Like the toll of a bell (Simile)
When Scythe Faraday visits Citra's apartment, Shusterman writes that “The visitor’s tone gave him away. Resonant and inevitable, like the dull toll of an iron bell, confident in the ability of its peal to reach all those who need reaching.” In this simile, Shusterman connects Scythe Faraday's voice to the sound of a bell, calling it "inevitable"; he also uses multiple words with the same ending sound (dull, toll, bell) to make the sentence more rhythmic, creating the sort of tolling the words describe.
Space between them is a minefield (Metaphor)
After Rowan and Citra are told that one of them must glean the other, “the space between Rowan and Citra had quickly become a minefield. A dangerous no-man’s-land that promised nothing but misery.” Shusterman uses a metaphor, saying that the space between them is a minefield, communicating the danger and difficulty involved in crossing that space. He continues the metaphor with the next sentence, which is a fragment, comparing the space to a no-man's-land: even if they were to cross the minefield of their relationship, the inhospitable territory they would reach promises Rowan and Citra nothing but pain.
Like a vestigial tail (Simile)
Citra waits for the Thunderhead to navigate its programming as it tries to help her: “Why am I seeing a beach ball? / Forgive me. Early programming before becoming self-aware plagues me like a vestigial tail.” The Thunderhead describes its early programming—specifically the current loading screen of a beach ball bouncing—as "like a vestigial tail," a simile that draws a connection to biology and the natural world. Vestigial attributes have become functionless over the course of evolution, like the wings of flightless birds. This simile demonstrates that the Thunderhead knows about the biological world and compares its own processes to it, despite being entirely artificial.
Draped in a shroud of dread / like a recurring nightmare (Metaphor and Simile)
Shusterman writes that as Citra's training continues, “The raw shock of gleaning never left… Each untimely end came draped in its own shroud of dread, like a recurring nightmare that never lost its potency.” In this quote, Shusterman combines a metaphor ("each end is draped in a shroud") with a simile ("like a recurring nightmare") to emphasize the effect of gleaning on Citra's psyche. She thinks of these gleanings as "untimely" and covered in a shroud, evoking funeral shrouds, heavy and oppressive. Gleanings are compared to a recurring dream, unreal and uncontrollable, but something that haunts the sleeper even while they're awake—like Scythe Faraday said, death doesn't ever leave a scythe alone, even during sleep.
Parties like seizures (Simile)
While he's staying at Scythe Goddard's enormous estate, Rowan is exposed to excess like he's never seen before. Shusterman writes, “And then there were the parties. They came upon the estate like seizures. Everything else stopped.” Using a simile, Shusterman connects the parties to sudden, unexpected, and often painful events. The rhetorical device communicates the unstoppable nature of these parties, as well as how all-consuming they are—though Rowan hates Scythe Goddard, even he can't help being sucked into the event.
