Week 29 Reviews: Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll, Gleanings

From Goodreads:

Two teens must learn the "art of killing" in this Printz Honor–winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the "art" of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Scythe is the first novel of a thrilling new series by National Book Award–winning author Neal Shusterman in which Citra and Rowan learn that a perfect world comes only with a heavy price.

From Goodreads:
Rowan and Citra take opposite stances on the morality of the Scythedom, putting them at odds, in the chilling sequel to the Printz Honor Book Scythe from New York Times bestseller Neal Shusterman, author of the Unwind dystology.

The Thunderhead cannot interfere in the affairs of the Scythedom. All it can do is observe—it does not like what it sees.

A year has passed since Rowan had gone off grid. Since then, he has become an urban legend, a vigilante snuffing out corrupt scythes in a trial by fire. His story is told in whispers across the continent.

As Scythe Anastasia, Citra gleans with compassion and openly challenges the ideals of the "new order." But when her life is threatened and her methods questioned, it becomes clear that not everyone is open to the change.

Will the Thunderhead intervene?

Or will it simply watch as this perfect world begins to unravel?

From Goodreads:
In the highly anticipated finale to the New York Times bestselling trilogy, dictators, prophets, and tensions rise. In a world that’s conquered death, will humanity finally be torn asunder by the immortal beings it created?

Citra and Rowan have disappeared. Endura is gone. It seems like nothing stands between Scythe Goddard and absolute dominion over the world scythedom. With the silence of the Thunderhead and the reverberations of the Great Resonance still shaking the earth to its core, the question remains: Is there anyone left who can stop him?

The answer lies in the Tone, the Toll, and the Thunder.

From Goodreads:

The New York Times bestselling Arc of the Scythe series continues with thrilling stories that span the timeline. Storylines continue. Origin stories are revealed. And new Scythes emerge!

There are still countless tales of the Scythedom to tell. Centuries passed between the Thunderhead cradling humanity and Scythe Goddard trying to turn it upside down. For years humans lived in a world without hunger, disease, or death with Scythes as the living instruments of population control.

Neal Shusterman—along with collaborators David Yoon, Jarrod Shusterman, Sofía Lapuente, Michael H. Payne, Michelle Knowlden, and Joelle Shusterman—returns to the world throughout the timeline of the Arc of a Scythe series. Discover secrets and histories of characters you've followed for three volumes and meet new heroes, new foes, and some figures in between.

Gleanings shows just how expansive, terrifying, and thrilling the world that began with the Printz Honor–winning Scythe truly is.

My first review of Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll
My Review:
It was so great to reread this series! I wasn't really planning on doing so this soon after I first read them, but then we have Gleanings, so I had to reread the rest of the series before reading it, because rereading vs. rereading and then a new book changes the timeline on rereading! 

Citra and Rowen, or Scythe Anastasia and Scythe Lucifer, are both so fantastic to read about. This world is about the morals of killing, and while they started on the same path, it was wildly diverged, and they both learned different things. But oh, did I enjoy them so much! 

The thing about Goddard is that he's the worst of humanity. And it's funny, at one point he put down the founders for their rules-but he's the kind of thing that they were trying to prevent. But he's all high and mighty and evil. Bah!

Now that I knew where things were building up to, it was great to see the clues, see it all come together. To know about how the Scythedom sabotaged the Thunderhead's space efforts...And the possibilities there could've been if they hadn't. Alas! 

And oh, the stories in Gleanings. Some of them were almost happy, given this world and all, and some of them were really interesting to read, and some of them were sad. Like the one about Kila, Kohl's sister, and the one with Ben, Citra/Anastasia's brother. I loved the Antarctica one, it was great to explore the dreaming world. And the one with Scythe Dali was fantastic. Oh, and the one with Scythe Boo and her wayward niece. And the space ones, giving us post-The Toll looks at the world! That one with the dog, I didn't know where it would go, but it was so great! It was really great to read all of them, learn these things about this world! 

Loved rereading this series, and continuing with the anthology, and I had a great time reading them! 

Author: Neal Shusterman
Series: Arc of the Scythe #1, 2, 3, 3.5
First Read: January 28th, 29th, 2019, November 5th, 2019

Read: July 18th, 19th, 19th, 20th, 2022
Source: Own, NetGalley
Reason Why: Rereading, and they're 2022 Dystopia Books and Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Books! And Gleaning is a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: November 22nd 2016, January 9th, 2018, November 5th 2019

Expected Publication: November 8th 2022

Scythe:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Thunderhead:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

The Toll:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Gleanings:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars