Name: Abigail F's review of The Toll by Neal Shusterman
Item: The Toll
Rating: 4.5
Author: Abigail F

Neal Shusterman

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.

The Toll

Arc of a Scythe #3

Abigail F

"I like the idea of communication tethering you to a single spot" Tenkamenin told Anastasia."It forces you to give every conversation the attention it deserves.”

Goddard shook his head in pity.“Conscience is a tool, just ike any other. If you don't wield it, it wields you-and from what I can see, it has bludgeoned you senseless. No, the world needs the unity that I offer far more than it needs your simplistic understanding of right and wrong." 

The thing about Goddard was that he always came close enough to making sense that it was demoralizing. He could twist your own thoughts until they were no longer yours, but his. That's what made him so dangerous.

 "Your naivete is refreshing, Anastasia. But the truth is, power for power's sake is a consuming addiction. He would devour the world whole, and still be unsatisfied!"

Volumes of curious facts and fictions of people who lived each day of their lives with the ravages of age and relentless approach of death. The brittle pages were filled with melodramatic intrigue and passionate short-sightedness that seemed laughable now. People who believed that their slightest actions mattered and that they could find a sense of completion before death inevitably took them, along with everyone they ever knew and loved. It was entertaining reading, but hard for Munira to relate to at first ... but the more she read, the more she came to understand the fears and the dreams of mortals. The trouble they all had living in the moment, in spite of the fact that the moment was all they had.

"Perhaps that is what they need. Something tangible to worship." 

“Is that what you would do? Invite worship?" 

“How else will they ever know their place in the universe? Isn't it the proper order of things for lesser beings to worship that which is greater than themselves?”

“Time is never of the essence until someone decides that it is."

amelia <3

that is not a bad thing. It is the nature of life to fear it’s own end. This is how I know that we are truly alive 

taci

This was a scythe action," the Thunderhead told him. "It was the last scythe action-but I am still unable to interfere. And even ifI could, it is simply not my place. I have seen into the heart of these nanites, and they have none. They have no consciousness, conscience, or remorse. They are efficient, impartial, and they have but one purpose: to kill 5% of Earth's human population, five times a century." "So this will end?" "Yes," the Thunderhead told him. "This crisis will pass, and once it does, no one will die for twenty years. Then it will happen again. And again."

They came to be known as “the ten plagues," for the founding scythes had developed malicious nanites engineered to imitate nature. They mimicked the symptoms and ravages of ten mortal diseases. Pneumonia, heart disease, stroke, cancer, cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis, influenza, bubonic plague, and malaria. They were there all along in the dark hearts of the scythe gems-gems that could only be broken from the inside when the nanites within were activated

"You can t just leave ber there!" Rowan screamed at Cirrus. "You wanted her here! You wanted her in charge! She told me so!" "I know," Cirrus told him. “But, like the Thunderhead, I can't violate my core programming. The dead will all be revived when we arrive on TRAPPIST- le, in 117 years. Although people are already considering renaming it Anastasia." 

"I am thinking that a journey would be a good idea at this time," the Thunderhead said. "Yeah, I know," said Greyson, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "Just let me take a shower and" "Of course you can do that if you wish, but I don't think you're bearing me," the Thunderhead said, and suddenly got louder. Much louder. "Tm thinking that a journey for everyone on the atoll would be a good idea. I'm thinking it would be an extremely good idea.. right... NOW"

"Honorable Scythe Faraday. Michael. Thank you for all you've done for me," she said. Then she pulled the ring from her finger and put it in his hand. "But Scythe Anastasia is gone. I'm done with death and dying and killing. From now on, I want my life to be about living." He nodded, accepting the ring, and Citra went back to Rowan. "I still don't understand where we are and what's going on," Rowan said. "And are those rockets out there?" "It doesn't matter where we are, because we're getting out of here," Citra told him. "Are you ready to hitch another ride?"

"Quite the opposite," said the Thunderhead. "I long for the luxury of being impractical. It would add... texture... to my existence.” It was only later, after Greyson had taken his earpiece out and he was lying in bed, that it occurred to him why his conversation with Jeri Soberanis felt so inviting and unsettling at the same time. Hello, Greyson, Jeri had said. Nothing strange about that. Except that it echoed something deeper. They were the same words, the same tone of voice the Thunderhead had used the moment it began speaking to him again.

