Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Unwind is a 2007 dystopian novel, written by Neal Shusterman, and serves as the 1st book apart of a 3 other books. Every book having the pre-fix "Un--"
Unwholly, Unstrung, and Unbound.
The plot is as follows:
Prior to the actual story, the pro-choice and pro-life conflict erupted into a 2nd Civil War. In order to de-escalate and end the war, The Bill of Life was passed, and a bunch of rules are ultimately introduced. Abortion becomes banned, abandonment of newborn babies on a doorstep (called "storking")is now an accepted practice, and teenagers 13-18 can be unwound
In short, being unwound is basically...99% of your body parts and organs are removed, and transplanted into people who need them; not exactly killing the donor, but still somewhat keeping them alive, in a way
Set in Akron, Ohio, Connor Lassiter, Risa Ward, and Lev Calder all have different backgrounds, yet soon are joined by fate to intertwine their stories.
Connor is a 16 year old juvenile delinquent, who finds out that his parents are unwinding him soon, and then going on vacation because of his delinquency. So, he runs away, all the way to an overpass and freeway while also being pursued by the police at the same time.
Risa is a 15 year smart, and gifted orphan who was "storked" as a baby. She finds out that herself, along with other orphans, are being unwound. She practically accepts her fate, but her bus swerves and gets caught in a massive pile up
Lev is 13, and apart of a religious family. On the same day of his bar mitzvah, he's taken to be unwound in a nice car, wearing all white clothing to represent his religious practice. Unexpectedly, he is taken from the car and held hostage mysteriously.
Connor the one who caused the pile-up on the freeway while running from police. He was the one to take Lev as a hostage, who he recognizes as a "tithe." A teenager to be taken to be unwound as a part of a religious sacrifice. Risa's bus is caught in the pile-up, and she escapes the crashed bus safely, joining Connor and Lev.
The 3 reluctantly work together, preventing their fate from having their body parts split from person to person that they themselves didn't consent to donating. New people to meet, new places to go, secrets to hide, and more await in Unwind
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Okay, time to cut the trailer voice. Unwind for me was a wonderful read. The concepts of "unwinding" seemed both dystopian...yet also not too far outside the realm of possibility. It's honestly quite thought-provoking. Pro-choice and pro-life are still opposing viewpoints to this day, and just thinking that the events of Unwind could become a reality is really a somewhat harrowing, but wonderful idea.
The plot of Unwind in just the first book was pretty interesting, along with the many places visited, the different people met, all of the perplexing concepts introduced, and some of the twists and turns you wouldn't EVER expect. This dystopian novel feels more...realistic, and seems as if it could actually happen at some point in the unsure future. Just the way that the beginning of the book slowly introduced us to all the characters, but then brought them all together into one event had me hooked.
I would highly recommend Unwind to readers who have enjoyed other dystopian novels like Hunger Games, Legend, Maze Runner, and Divergent.
I read this book, actually. While the writing wasn't bad, it honestly wasn't the cup of tea for me. I wasn't a fan of the plot, although the premise was certainly exciting. However, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I love dystopian books (I've read and enjoyed all the books you mentioned at the bottom), and the premise of this book sounds really interesting. I might just pick it up!
ReplyDeleteDystopian books, while sometimes cliche, make for a good read. I really liked the way you explained how the main characters met without giving too much detail as to spoil the book. I really liked Divergent and the Hunger games, so maybe I'll have to check this one out too.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you formatted this!! I've personally read Unwind before when I was in my "dystopian novel phase" in middle school. I wasn't a huge fan of the book, I also didn't really like the ending. However, I thought the concept was super interesting and I'm glad to hear you liked it! Scythe is another great dystopian novel by Neil Shusterman and I think you'll enjoy it if you enjoyed this. Great post!
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