Amazon.in:Customer reviews: Thunderhead: Arc of a Scythe

Somu Shankar

Good

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 28 September 2022

Excellent book

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 26 December 2021

Verified Purchase

!!!
Neal Shusterman has such a way to keep the readers, constantly, on the edge of their seats.
The world-building is amazing and so is the character development. Each and every character is so complex, one of them being Rand. The ending just hits you so hard and you barely have time to process it because so many things are happening at the same time.
Can't wait to read The Toll.

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Nandhini(Books and Bliss)

Thunderous Book

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 8 May 2019

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This is the second book in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy.. I read the first book and I completely fell in love with it. And am really excited to read this one. If you are a fan of sci-fi and dystopian then this is the perfect book for you. This is a thought provoking book and it really makes you to wonder on various topics regarding mortality and immortality etc . This is that kind of a book which I would recommend to anyone. As for the condition of the book.. The book came in perfect condition and all the pages were intact.

9 people found this helpful

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Melina L.

Book Review

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 17 February 2020

Because rain is the closest thing I have to tears.
🦄🦄🦄
Rowan has gone M.I.A. after the Winter Conclave.
He is now known as 'Scythe Lucifer' gleaning corrupt scythes using the power of fire.
Scythe Anastasia is now a junior scythe to Scythe Curie who finds a way to communicate with the Thunderhead.
Their separate paths ultimately lead to one goal.
Get rid of the corruption in the Scythedom.
But will they be able to do do or will they find themselves at the wrong end of a bad decision.
🦄🦄🦄
Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman was one of my top 5 reads of 2019.
The second book of Arc of the Scythe introduces new main characters that liven up the novel.
The pace of the book is fast and keeps you in your toes.
The integration of the Thunderhead's thought were done very well and it kept its relevance at a balance during the whole book.
The ending had me shaken up and I have got the next book but haven't read it yet but I'm dying to see what happens after that phenomenal cliffhanger.
I loved this book a lot because it's one of those YA books that has something different with the artificial intelligence aspect of it.
Fingers crossed I hope The Toll will be as good as the first two books.
🦄🦄🦄
Rated 100/100
Melina L.

One person found this helpful

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D. HUHN

good book

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 12 February 2018

good follow up to Scythe.

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Thinker Belle

And the series storms its way back into my favorites list

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 7 January 2019

"Death must exist for life to have meaning"

Disclosure, I wasn't a huge fan of the first book. Scythe was enjoyable enough but I had issues with it. You can check my review on that to know more. So, I wasn't sure if I should read this. I picked this up for one reason only. It's named Thunderhead which meant this was definitely going to focus more on the benevolent AI (the lack of which was a sore point for me in book one). Having said that, I wasn't really expecting to be blown away. Boy, was I wrong.

This was a gripping read from start to finish. We get a lot more background and world building here. While the first book was mainly about the two apprentices, Citra and Rowan training to be chosen as scythes and going up against corrupt Scythe Goddard, this second installment has a far more complex plot with much higher stakes. Like the author zoomed out and we finally get to see the true scale of the story. There are multiple threads in progress and the author weaves them together brilliantly. The Thunderhead plays a huge part. It's ruminations on it's origins, humanity and it's role in current events were by far the highlight of the book. The Thunderhead knows all, sees all and when it can't see, because of self imposed limitations, it knows to bend the rules just enough to find out. How else will it save humanity from the terrors of it's own making? As the story progresses we see its thinking evolve. We get new characters plucked from obscurity that take center stage and become central to the plot. Don't worry, we still have our main characters, Citra and Rowan fighting for the greater good albeit in different ways. The romance is still there but takes a backseat to everything that is going on. Scythe Faraday meanwhile has codes to decipher and quests to go on. There's political intrigue and devious plotting. We get to visit the illuminating city of Endura and the whole sequence of events there will give you an adrenaline rush like none other. There are twists and turns and a deep sense of foreshadowing, that 'something-big-is-about-to-go-down' feeling which will make you just devour the pages. And THAT soul crushing ending, you guys. I need a moment.

This installment has redeemed the series in my mind. I am completely invested in this world and the characters. Book three is definitely going on my TBR.

Rating: 5 stars

Follow me on Goodreads for more reviews. Link in bio.

4 people found this helpful

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Quirky Opinions

It's perfect.

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 14 January 2018

At the end of Scythe, Citra becomes a Scythe while Rowan escapes with Scythe Faraday. That means the Scythedom is looking for him. And instead of lying low, it turns out that he’s decided to go rogue. He goes by Scythe Lucifer and ends corrupt Scythes (burns their bodies and everything). And before reading, I was afraid he’d had a psychotic break or something but no, he’s quite sane. But he loves the Scythedom too much to let the corrupt Scythes poison it. This is his way of helping. Citra is helping too. But she’s taken a diplomatic approach and introduces new ideals while being part of the system.