As for Carson Lusk, no matter how hard you look, you won't find any ecord of him after his return to Earth, because within a year, his name had been changed. There you see? He's turning towad the camera now. Is his face familiar yet? No? Just add a few years, shorten his hair, and draw in a satisfied, self important grin. "That young valet is none other than His Exalted Exccllency, Robert Goddard, Overblade of North Merica."

Morrison stepped closer, opened a drawer, and pulled out a fork. He held it out to the Toll. This, Morrison knew, would appear to be a sincere gesture. Anc it would put him close to the Toll. Close enough to grab him and break his neck. "Im glad that you like my baking," Morrison said, handing the fork to him. "It means a lot to me." The Toll dipped the fork into the cheesecake, took a bite, and savored it. "I'm glad that you're glad," he said. Then the Toll raised the fork and jabbed it into Morrison's eye.

"How long?" she asked. "How long were we down there?" Possuelo clearly did not want to answer... but it was not something he could keep from her. So he clasped her hand and said: "You have been dead for more than three years."

Some, like Jerico, found fAuidity to be their nature. "I feel like a woman beneath the sun and the stars. I feel like a man under che cover of clouds," Jerico had explained to the crew when assuming command. "A simple glance at the skies will let you know how to address me at any given time

Goddart argued that the Perimeter of Reverence should be a permanent designation, and that nothing beneath its surface should ever be disturbed. But sooner or later those diamonds would have to be found. Things that valuable were rarely lost forever. Especially when everyone knew exactly where they were.

“Well, I would enjoy your company either way.”

“Hmmm,” Anastasia said coyly. “Flirting with me in sunlight. It makes me wonder if you’d also do that in a storm.”

From what I have read, I have to say that I'm quite disappointed-- which is a shame because I loved the first two books. Author was a bit too ambitious by adding so many new characters, and even the writing style has changed.

“We’re going to need a bigger boat.”

Some things simply made a person feel feminine; other things made a person feel masculine. Wasn’t that true of everyone regardless of gender? Or did binaries deny themselves the things that didn’t 

Milana Marie Waller

Marley 

I was unsure on how this was going to end for almost the entirety of the book. But Shusterman doesn’t write for plot, he writes for message (that just comes with good plots) and it came together. 

SO FREAKING GOOD!!!! THAT ENDING THO!!!! I LOVED THIS SO MUCH

Hanna Rybchynska

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!

Krys C.

Did I think the writing style was getting messy with all the different alternating POVs of essentially what could be one scene? Yes.

Am I willing to overlook that just because of that ending that altered my brain chemistry and changed the trajectory of my life and remade me as a person? Also yes.

When I tell you this series is SO GOOD. SO GOOD. I've rated all three books 5 stars. The worldbuilding is absolutely insane and the plot is sooo good as well. Citra is my absolute fav she just does her thing and I respect her for doing that.

Yeah I just love reading about politics of non-existent worlds :) 

If you liked this book, I recommend: contemplating your existence and the existence of AI for at least a day.

Laura

When I tell you this series is SO GOOD. SO GOOD. I've rated all three books 5 stars. The worldbuilding is absolutely insane and the plot is sooo good as well. Citra is my absolute fav she just does her thing and I respect her for doing that.

Yeah I just love reading about politics of non-existent worlds :) 

If you liked this book, I recommend: contemplating your existence and the existence of AI for at least a day.

abby .˚｡⋆ ༊ .˚｡⋆

wow i really can’t even put into words how i feel about this conclusion to the series. I’m going to miss all of the characters, and i felt satisfied with the endings of their story. SO GLAD that some people got what they deserved in the end. I did feel like the pacing of the story was kinda clunky at times, and then timeline was just so confusing i wish we could’ve gone year by year instead of so many time skips, but i think they tied together nicely in the end. Ultimately, i highly recommend the series and i loved it!!

Luke Harkness

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.

Christine

oeuf I was almost hoping the books would warrant more than three stars but like. the characters I really cared about are mostly gone. this book doesn't even really have citra + rowan dangitttt

chloe rae

nina 

⭐️3.5 stars ⭐️ Spoilers ahead, folks! 

