredible book. The writing, the insane twists, and everything about it make me realise just why Shusterman was my favourite author in the first place. His world, his characters, and his impeccably crafted storylines always keep me in awe until the last page, and The Toll was no different.
My Patron Historic & Scythe Robes
Right now, Walker Books, the publisher of the Scythe trilogy, are running a competition to win some Scythe goodies. To enter, we need to explain who our patron historic* would be, and what our robes would look like.
*A patron historic is someone a scythe chooses, when they are ordained, to name themselves after. So Scythe Faraday is named after Michael Faraday, an English scientist; Scythe Curie is named after Marie Curie, a French physicist and chemist; etc. In Thunderhead, I’m pretty sure there’s even a Scythe Beyonce.
For my Scythe name, I’d pick Scythe Hawking, named after the late Stephen Hawking. I’ve been obsessed with space and how the universe works for at least a couple of years, and I’d love to study astronomy one day, just for fun. And for my robes, I’d want them to be shimmery blue and purple, and the colours change in the light. There are tiny little silver stars embroidered all over it, some of which shine in the light and appear to shoot across the dark sky-coloured robes. If you look closely, the stars make up entire constellations, and you realise the robes are a map of the night sky.
Who would you choose as your patron historic, and what would your robes look like?
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