Ratings204
Average rating4
Holy Cow, this book was intense, in part because it really seems like something that could happen in America's future. Loved it.
It's not a bad book but for me the timing was just not right. I started it while also reading Scythe from the same author and it just felt too similar somehow. I can't even pinpoint what is similiar because obviously the premise is very different. It's probably more about them having the same writing style and both are about death in a way. This book just didn't catch me and it actually took mew some time to finally decide to DNF instead of dreading to finish it.
Summary: In the world of Shusterman’s Unwind, America is a few decades removed from a civil war that was fought over the issue of abortion. The war ended with the passing of the Bill of Life, which stated that, until a child reached the age of 13, his or her life was sacred and could not be harmed. Once a child turned 13, however, he or she could be “unwound,” meaning that all of his or her body parts would be harvested and used in transplants for other people, meaning that the unwound child technically never died. Shusterman’s story follows Connor, Risa, and Lev, 3 kids all marked for unwinding, on a journey that is both compelling and unbelievable.
It's almost frightening that I'm reading this at a time where it isn't impossible for a future in the far off to happen along these lines. Like The Handmaid's Tale, it expands from a long time persisting issue, pushing human morals and creating a solution for the issue, which is ridding the world of abortion but also of unruly, unwanted children.
Schusterman has this way of writing which makes it difficult to put down. The chapters and done bite size, leaving you reading more and more before you finally discover you're at the end. These kids are people you could have, will have and may well know in the future - if society took a wrong turn then it could become a horror reality like what Schusterman has created.
The one scene of unwinding has definitely made me think. It's always been a tiny thought that comes out now and then, what makes a human alive, but the scene will stick with me.
The ending wasn't too great, but it has opened the story up for the sequels, which I'll have to read.
Looking back at the book, it was a 4.75/5. It was an interesting perspective on a much larger topic. You meet three kids about to be “Unwound” (in short the society had made abortions illegal but entered unwinding, which is the act of killing the child for body parts before a certain age) each for different reasons. One is a troubled kid, another is without talent and the third is for religious reasons. You follow their adventure as they try to flee the society that wants them dead. The ending wasn't something I saw coming in a story like this but it was a good lead-up to the second book. Also there is a chapter where you see an actual unwinding happen, its just sad more than disturbing.
Rating: 4.5
Rounded up at 5 stars
I am glad I read this book as an adult. I would not have understood it or gotten out of it as much if read earlier in my life.
What a refreshing take on such a controversial topic. Set in the dystopian future, Neal Shusterman's characters grapple with the topic of abortion and childcare. While not a one-for-one depiction of the reality of the pro-life or pro-choice arguments, the book's central question asks the reader to imagine life at the extremes, taking into account what it means to be living and if it is possible to live in a world where people (and topics) are not black-and-white, but rather, muddy and complicated, where both groups can exist together without war or hatred. The author doesn't take a side on the debate of abortion, but rather points out different takes and, ultimately, says that he (through his characters) doesn't know the answer.
While this book starts slow, the end is what ultimately earned this book the 4.5 stars from me, especially the last chapter.
Quotes:
“She thinks about the days before the War, when unwanted babies could just be unwanted pregnancies, quickly made to go away. Did the women who made that other choice feel the way she felt now? Relieved and freed from an unwelcome and often unfair responsibility . . . yet vaguely regretful?
...
Which was worse, Risa often wondered—to have tens of thousands of babies that no one wanted, or to silently make them go away before they were even born? On different days Risa had different answers.”
“In a perfect world everything would be either black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn't a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is.”
“You see, a conflict always begins with an issue - a difference of opinion, an argument. But by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much each side hates the other.”
“People aren't all good, and people aren't all bad. We move in and out of darkness all our lives.”
“Maybe it's the best answer of all. If more people could admit they really don't know, maybe there never would have been a Heartland War.”
