Thunderhead : Arc of a Scythe #2 by Neal Shusterman - Book Review (No spoilers)

Summary

"Rowan has gone rogue, and has taken it upon himself to put the Scythedom through a trial by fire. Literally. In the year since Winter Conclave, he has gone off-grid, and has been striking out against corrupt scythes—not only in MidMerica, but across the entire continent. He is a dark folk hero now—“Scythe Lucifer”—a vigilante taking down corrupt scythes in flames.

Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order” scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish” so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world."

My review

⭐⭐⭐

I'm not sure how to review this book. I took almost three months to finish it and read plenty of books to avoid returning to this one. But whenever I started reading it, I got engrossed in the story, and enjoyed discovering more about the world. This author writes well, and I like how he draws comparisons and finds ironies in the oddest places. The author's imagination and world-building make this series fun to read.

This book expands on the idea of corruption among the most powerful people even in their "perfect" world, where the scythes have been divided into the 'new order' and the 'old guard'. The plot was creative, and the author showed the activity on various levels of influence, from Rowan, who was a fugitive, to High Blade Xenocrates. The beginning of this book was lacking in action, and I was bored during most of the irrelevant chapters. This book is long enough for the unnecessary information to have been cut out, and would have been better for it. I slogged through the first half for two months, not wanting to suffer that torture nor give up on this promising series.

The second half was very exciting, though, and it made me want to read the next book. I cannot abandon this story now, without finding out what ultimately happens to the characters. The story picked up the pace later, and actual events began happening, rather than. . . whatever was happening in the beginning. I cannot speak for the actual incidents in the first half, because I don't remember them anymore. The character of Greyson Tolliver bored me to death, as I didn't care for the unfortunate events happening in his unrelated life.

There wasn't any character or world-building in this instalment that stood out to me. The world was sufficiently developed in the first book, and we already had enough information to know how basic things function. There is talk of hidden mystical places, and finding secret islands, but the principal setting remains identical. The characters too, were the same as before, with a few friendships blossoming, though without deep dives into anybody's personality. I didn't mind the characters being slightly bland as long as the story proceeded, because I prefer plot-driven books to character-centred ones.

The parts said to be written by the Thunderhead were tedious, and I skipped all of them. Perhaps they were required to better understand how it functioned, but I could not help turning to the next chapter when all it talked about was its greatness and universal existence and importance to humanity and so on. The Thunderhead was also overly commended in the first book, and that made me somehow resent it, even though it is just an exalted internet from a book series.

The romance here didn't make much sense, as there was nothing really going on between the two characters, though they are said to care deeply for each other. I'm not even sure if theirs is a romance or an acquaintance, seeing as they hardly spend any time together. After every few chapters, they thought about how much they wanted to meet the other person, but didn't spare them any other thought. I know that it would've been unrealistic for them to meet often while Rowan was in hiding, but they could've found a way to communicate, if their world was so technologically advanced.

Overall, though I enjoyed the book, I took way too long to get through it. The multiple POVs and creativity on the author's part added some depth to it, though the characters and romance remained largely undeveloped. There weren't many unexpected plot twists during the course of the book, but I hadn't expected it to end the way it did, and that added some excitement. I will be reading the third book soon. Thank you for reading my review!