Then we have the Thunderhead, who’s a big part of the book. You know how in Scythe, we got excerpts from the journals of various Scythes? Well, in this book, the excerpts are from the Thunderhead. We get to know it a lot. Even the chapters highly feature the Thunderhead. And I freaking loved it. The Thunderhead is such an interesting addition. It’s an artificial intelligence that’s pretty-much perfect and all-knowing. It’s also concerned, most of all, with humanity’s welfare. It’s law-abiding but won’t hesitate to use a loophole or two for a good cause.

But, while it’s supposed to be perfect, I don’t trust it. I guess, after AIs like Skynet and Ultron, it’s difficult. But it’s different from them, it truly cares about people. Though that could also be a problem. We don’t know. And that’s the beauty of it.

There another character we’re introduced to. Greyson Tolliver. Love him too but I don’t wanna give everyone away so you’ll have to get to know him yourself. Basically, we have a lot of characters: Citra, Rowan, Scythe Curie, Scythe Faraday, Thunderhead, Greyson, and others. And they’re amazing. There’s not a single character that I’m supposed to like that I don’t (meaning villains don’t count). I didn’t even hate Rowan’s friend, who is too dumb for his own good.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, the character game in this novel is on point. So is the writing, Seriously, Neal Shusterman does such an amazing job of writing from each characters perspective. He balances the changes in tone perfectly to build tension and drops just the right amount of hints.

The pacing is also perfect, and faster than it was in Scythe. And I can’t talk enough about the world building and the story. We delve deeper into a world that I already love, and we out why things are the way they are, from the Thunderhead. And it’s all so believable and so <em>human. This series truly is a study in human nature and we can see how much effort the author has put into understanding people. The story is… so good. It’s fast and it’s clever, and so nerve-wracking that I spent the last 300 pages in ‘please tell me this isn’t really happening’ mode. And that ending! Oh my God!

Overall, I can safely say that this novel is perfect. It’s better than I could’ve imagined and I cannot wait to see how the series will conclude. If you loved Scythe, then you’re obviously reading this one. But even if you didn’t, please give it a shot. You won’t regret it.

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Schizanthus Nerd

Fun-and-a-half!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 31 October 2022

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““Well, then,” said Supreme Blade Kahlo, raising her hand in a grand dramatic gesture, “let the wild rumpus start!””

I tend to be one of those people who read the next book in a series I’m following as soon as it’s published (earlier if I can get my hands on an advanced copy) and then spend the next year hanging precariously over a cliff while I wait to find out what’s going to happen next. All I can think after finishing this book is how grateful I am that this time, I’m late to the party.

I read Scythe for the first time shortly after it was released and began this book soon after it was published. Then something happened, which I can’t even remember now, that took me away from it before I finished and unfinished it’s remained. Until now. I don’t know how I would have managed if I’d had to wait a year to see how everything unfolds from here but it wouldn’t have been pretty. This is a series you definitely need to binge.

I love vigilante Rowan, AKA, Scythe Lucifer. He’s not just making corrupt scythes deadish; he’s making sure they don’t come back. As he researched his potential targets and stalked them prior to taking their lives, he reminded me of the Green Arrow. I wanted his kills to come with a catchphrase … You have failed this Scythedom.

Meanwhile, Citra (now Scythe Anastasia) did me proud as a junior scythe. Taking on the best of what both of her mentors taught her but making it her own, Citra’s scythe MO was compassionate and thoughtful, and everything I expected from her.

“She is a fresh voice of reason and responsibility. She can make the old ways new again. Which is why they fear her.”

However, it was her strength, tenacity and courage that really captivated me. It’s one thing to do the right thing but it’s another thing entirely when the right thing isn’t the easy thing and your decisions come with consequences you can’t necessarily predict and aren’t always in your favour.

The big surprise for me, though, was Greyson. I didn’t expect much from him, even though it was clear from the beginning that his role in this series was going to be significant. I enjoyed watching as he began to transform into Slayd. His journey introduced me to unsavouries, whose particular brand of rebellion I found fascinating.

I need to live in the restored Great Library of Alexandria. It contains 3.5 million volumes of scythe journals!

Favourite no context quotes:

“Permission is the bloated corpse of freedom.”

“We are forever impaled upon our own wisdom.”

“Deadish men tell no tales for a while.”

To borrow a new favourite phrase, this book was “fun-and-a-half”. I’m starting The Toll immediately.