Honestly that ending on its own was something. I liked the way that Shusterman showed that humanity who is flawed in so many ways, was still able to corrupt a perfect, post-mortal world. Even in this “utopia” where humanity overcame all of the world’s problems (death, sickness, poverty, crime, hunger) for 200 years, they was inevitably going to revert to their old ways when people like Goddard or any new-age scythes come into power. At the end of the series, ships were launched into space, to protect the human race, and finally succeeding in off planet colonisation, and the founding scythes’ failsafe was enacted: reintroducing 7 sicknesses of the mortal age to control the population numbers, meaning the end of the scythedom. All in all, it was an interesting way to wrap up the series and it was in a way that I didn’t expect. I thought the series would end with Citra and Rowan overthrowing Goddard and the scythedom returning to order. This, however, was a different direction to take, but was honestly more realistic as it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

While the last 25% of the book was entirely gripping, a fair rating for the book as a whole is 3.5 stars. While the ending successfully wrapped the series, it is my least favourite book in the trilogy. The first half was extremely slow with an influx of new characters and plot lines that jumped back and forward in time, which made it confusing at times to follow. Also, the Citra and Rowan content was severely lacking. The two protagonists were background characters in their own finale and spent a total of five pages together in the whole book! Despite this, I am very sad to finish this series and, as a whole, will be one of my favourites and one I will think of fondly for a long time.

Ally

ASDFASDFJASLDF 

ok uh

the entirety of the book was ~good~. like 3.5 good? I just remember liking the first one so much and I continue to think, why does this one (and the thunderhead) just not click with me as much? I guess I will not know . . . 

it was a good conclusion like GOOD

Literally don't understand how some of these reviews all agree the book was too long but I thought it wasn't long enough! It would've been nice to see more of everything from Goddard's past, the history of the scythedom, life on the Atolls, to more of old and new characters. I understand if people would be upset because they didn't get more of the relationship between Rowan and Citra. However, this isn't an overall romance book. Neal Shusterman is a beautiful writer who is an absolute genius with connecting, intertwining, and unfolding a story. I don't usually write reviews but I don't want some of these to dissuade some of you to not finish a fucking GREAT ASS STORY. I am so biased, BUT READ THE TOLL.

“A furiously paced finale that reaches for the stars.” —Kirkus Reviews “Gripping.” —School Library Journal (starred review) “Stellar.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) 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.

Marie

Finally, the conclusion to the Arc of a Scythe series. This book is, like all books in the series, extremely well written an a joy to read. I love how it uses "mystical" religious writings to establish its lore. And this is where it all comes together, and this universe becomes ever bigger. 

I particularly enjoyed reading about how a seemingly ridiculous idea has grown into a full-fledged religion, including the most un-prophety prophet one could imagine. Even beyond the tonists, this book has so many interesting things that give you food for thought. The Thunderhead seems like a benevolent ChatGPT, and it makes one wonder if this is a future we're heading into - but I think ours will be much darker. 

What could have been better was the pacing (again) - the story focuses a lot on some aspects of the story, but others, the ones you really want to know about, are few and far between.

I greatly enjoyed reading this series, as it evident from me having read this 600+ page book within two days.

o final foi TÃO ATOA. Pareceu q ele escreveu a história e no final ficou com preguiça de acabar. Não se passou grande coisa 

alexandra

H.B.

** spoiler alert **
           It's not the best of the trilogy, but that doesn't mean that it's bad. 
I love the writing style and the relationships of the characters with each other. But the story didn't get to me very much 'cause there weren't much exiting plots. But the end got me to rate it higher. If the end were as the start, it would have been a maybe 2.8 stars rating, but the end was just🤌🏻 though I didn't like it, that they were kinda running away from their problem -which is Goddard. That was kinda selfish, I think. But yeah, 3.8 stars out of 5.

Audrey Lord

I loved this series and this book was the perfect ending

Lacy W

Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com

tw: sucide, illness, death, death by illness

You ever read a book where you get just a satisfactory ending. Sure, you are sad the series is over because you have grown to love the characters but you are happy with the way things ended and you can say goodbye to those characters peacefully. And yes, of course, you would love another book but only to stay in the world for just a little bit longer. That’s how I felt with this series. It had just a satisfactory ending and I couldn't be more happy about it. 

This book was a lot better than Thunderhead even though I do have a complaint. There are all these weird time hops. Like years would pass and I’d have to read a few paragraphs about what happened during that time. It wasn’t that bothersome but it was a bit annoying. Why not just have the events happen in the book instead of having me read recaps all the time. 

One positive thing I must point out is the gender fluid rep. In this Scythe world there is a whole island that is gender fluid. I can’t speak for the accuracy of it as I’m not gender fluid but I thought that it was super awesome. The character was also asked their pronouns, something we need to normalize. 

