The Toll (The Arc of a Scythe #3)

by Neal Shusterman (Author)

Reading Level: 8th − 9th Grade
Series: Arc of a Scythe
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.
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School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 8 Up-Three years later. Scythe Goddard has risen to High Blade of MidMerica, and is quickly gripping all of North Merica in his iron fist with his radical new laws. The Thunderhead is still silent--except to Grayson Tolliver, who has reluctantly accepted his new role as the Tonist figurehead The Toll. Scythe Faraday and his librarian companion Munira fly toward a Pacific atoll that even the Thunderhead doesn't know about. And a vault containing the frozen bodies of two missing scythes is brought up from the depths of the wreckage of Endura. In this gripping conclusion to the series, Shusterman weaves together story lines of old and new characters to create an explosive series end. The depth of this immortal future is further plumbed, immersing readers in a world full of political intrigue, religious fervor, and questions about what it is to be human. The introduction of a gender-fluid character is a welcome addition to the diversity of the cast. VERDICT Fans of the first two books will be (and have been) clamoring for this finale. Get it to them as soon as possible. Highly recommended.--Tyler Hixson, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

When Citra and Rowan are discovered preserved in the wreckage of Endura, three years after the events of Thunderhead, they awaken to find that megalomaniacal Scythe Faraday is now Overblade of all North Merica and is consolidating power worldwide. Citra must convince the world of Faraday's villainy, while Rowan, universally despised as the destroyer of Endura, must simply survive. Meanwhile, Greyson Tolliver, the only human to whom the nearly omnipotent AI known as the Thunderhead will talk, has become the Toll, spiritual leader to the oppressed Tonist religion, as the Thunderhead secretly works to build something game-changing on the remote Marshall Atolls. Some previously central characters, particularly Rowan, take on smaller roles, while others, including Greyson and a hypercompetent, genderfluid sea captain named Jerico Soberanis, are given space to charm. The stellar conclusion to Shusterman's Arc of a Scythe trilogy is a gripping adventure that never stops building momentum as it refocuses the books on a grander scale. With a surprising amount of humor for the large body count, it elevates and deepens the series with a gently optimistic examination of the fine human line between utopia and dystopia. Ages 12-up. (Nov.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"A furiously paced finale that reaches for the stars."—Kirkus Reviews "October 15, 2019"
Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of over thirty books, including Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award; Scythe, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book; Dry, which he cowrote with his son, Jarrod Shusterman; and Unwind, which won more than thirty domestic and international awards. He invites you to visit him online at storyman.com.

Eric Elfman is a screenwriter and the author of several books for children and young adults, including The Very Scary Almanac and Almanac of the Gross, Disgusting & Totally Repulsive (an ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers); and coauthor of the popular Tesla's Attic trilogy. He invites you to visit him on Twitter @Eric_Elfman.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781481497060
Lexile Measure
850
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date
November 05, 2019
Series
Arc of a Scythe
BISAC categories
YAF001000 - Young Adult Fiction | Action & Adventure
YAF058050 - Young Adult Fiction | Social Themes | Death & Dying
YAF056000 - Young Adult Fiction | Science Fiction | General
Library of Congress categories
Death
Murder
Science fiction
Dystopias
Immortality

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