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Unwanteds #1-7
The Unwanteds Collection
Experience the magic of Artimé and the chills of Quill with all seven fantastical books in the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Unwanteds series, now available in one paperback boxed set.
Kirkus Reviews describes The Unwanteds as “The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter,” and now you can find out why with this boxed set of the entire thrilling series.
This boxed set includes paperback editions of:
The Unwanteds
Island of Silence
Island of Fire
Island of Legends
Island of Shipwrecks
Island of Graves
Island of Dragons
Kirkus Reviews describes The Unwanteds as “The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter,” and now you can find out why with this boxed set of the entire thrilling series.
This boxed set includes paperback editions of:
The Unwanteds
Island of Silence
Island of Fire
Island of Legends
Island of Shipwrecks
Island of Graves
Island of Dragons
3424 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2016
5 people are currently reading
346 people want to read
About the author
Lisa McMann
61 books7,002 followersLisa McMann lives and writes in the Phoenix area. Her newest middle grade fantasy series is called The Forgotten Five. Book one, Map of Flames, was an instant NYT bestseller. It's about five supernatural kids, raised in a deserted hideout, who enter civilization for the first time to search for a hidden stash left behind by their missing, criminal parents.
Book two, The Invisible Spy, is on sale now! Book three, Rebel Undercover, is coming summer 2023, and book 4 will be out in spring of 2024.
Also out now: CLARICE THE BRAVE. It's a story of hope against all odds, about sibling mice who get separated in a mutiny and vow to find one another again.
Lisa's other books include the NYT bestselling THE UNWANTEDS and UNWANTEDS QUESTS series, the GOING WILD trilogy, the YA paranormal WAKE trilogy, the VISIONS trilogy, CRYER'S CROSS, DEAD TO YOU, and INFINITY RING: The Trap Door.
See what's new and where Lisa will be at her
LinkTree.
You can find more info at Lisa'a website, lisamcmann.com, interact with her on Facebook or Twitter, or ask questions on her Instagram.
Book two, The Invisible Spy, is on sale now! Book three, Rebel Undercover, is coming summer 2023, and book 4 will be out in spring of 2024.
Also out now: CLARICE THE BRAVE. It's a story of hope against all odds, about sibling mice who get separated in a mutiny and vow to find one another again.
Lisa's other books include the NYT bestselling THE UNWANTEDS and UNWANTEDS QUESTS series, the GOING WILD trilogy, the YA paranormal WAKE trilogy, the VISIONS trilogy, CRYER'S CROSS, DEAD TO YOU, and INFINITY RING: The Trap Door.
See what's new and where Lisa will be at her
LinkTree.
You can find more info at Lisa'a website, lisamcmann.com, interact with her on Facebook or Twitter, or ask questions on her Instagram.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 11, 2016
This is a very good series that I recommend to kids who love adventure. The start of the series was interesting, but relatively slow. If you keep reading though, you will find an amazing adventure that is fun, interesting, mysterious, heart warming, and overall an amazing series!
August 19, 2024
Oh my goodness I absolutely love this book series. It's my all-time favorite book series. I remember when the first three books were out and my grandfather got me a box set of those, reading them was like stepping into a world where I was blown away by both Quill and Artimé, their stark differences, and the descriptions of the setting. The deep and accurate representation of depression, war, and tyranny. Tackling rough subjects like death, slavery, and hopelessness. I'll be unpacking the basic setting in this review, but leave reading the rest up to you.
So first, let's unpack Quill in the earlier books. The setting and mood of the town is quite dreary. Walls block the view of the ocean, on top of the wall is a dome made of metal mesh if I remember correctly. The town is described as colorless and grayscale. The people in said town are forbidden from being creative in any way. They're also forbidden from feeling emotions. If someone is discovered to be creative/emotional by the time they're 13, they get sent to the "Death Farm" which contains a lake of boiling oil. Or so the people of Quill believe. They get sent to said "death farm" on the annually held purge.
So let's talk about the Purge. The Purge is also a coming-of-age ceremony for those deemed uncreative and unemotional. There are three categories the 13-year-olds are sorted into. Wanted, Necessary, and Unwanted. "Wanted" children are typically smarter than "Necessaries."
- The Wanteds are deployed to a school of sorts where they will learn how to best utilize their smarts in an "uncreative" way. Now we as an audience know that that seems impossible, however, the High Priestess of Quill doesn't see science and its related practices as creativity, despite the need for ideas to spark the scientific method and such. So the students must also learn to write so they can record their mathematical and scientific findings. But I must also add that there are other properties to this school. Physical education and political knowledge are also taught here. Many of the students will go on to become guards for the High Priestess, maybe even going on to hold positions of political power.
- The Necessaries are kind of in the middle of Wanted and Unwanted. