Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was really dreading and excited for this reread all at the same time. When I first read Thunderhead, I didn’t like it. It was seemed to lean to much to the science fiction side of utopia, whereas up until this book came out it seemed to walk a fine live between fantasy and sci-fi (although it definitely was always more sci-fi than fantasy). It almost seemed like a contemporary just set in the future if that makes any sense :P. I have come to appreciate the book more after the second read, but I really hope the Toll will be better. I was excited for this reread though because I wanted to give this book another try… Here are my thoughts.
Spoilers Below
For the sake of organization, I’m going to split this book into two parts, the chapters up until the theater attack and Greyson’s subsequent trip into hiding are part one and everything after is part two. I actually think this book could have been split into two, one for each part listed above. There were some times where I felt the author was rushing to get to something and splitting the book into two would have given Neal Shusterman more time to develop characters who I felt were negletected like Purity. I also wouldn’t have minded getting more aquainted with what it is like to be an unsavory.
I didn’t really like the first part of the book overall, but I did like the climax of the novel and the second part. The way that the author built up to the sinking of Endura was nice, but it kind of felt like an afterthought he added during the editing process to foreshadow what was to come just for the sake of it. I definitely think he could have added more to foreshadow what was going to happen without totally giving it away. All that being said I definitely felt the weight of the bad things that was sure to happen while Anastasia, Scythe Curie and Rowan were all on Endura. It was super well paced and I loved the entire scene were everyone was looking for a way out and how Rowan tried to spare Citra the hopelessness of their situation. I’ve always loved the scene at the end of the book where they dressed up in the old scythes robes. It was so sweet yet so sad at the same time.
I can’t wait to read the Toll! It’s next up so here we go! It is super long though, so it might be a while before I get to reviewing it.
View all my reviews
Leave a Reply