Overall, like I stated above, just a real satisfactory ending to this series. I’m sad it’s over but I am happy with the ending. It wrapped up a lot of loose ends that Thunderhead left. The ending was a little convoluted but not the worst thing I have ever read. Truly a great book and I can’t wait to see it on the big screen as I just read that Scythe is being made into a movie! *insert incoherent screaming* I highly recommend this book series.

Anum Memon

** spoiler alert **
           #spoiler alert. #spoiler alert. #spoiler alert. #spoiler alert. #spoiler alert. I finished The Toll and I feel like it was the perfect ending to a series that has changed me in ways that you could not imagine. I loved the ending where Rowan says "only a moment ago" to Citra. I loved it because they were on another planet and it was 17 years later. I also love how Rowan and Citra have gone through so many hardships but they finally got their happy ending that they most certainly deserved. I also love how Scythe Rand kills Scythe Goddard and she also brings back Tyger in his own body. First of all, Tyger and Rand are my second favourite couple. Also Rand always had a good heart all along. Oh, Jerry and Greyson I did not see that couple coming but I kind of loved their threesome ship with the Thunderhead. Curate Mendoza was so annoying, like backstabber much. Anyways I'm so glad he's dead. Lorrainea and Morrison ( Joel ) is kind of a ship. Have to add that I'm happy and sad for Mother Astrid. Also cried like a baby when Citra died ( thankfully she was revived ). Anyways I LOVED THIS BOOK.

Millie Roberts

3 stars - This book took me so long to finish, mainly bcs everything was unnecessarily dragged out and stalled. <spoiler> And bcs Rowan & Citra were barely present & barely physically together throughout this whole book. Also, whyyyyy did it take a whole 90 pages for Rowan & Citra to finally make an appearance?</spoiler> What was the reason? WHAT WAS THE REASOOON??! The conclusion was good. Honestly, I'm just glad it's over. 

Joy KBA

3 stars - This book took me so long to finish, mainly bcs everything was unnecessarily dragged out and stalled. <spoiler> And bcs Rowan & Citra were barely present & barely physically together throughout this whole book. Also, whyyyyy did it take a whole 90 pages for Rowan & Citra to finally make an appearance?</spoiler> What was the reason? WHAT WAS THE REASOOON??! The conclusion was good. Honestly, I'm just glad it's over. All rejoice, I guess

Fran Gutiérrez

Where to start…
“The Toll” is the conclusion to the Arc of A Scythe trilogy, and I have mixed feelings. 
On the one hand, I know that this was the only way to finish the trilogy, and it was a pretty satisfying ending. However, just because I know the book had to be this way doesn’t mean I love the book. Let’s take a closer look:

PROS 
Pacing: Whereas I found “Thunderhead” to be a bit too slow for my taste, I found “The Toll” a quicker read. It had action, and plenty of plot twists and plot points to keep the reader going. 

Satisfaction: Finishing a series isn’t easy, and this book does a pretty good job of wrapping up all the loose ends and making use of all the seeds that had been planted in the previous books. It was pretty much all it needed to be.

Representation: The book has a genderfluid character! I’m not genderfluid so I can’t speak on the accuracy of this representation, but any book/author that attempts to include marginalized perspectives into the narrative, I appreciate. 

Romance: If you’ve read this series then you know that the romance in the first book is just...not it. But I’m happy to report that even though the romance is very very scarce, the bits of romance that we see in this book were adorable, I’ll admit.

CONS:
Length: While I understand the necessity of many of these scenes, it did feel like the book was a bit too long. A lot of scenes could have been cut and changed next to nothing in the story. 

Stakes: Ok, so the stakes in this book are insanely high, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the specific stakes of Rowan Damisch. In the first book, we are told that Rowan has always been the “lettuce” in his family, and that Rowan had no problem leaving them behind to become a scythe. And then, all of a sudden in this book we are expected to believe that Rowan cares so much about his family to the point that it changes some of the decisions he makes throughout the book? It felt a bit inconsistent to his character and cheapened Rowan’s personal arc in my opinion. 

Unattachment: So the story was good, the characters were fine, and the moral dilemma that is posed throughout the series was interesting. So why did I give the book three stars? Because I enjoyed it a lot! But there were many parts of the book in which, even though I was interested and involved in the story, I felt unattached. I don’t know if it was narration style or what, but at many points in the book I didn’t feel anything. Which is why:

I liked the book, but it was just that: entertaining and cool, but sadly, unlike the first book in the series, this book doesn’t really mean anything to me.

"A creation comes to life. A legendary city is swallowed by the sea. A bringer of light becomes a fallen angel. And Charon sails across the River Styx, ferrying the dead to that place beyond."

