The Toll

Philosophizing is turned up to eleven. Subtlety is MIA. Tepid romance is apparently contagious.

The timeline in this book is really wacky. The narrative switches between characters as usual but one starts where the previous book left off, another a few months later, and another three full years later. The timelines synchronize eventually but effort of keeping it straight breaks immersion for the first half of the book at least.

Earlier books may have hinted about religious extremism and fascism but it's all over the place in this book. The actual characters often take a backseat to the philosophizing. There's even a border wall line, in case you didn't get that current events have gotten into the author's head.

I've complained about the Citra and Rowan pairing every book so it's no surprise it continues. However every other surviving character is implied to pair off with whoever they're standing near in the last chapter. Only one couple has the slightest hint of chemistry and it's still not great.

Not the worst YA series I've gotten through but I don't expect to revisit it ever.

Almost forgot: Citra and Rowan shouldn't remember the events of Scythe Island because the Thunderhead doesn't have access to make backups!!

This book captivated me through every moment, I felt myself taking deep breaths and my heart racing to figure out what was next - wanting to know what was next. It's a feeling I haven't felt in a long time but it is very welcome, this book somehow, was able to outshine the prequels. A splendid ending to a story that I will not be forggetting.

Wow. This whole series invites you to rethink life.

The Toll is the third book in a series that imagines a future where humans have created sentient AI and advanced medicine and technology to the point where no-one has to die. But, alas, folks do still have to die, so there is a whole group of people, the Scythes, who are charged with killing people to keep the populations down. There is a religious movement in this post-mortality age, where some adherents are quite fervent (as always), but they believe in one true resonant sound. Some stuff happens in the books where there is a big noise - because the AI gets mad/sad, and these religious people get pretty excited about it and set up a hero/prophet (The Toll).

This whole third book is set up with three “people” perspectives: The Toll, The AI, and The Sycthes...and we see how these things play out. There are actually a lot of fantastic characters, and quite a bit is happening, but that is the gist.

Surprisingly, Shusterman is able to wrap this up with an ending that is both a bit of a twist and somewhat anticipated - bringing all of our worlds together and apart.

Recommend the whole series - you cannot start with this book, though, start with Scythe.

I love fantasy and sci-fi, but I also enjoy it when there is a real thing and thought put in the story. Neal Shusterman was able to give something realistic and fascinating at the end of this trilogy.
We continue to explore the idea of mortality and immortality in this last book, and it is still fascinating. Definitely, this trilogy is one of the best YA sci-fi that I've ever read! Excellent story and brilliant ending!

Every single book this man has written has made me cry so far. The stories are woven together so well. 

I loved Jerico in this book and loved that they were a bigger part of the story yet again. I kind of knew where their path was going and am really glad that it ended how I hoped it would. This goes for Greyson as well. To be honest I lose the way all the characters stories were left at the end. 

 You best believe I will be reading all the books this man has ever written and my life will be better for it. 

Absolutely phenomenal series

This whole series has grabbed me like no other. Not only is it easy to follow but it is so encaptivating and enjoyable to do so too.

There are so many great characters and a hideously intriguing world that has been built here by Shusterman.

There's no doubt I'd read more if another trilogy was made of this series.

I appreciated the way that this ended and the arc (ha!) of the story, but I thought the treatment of Jeri/non-binary characters in the book was awkward, forced and uncomfortable.

I still think that the premise of this series is very good and artfully done for YA. Lots of great questions, musings and ideas around the philosophy of life and death.

Il y a tellement de personnages à suivre en parallèle que certains sont oubliés pendant un long moment. C'est un peu dommage mais on en apprend plus sur le Thunderhead ce qui est plutôt bienvenue.
La fin me semble en revanche un peu faiblarde.
—————
There are so many characters to follow in parallel that some are forgotten for a long time. It's a bit of a shame but we learn more about the Thunderhead which is rather welcome.
The ending seems a little weak to me.

I took the time to write a nice long review for this, but I forgot to save it before switching to the dates read page :(

A brief summary: good book that was interesting and different from the others in the series, but had problems with subtlety. As a fluid person myself, I think that Jeri didn't need to explain their gender each time they met a new character. Readers are smart, just put something like "the characters made small talk, and found that they had a few things in common." They'll understand!

Additionally, the sections between chapters that are annotations of a Tonist text are really funny and accurate to irl religion. As someone raised Christian, that is exactly what goes on in the adult Sunday school classes.

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: The Toll

Goddard has risen to power and the Thunderhead has labeled all but one human Unsavory. Greyson, now the only person left to speak with the Thunderhead, quickly becomes a Tonist figurehead. As he attempts to sway those around him for the better of humanity, Goddard is basking in power, gleaning any and all he pleases. The perfect world is falling apart and help will come from an unexpected place. But can the Thunderhead help a world that it can no longer communicate with? Or has it made an error in it's calculations?

Neal Shusterman showed the theme of a perfect society achieving it's inevitable downfall with sarcasm, wit and dark humor. I enjoyed the Thunderhead's scheming and it's attempt to circumvent rules without breaking them. I also enjoyed seeing Greyson emerge as a reformed and driven character. As with the previous books, there were snippets in between chapters, but this time they varied. Sometimes readers were privy to information from Scythe journals, other times it was people from centuries in the future trying to glean meaning from the events unfolding in what would be their past. Although I felt the latter was more filler than anything else.

While the book was fast paced and I found any spare moment to sit down and read it, when I finished I felt like something was missing. Characters that were once active and outstanding to read, fell to the wayside and became only ghosts of themselves, serving to move the plot forward and little else. Throughout the series the character arcs were brilliantly written. Citra, Rowan, Greyson and Goddard to name the most prominent, were unique and allowed a build up of tension and conflict to keep the reader glued to the pages. I won't say that their arcs didn't come to appropriate endings for them all, but some were left lacking.

And the ending was so well built up and tempered into being an exciting mix of hope and desperation, but it fizzled out too soon. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't entirely satisfying either. Like all the build up and anticipated conflict was concluded too soon, too anticlimactic. Do I still think this series is worth reading? Yes, absolutely. The writing style is enjoyable and the humor was perfect for me, I just wish it had concluded better.