Kim Deister
The way Shusterman wove together the storylines of The Toll was masterful. It was done in such a way that I was always completely absorbed by each of them. I especially enjoyed Citra’s story. There was such change in her as a person since she was chosen to become an apprentice. Over the course of the three books, I really fell in love with her. I do wish Rowan had been a little more prominent in this book, but I loved the parts with him I had. Grayson’s arc, too, was fascinating. In the second book, he was sort of swept along, but in this third book, he really came into his own.
I loved most of this book, but one thing kept me from giving it a full five stars. The ending. In my opinion, it was wholly unsatisfying, which is a difficult thing to discuss without spoilers. For one thing, it felt like the villains conclusion was rather anti-climatic. Nor did I feel like the storylines of Grayson, Faraday, Rowan, and Citra were totally finished. I was hoping for some kind of epilogue for them, and for the world itself because the novel felt like it ended before we really saw the whole conclusion.
But I did love the book nonetheless, and there was plenty to keep me turning the pages!