The world has fallen into chaos, Endura now lies at the bottom of the Atlantic, with it the Grandslayers, the scythes diamonds and the most important treasure of all - Rowan and Citra. The Thunderhead has declared everyone unsavoury and left humankind almost to it's own devices for the first time in 200 years except for one person - Greyson. A blind spot in the middle of the Pacific is discovered and a secret mission begins for Scythe Faraday, Munira and the now jobless Nimbus agents. And all the while Scythe Goddard is slowly and surely taking over the world in true Hitler-esque style, issuing laws that allow for ethnic cleansing and gleaning without control, all while being driven mad in his glass tower... just like the saying goes "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" and Goddard is throwing a lot of stones.

This book was a fantastic ending to an amazing trilogy. The unveiling of the truth and the unraveling of chaos depicted was so realistic and believable - it really was a reflection of what actually happens in real life but set in a dystopian world. Just like Munira said 

"We are imperfect beings... how could we ever fit in a perfect world?"

 - even when the world has been changed to near perfection it really is an inescapable flaw of humanity that makes us so good at destroying ourselves. There will always be selfish, evil, greedy people who want all the power for themselves, there will always be religious extremists who takes thing too far in the name of their beliefs, there will always be a group of people trying to do what's right but being treated like they're the criminals.

The Toll was the longest book out of all three, and you could tell. There were points in this book that unfortunately dragged a bit more than it did in the previous two, but the rest of the time I was on the edge of my set wondering what would happen. The ending of this book and the culmination of all the plans, all the people who have been split up for almost three years all fighting separate fights finally coming together was just amazing - it felt like reading the downfall of humanity that leads to a sci-fi novel. The last lines of this book had me crying happy, but also extremely sad tears. [SPOILER] I can't believe they were robbed of over 117 years together, but thank gosh for being able to turn a corner, huh! [END SPOILER]

Overall, this is an outstanding series and I am so happy to have read them - I was missing a good dystopian story like the days of Hunger Games and Divergent that I loved so much as a teen. I definitely recommend these books!!

Genevieve 

"A creation comes to life. A legendary city is swallowed by the sea. A bringer of light becomes a fallen angel. And Charon sails across the River Styx, ferrying the dead to that place beyond."

4.5 ⭐'s

The world has fallen into chaos, Endura now lies at the bottom of the Atlantic, with it the Grandslayers, the scythes diamonds and the most important treasure of all - Rowan and Citra. The Thunderhead has declared everyone unsavoury and left humankind almost to it's own devices for the first time in 200 years except for one person - Greyson. A blind spot in the middle of the Pacific is discovered and a secret mission begins for Scythe Faraday, Munira and the now jobless Nimbus agents. And all the while Scythe Goddard is slowly and surely taking over the world in true Hitler-esque style, issuing laws that allow for ethnic cleansing and gleaning without control, all while being driven mad in his glass tower... just like the saying goes "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" and Goddard is throwing a lot of stones.

This book was a fantastic ending to an amazing trilogy. The unveiling of the truth and the unraveling of chaos depicted was so realistic and believable - it really was a reflection of what actually happens in real life but set in a dystopian world. Just like Munira said "We are imperfect beings... how could we ever fit in a perfect world?" - even when the world has been changed to near perfection it really is an inescapable flaw of humanity that makes us so good at destroying ourselves. There will always be selfish, evil, greedy people who want all the power for themselves, there will always be religious extremists who takes thing too far in the name of their beliefs, there will always be a group of people trying to do what's right but being treated like they're the criminals.

The Toll was the longest book out of all three, and you could tell. There were points in this book that unfortunately dragged a bit more than it did in the previous two, but the rest of the time I was on the edge of my set wondering what would happen. The ending of this book and the culmination of all the plans, all the people who have been split up for almost three years all fighting separate fights finally coming together was just amazing - it felt like reading the downfall of humanity that leads to a sci-fi novel. The last lines of this book had me crying happy, but also extremely sad tears. [SPOILER] I can't believe they were robbed of over 117 years together, but thank gosh for being able to turn a corner, huh! [END SPOILER]

Overall, this is an outstanding series and I am so happy to have read them - I was missing a good dystopian story like the days of Hunger Games and Divergent that I loved so much as a teen. I definitely recommend these books!!

Marley &
The Toll by Neal Shusterman

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Marley &The Toll by Neal Shusterman

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Marley &
The Toll by Neal Shusterman