Thunderhead Book Review

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

From Goodreads: 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. But will it help solve those problems, or simply watch as perfection goes into decline?

Every now and then, a book comes out that makes me wish for a real life time turner, so I can go back in time and either a. write the book myself and be an instant bestseller or b. experience the whole book over again from scratch. This was absolutely the case with Thunderhead. Despite really enjoying the first book in the series, Scythe enough to rush out and buy a copy of the next book, it ended up being confined to my shelf for quite some time due to uni deadlines and more pressing tbr commitments. Fortunately, due to my recent lack of internet in our new flat, I ended up having to temporarily abandon my ebooks and I found some time to pick up Thunderhead.

And boy, am I glad that I did.

The worldbuilding in these books is just phenomenal. Neal Shusterman deserves some kind of award for the thought and skill that has gone into the worldbuilding for this series. Everything is so well thought out and detailed. Despite me not being so keen on sci-fi books, this series has really won me around, and it neatly balances that sci-fi world of technology with a lot of fun and silliness. I laughed so much as little light touches and nods in this book, and practically spat out my coffee to giggle over Scythe Morrison’s name [not named after Toni of course, but Jim]. Anyone looking to write a damn good sci-fi book should definitely add this to their reading list.

There’s also the whole issue that drives the book: what happens to humanity when death is no longer a real issue. I thought the whole concept of scythes was fascinating, particularly their personal choices on how to glean and all the rituals and things that come with it. It definitely opens up a lot of questions about what might go wrong when humans are selected to be the Grim Reaper, and how human nature can corrupt, even in tiny ways, something that is meant to be so cold and impartial. Obviously, this leads to a whole lot of problems and conflicts in the books, but it really was one of those novels that you have to put down and think on for hours after turning the last page.

Also, there was the plot. Damn that plot. I made the mistake of assuming that, after all the surprise drama and plot twists in Scythe, Thunderhead would be a more relaxing and simplistic read. I was, of course, wrong. The problem, as I see it, is that I loved so many of the characters. Just like GRRM, Schusterman builds and builds up his characters, making you like them and then, when you least expect it BAM, here’s that plot twist you never expected because what kind of author is capable of putting their characters through such a thing. I honestly sat there for so long after finishing this book, just staring into space and trying to tamper down the burning rage/horror bubbling away inside of me at the thought of waiting so long for book three AFTER THAT. THAT PLOT TWIST THAT ALMOST DESTROYED ME. You think the Red Wedding was bad, but honestly you haven’t seen anything yet.

Overall, I’m giving Thunderhead a well deserved 10/10 stars. It was both a delight and a horror to re-encounter Citra and Rowan, Faraday and Curie and to basically have my heart shattered into a million pieces. The worldbuilding is quite honestly beyond anything I’ve ever seen before, except maybe by Queen Rowling, and despite messing up my emotions forever, I did laugh and cry all the way through this book. It’s glorious, it’s thought-provoking, it’s mischievous and it is gut-wrenching, and if you haven’t bought it already you absolutely should.

Has anyone else read this book and loved it? Or do any of you plan on getting round to it soon? I love hearing your thoughts and opinions on books I’ve read, so please feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below <3