Unwind is a dystopian novel that centers around the idea of the unknown. Secrets the society keeps locked away and nobody seems to question lead into the overarching moral issues that have been caused by the lack of questioning, the lack of standing up, the lack of revolution. Our protagonist Conner begins to slowly lead a revolution that exposes the consequences that the process, ‘unwinding' has had on their world. It's grueling, heart wrenching, and terrifyingly descriptive with how Shusterman can use a lack of detail to enthrall you into feeling the fear of the unknown that takes place during unwinding. It's lonely, it's empty, and all you're left with is memories. Though it takes a while to pick up pace, the overarching message contributes beyond its pages, as many themes expressed in the novel are applicable to the real world, most notably, abandonment and connection to yourself, your family, friends, and society. Unwind is pretty great and I only hope to see the narrative and themes expand with the coming novels. Shusterman is especially great at utilizing recontextualization to the best of its ability make a character or message more important and grand later on in order to make everything more interconnected. Very excited to see what comes next and this is my first review and it's late so sorry if it's bad
Unwind by Neal Shusterman is the beginning of a dystopian series that explores the question of what the world might be like if abortion debate was resolved by banning the termination of pregnancy, but replacing it with “unwinding” or a retroactive abortion where parents may have a child aged 13-17 surgically taken apart and redistributed to various organ recipients. Let me start out by saying that I think the premise is unrealistic to the point of absurdity. No one, neither Pro-Life nor Pro-Choice, would think this was an acceptable situation. Nor would anyone reasonably consider a person taken apart like this to still be alive. The foundational concept for the book doesn't work for me. Additionally, as I read the book I was reminded that I really don't read a lot of YA and maybe there's a reason for that. The plot and characters developed rapidly, relationships escalating to intimate friendships at a pace that seemed totally unbelievable to me. Also the way the book is written, the prose itself, seemed very simple at times. I'm not this book's primary audience, and maybe when I was a teenager I would have loved it, but I think this book is unrealistic and mostly mediocre. Yet, there were a couple of things Shusterman managed to do well though. I thought the book did a good job of including the importance of life AND choice. I never felt like this book exclusively sided with the Pro-Life or Pro-Choice crowd, even if the scenario presented in the book was unambiguously monstrous. Perhaps the author's main message is that political hatred can drive us all to abandon our principles out of spite, blind us to our own evil, and even reach the point of absurdity. Reading this book in 2021 in Texas, something about that rang a little bit true to me. Overall I didn't love this book, and I don't know if I'll read the next book in the series, but I did get something out of it. For that reason ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Absolutely amazing! The use of multiple narrators and perspectives added so much more depth to this story and allowed you to relate to characters more. Such a great idea to take a current controversial issue and turn it into a what-if of the future.
I didn't expect to get a first hand experience of the unwinding but wow it was so heartbreaking and powerful. I got a little nervous midway but the ending was better than I hoped for.
A definite must-read!
This author has quite the imagination. I loved the Arc of the Scythe series and have had this series on my shelf since last year.
Welcome to the world of the unwinds. You have until the age of 13, and then if your parents decide they don't want you...you are unwound and harvested out to people who buy your pieces. Are you pregnant? Don't want the baby? Leave it on someone's doorstep and now that baby belongs to them.
Crazy but really good start to this series.
I???ve read this book before years ago, in Dutch. Then I already really liked it. But now that I knew there were more books, I wanted to read it in English again. The story really makes you feel for every character in every chapter. Every person has a motivation you can empathize with. I also like how everything comes together. Nothing seems to be really filler, everything feels like its been done on purpose. Every detail matters.
Also the whole thing with Tyler and Cyrus is amazingly powerful, honestly this book is full of powerful moments and meaning full words. Definitely recommend it.
Kniha se mi líbila, vše bylo skvěle promyšlené. Každou další stránku jsem soucítila z hrdiny. Jen mi tam trochu něco chybělo a proto 4/5.
Loved this book. The full story is scattered across many characters (that you switch between rapidly which keeps you up all night reading) and you'll have a roller coaster of feels for many of them, not just the central three. I found the story unbelievable at first, but the characters feel so real that it consumed me quickly. The author mixed bits of real like quotes and articles amongst fictional ones, which opens you up and makes you start to notice parallels in life and then you start to see what's sickeningly possible.
I haven't read a story quite like this, but it kind of reminds me of Ready Player One and Girl With All the Gifts for different reasons. If you liked those (which I did) you might like this one.
A strange and unique dystopian world. Riffs on the power of religion or government policy to make believers or the public just accept messed up stuff and the consequences.
Menunda lama sekali untuk membaca buku ini Karena terjemahannya blm komplit. Akhirnya terjamah setelah sekian lama. Pertama kali membaca karya Neal Shusterman, dan suka banget sama seri ini.
Setelah perang Hertland ada sebuah UU yg menjembatani 2 kubu, pro pilihan & pro kehidupan. Seorang wanita apabila hamil tdk boleh menggugurkan kandungannya, namun jika naka tsb telah memasuki umur tertentu, anatara 13 hingga 17 thn, maka orang tuanya boleh mengikutkan anaknya untuk menjalani pemisahan raga, yaitu badan anaknya akan dipisah2an untuk didonorkan pada yg membutuhkan. Namun setelah berusia 18 thn anak tsb sdh dianggap dewasa & boleh melanjutkan hidup.
Connor, Risa & Lev dijadwalkan untuk mengikuti prosedur pemisahan raga dgn alasan yg berbeda. Connor yg suka membuat masalah dikarenakan org tuanya yg mendaftarkannya. Risa Karena anak asuhan negara maka negara memutuskan untuk mengurangi anak asuhan mereka dgn mendaftarkannya. Lev yg sdh dipersiapkan sejak lahir untuk menjadi persembahan. Ketiganya dipertemukan dgn alasan yg berbeda namun pada akhirnya menjadi korban dr system UU yg sama.
