640 pagesSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers · 2020
Reading time
12 h 45 minat 50 pages an hour ·
Pace
Variable
Emotional intensity
4 / 5
About 12 h 45 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 26 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
On a future Earth where disease and aging no longer kill, scythes control the population by deciding who must die. Endura has been destroyed, Citra and Rowan are missing, and Scythe Goddard is gathering power over the order. The Thunderhead, the artificial intelligence that manages ordinary life, now speaks only to Greyson Tolliver, whom the sound-centered Tonist religion regards as a prophet.
Reader notes
Several storylines unfold across overlapping years in this YA dystopian finale, broadening the struggle over who controls humanity’s future. The action is violent, but the mood includes humor. It concludes the Arc of a Scythe trilogy and assumes familiarity with Scythe and Thunderhead, the preceding novels.
How it reads
Writing style
Direct
Tone
Cerebral · Dark · Philosophical · Tense
Structure
Braided · Multiple timelines
Driven by
Ideas · Plot · Worldbuilding
Point of view
Multiple viewpoints
Reading complexity
Writing
2 / 5
Ideas
4 / 5
Structure
4 / 5
Background knowledge
4 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
Writing
How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas
How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure
How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge
Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity
Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Yes, it concludes the Arc of a Scythe trilogy and assumes familiarity with Scythe and Thunderhead. The story continues with Endura destroyed, Citra and Rowan missing, and Scythe Goddard gathering power.
Is it hard to read?
Somewhat. The prose is direct, but several viewpoints and storylines unfold across overlapping years. Following how those threads connect, alongside the philosophical struggle over humanity’s future, takes attention.
How dark and violent is it?
Strong violence is central to the action, within a society where scythes decide who must die. The mood is dark and tense, though humor is also present.
What ideas does it explore?
Mortality, power, religion, and technology shape the struggle over humanity’s future. Scythes control death after disease and aging cease to kill, while the Thunderhead speaks only to Greyson Tolliver, whom the Tonist religion regards as a prophet.
How long is it?
About 640 pages in the Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 2020 edition. The pace varies as several storylines unfold across overlapping years.
Which edition is shown here?
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers · 2020 · Trade Paperback. ISBN 9781481497077.
How long does it take to read The Toll?
About 12 hours 45 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 640-page Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Neal Shusterman
Neal Shusterman is an American writer of young adult fiction whose novels place adolescents inside speculative systems that have converted moral choices into public policy. His prose is direct and usually fast-moving, with dialogue and shifting character perspectives carrying explanations that might otherwise stall the plot. He builds pressure by stating an impossible premise in practical terms, then tracing how its rules enter bodies, families, and institutions. In Unwind, teenagers flee a society that calls dismemberment a medical procedure, and the bureaucratic language matters as much as the pursuit. Scythe extends this method to an immortal world where sanctioned killers manage population, dividing attention between apprenticeship, conscience, and corruption inside a self-policing order. Shusterman can apply the same structural discipline without futuristic technology. Dry narrows a regional water crisis to a suburban household, then lets vanishing supplies reorganize trust hour by hour. His recurring interests include bodily autonomy, delegated authority, institutional self-justification, and young people forced to act within rules adults have normalized.
