The Toll

 By Neal Shusterman

Citra wakes up and notices a slightly different Rowan and my eyes fill just enough for my vision to go and one tear to escape. 

I sincerely tried to just enjoy the ride and enjoy the journey Shusterman had planned. And he delivered. The conclusion to the Arc of a Scythe trilogy was surprising, energetic, heartbreaking, progressive, and (more) science fiction-y (than I anticipated)! 

Shusterman has demonstrated time and time again his abilities to shape a situation as 'the sky is blue' and make any other possible outcome seem incredulous. He sets it up, we believe him, 'yes, the sky is blue.' And then he flips the script and the whole scenario so that we see that actually the sky is black and we are headed into space looking back at the planet we once called home and at our previous tiny universe where the sky used to be blue. We see how our universal understanding has changed at the mercy of Shusterman's pen. He was able to achieve this again in The Toll in a few scenes. 

Moments of note (not in order):

• The stadium full of people (felt high risk- I did not anticipate Rowan's fate in that arena)
• Rand behaved just perfectly to character. I appreciated no extreme explanation for her conclusion.
• Rand is on the cover?! I started the book with that knowledge and so I had high hopes for her character. I guess because ultimately it is her that ends Goddard, she can have a cover profile... 
• I was super skeptical of Jeri and how Shusterman was going to write such a character, Jeri is fantastic, 10/10, a top tier character
• Greyson Tolliver stabbing Morrison in the eye with a fork! What?! I had to reread that section and I am quite pleased with Greyson in general, but especially in this moment
• No Citra/Rowan baby
• The worldliness, again, was enjoyed
• This book is science fiction more so than the other two in this trilogy
• I found it fun that the Cirrus AI, when addressed in plural, is cirri (Siri)

It is difficult to write just for this book because this is a culmination of the whole Scythe universe. The universe has retained its place on my favorites list and increased its ranking since reading books two and three.

I am left satisfied as a reader. I would be lying if I omitted the fact that I am also feeling slightly empty now, with no more to read. I cannot recommend enough.

Happy Reading, Bookworms