DNF at 47%. I just do not care a tinker's damn what happens to these characters. I'm not invested in them at all. I want to be, but I can't because this book is like Swiss cheese there are so many plot holes. It's too distracting.
There would be no plausible reason to have a war over reproductive rights. Wars are fought over money. Strip away all the crap and it always comes down to money in some way. If you want me to believe otherwise about this war then there needs to be sufficiently explained world building. Otherwise, who's making the money off of kids being unwound? Half way into a book it should be laid out how the hell we've gotten to where the story starts so things start to make sense. I still have no idea why the world is this way and I'm finding nothing worth keeping me reading to maybe find out if Shusterman ever sufficiently develops anything. How did we get from Roe v. Wade to unwinding kids in what seems to be just a few decades or less?
People don't want to be forced to keep random ass babies dropped on their doorstep. Society would shift in response to storking laws to say the least. The middle class communities portrayed would probably develop neighborhoods with security cameras and a guard watching them so someone can't plop a baby down at someone's door without getting caught. We already have gated communities where guards patrol on golf carts. But security isn't stepped up in the future in seemingly well-off areas? What kind of America IS this? I can't accept that this is just the way it is, and I think there would be large swaths of people who would never accept this either.
I can't accept that killing off teenagers to use them as transplant fodder is fine with both the pro-choice and anti-choice side of the abortion debate. The book uses the term “pro-life” to try to excuse chopping people up for their parts because the parts never really die, but I'm using the accurate real world wording. The premise of Unwind is interesting. It could be a poignant discussion while still being entertaining, but the reasoning for it is absolute bullshit, and again, there's not enough world building or even decent characters to explain how society has broken down so much. People just go about their normal lives the same way we do today. The suburban American dream nuclear family is happily having kids, until they decide to off them for being difficult teenagers. Just, WTF IS THIS HEARTLESS SHIT?!
Honestly, probably at least 10 years later I still think about Unwind and it gives me chills
first off I want to say that I didn't think i was going to like this book at all but I was so wrong!
Unwind by by Neal Shusterman is based on the premise that there is a war in the U.S. between the pro-choice advocates and the pro-life advocates. The outcome of the war leads to a crazy compromise: retroactive abortions, which means that a child is protected until he or she is 13, at which point the parents can choose to have the child “unwound.” Being unwound means that the child harvested for all of the parts and organs, which will then “live on” in other people. The children who are to be unwound are called “unwinds,” and if they try to escapse they are hunted down mercilessly by the “juvie cops” because the unwinds' harvested parts are big business. There are three main types of unwinds. Some are unwinds because their parents can't cope with their behavior any more, some are unwinds because they are orphans and the state can't afford to support them any more, and some are unwinds because they are “tithes” to the church or religion. Of course, there are exceptions, such as the boy whose parents got divorced and couldn't come to a custody decision, so they decided to have him unwound so that neither would have to deal with the other getting custody of him. One of each of these main types of unwinds is, of course, a main character in this book: Connor the troublemaker, Risa the orphan, and Lev the tithe. They all meet when both Connor and Risa, escape, coincidentally, at the same time, knowing that if they can survive until their 18th birthday they will be safe because they will be adults. When they escape, however, Connor unintentionally drags brainwashed Lev along with them. Their escape is a harrowing one with many close, and even closer, calls as they try to find somewhere to hide until their 18th birthdays.
I liked the book, but it was very disturbing -
Reading this reminded me of reading Enders Game and Ready Player One and although I wouldn't it's as good as those it had the same energy and sense of peril. I'll definitely be reading the other three.
An interesting sci-fi look at a coming-of-age story in a future where abortion is illegal, until the kid is 13.
Good, interesting characters.
I noticed many of the kids who I am around (my daughters' friends, kids at the library) seemed to be lugging around copies of this. Add in the fact that my library's copy looks like it had been read a million times, and I figured this might be worth checking out.
The premise is gut wrenching, the action is page turning, and the characters are pretty cool (except Lev, I really disliked Lev). It reads like a Patterson novel, and it's no surprise that it shows up on reluctant reader lists all of the time. Did I love it? No. In fact, I had to force myself to finish it, but that is simply because this is not my kind of book. BUT, is it a good book? Yes. I can think of twenty kids to recommend it to, but I would wager that they already read it. I have to give Shusterman credit for writing decent characters in a fast paced thriller. Everyone in this story has multiple layers.
Edit: Read again 5 years later for YA Book Club. Liked it a bit more this time around. Maybe I have more patience now? I still don't like Lev. LOL.