Timpboy1

Great sequel

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 21 January 2023

Verified Purchase

I read this trilogy because it my middle-school daughter's favorite at the moment. I really enjoyed it. It's dark, but still exciting and enjoyable. It's violent, but again I didn't find it off-putting. Somehow the author keeps things light and moving along despite the fact that the material could have made for an unpleasant read. If your teen is into futuristic thrillers, this is a really fun series. I don't see it as something most adults would read on their own, but I'm glad I did.

Robin Snyder

So Happy the Planned Dualogy is now going to be a Trilogy or Dystology

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 16 January 2018

Verified Purchase

Again I will say it, Neal Shusterman (NS) is the Sci-Fi King of What If….

He takes a thought like hey we have a cloud now and we are putting more and more stuff in it what if years and years down the road we have an AI version that is a mash up of The Cloud/Google/Facebook/Amazon and it had a social conscience and was put in charge of EVERYTHING. How would the world change?

*** How could I not love the very beings who gave me life? Even if they don’t all agree that I am, indeed, alive. I am the sum of all their knowledge, all their history, all their ambitions and dreams. These glorious things have coalesced—ignited—into a cloud too immense for them to ever truly comprehend. But they don’t need to. They have me to ponder my own vastness, ***

While Scythe focused on the training of two Scythes and so the beginning and end of chapter excerpts where from Scythes Journals in Thunderhead they are all the Thunderheads thoughts. It is really a great way to give the reader some outside information from the character PoVs and infodump without it ever seeming like an infodump. I loved learning more about the Thunderhead and realizing that maybe it is not as ambivalent as once thought since it seems to have some favorite humans out there.

Rowan and Citra are both trying to change the Scythedom after the events at the end of Scythe. Citra is working from inside the system trying to make killing the populace a thought about affair with great respect. Rowan has to work from outside the system since he is being hunted, but he is also the hunter and is killing Scythes who are using their position for power, genocide or something else unsavory. They are so perfect for each other but at the same time they are torn apart by circumstance.

*** “We weren’t close,” Citra insisted. “We weren’t anything.” And that hurt to admit more than her parents could possibly know. How could she and Rowan have any kind of relationship when they were forced to be lethal adversaries? Even now, when he was hunted and she was yoked with the heavy responsibility of scythehood, how could there be anything between them but a dark well of longing? ***

So you know I totally ship them! I wish they got more page time together in this book but due to the roles they are playing there wasn’t a lot.

New to the story is Greyson. He is a kid with absentee parents that was raised by the Thunderhead. All emotions that he should feel towards his family he feels for the Thunderhead, it was the one constant in his life that was always there for him and he would do anything to help the Thunderhead or be closer to it. This includes an undercover mission that the Thunderhead will not be able to give him any direct direction on. I liked the addition of Greyson to the cast. Through him we were able to see how some of the people who like to rebel against society lived.

*** Simply put, humanity had a need to be bad. Not everyone, of course—but I calculated that 3 percent of the population could only find meaning in life through defiance. Even if there was no injustice in the world left to defy, they had an innate need to defy something. Anything. ***

This was a great bridge book to the Trilogy. Now you’re probably saying, “But Robin I thought this was a dualogy.” Yeah me too, but then I got to the end and thought really, that is where this story ends. But what about Faraday and his Quest? What about the thing the Thunderhead did at the end? What about Rowan and Citra and their fate??? What about the bad guy???? Well guess what there will be answers to all of those questions and more in Arc of the Scythe #3 that I had no idea there would even be but color me happy cuz more books in this world.

This is Neal Shusterman so expect some moments that just rip your heart out. If you read Unwind you know the kind of shocking moments I’m talking about. There are some really good twists and the world building was excellent opening up more information about the Scythes and the politics within the Scythedom. The Thunderhead is a fantastic character as well. It has evolved from what it was originally supposed to be and I loved getting a sense of the internal struggle it was having since clearly it is more attached to a few in the general populace and being unable to intervene to help them is having more of an affect on it than it should.

*** And the pain . . . the pain of my awareness is unbearable. Because my eyes do not close. Ever. And so all I can do is watch unblinkingly as my beloved humankind slowly weaves the rope it will use to hang itself.

—The Thunderhead ***

Scythe was in my top 10 reads of 2017 and this was a great follow-up to that. While I was slightly disappointed that this was not the end of the story since I was planning on a dualogy and knowing all of the things after this book I’m also really excited that there will be a final book in this series. I can’t wait to see what else will happen to all of our heroes and it will be interesting to see what kind a punishment the bad guy/guys will finally get for all of his/their crimes which are many.

One person found this helpful

5 star		80%
4 star		15%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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