Unwind (Unwind, #1), A chilling dystopian read

Hello and happy back to school week! My kids started their school years today and I'm catching up on my to-do list. My most recent book club read is a dark dystopian read, Unwind, by Neal Shusterman. This is a highly rated book with 4.18 stars with over 150k ratings. Unwind is set after a second civil war in the United States fought over when a life starts. The treaty between the groups reads that life begins at conception and that abortions are illegal. The caveat comes in at the age of thirteen when parents may choose to "unwind" their children. This process takes every part of their bodies and makes them available for reuse by other people in need, or as you find out, that just want different parts.

As a mother, this idea is horrid. How one could decide to have their child taken apart in such a way is beyond me. But I give kudos to the author for thinking up the story line. Having said that, I did like the characters, plot line, and twists in the story. Three teens have been sentenced to be unwound, one by his parents, one by the state, and a third serves as a "tithe", a child born to be donated. Their paths intersect and they combine forces to avoid being unwound.

My official review: 5* - I rarely give 5 stars to book and if this was a 1/10 scale, I may have rated it 9/10. At times I felt this book should have been written in first person POV, and others I was grateful it wasn't. This book was haunting enough as it is and having a 1st person POV may have been too much for it, so in the end I agree with the author's choice of the 3rd person. I liked that the characters stories and backgrounds intersected. It is a unique although horrible premise to a dystopian read. I equally want to read the following books as well as am not sure I can put my mind through the mental torture of the high and low of the characters' fates. I feel this is exactly what this book is supposed to be though, horribly appalling, intimate, and yet holding us at arm's length all the same. Kudos to the author.

Shusterman weaves a tale that horrifies yet engages you. Part of me wants to continue the series but the thought of reading about a kid dying isn't something I can take right now. Those that like dark reads will love this book! You can find it on Amazon here. Or go to Goodreads to add it to your TBR list!

Happy reading,
Tricia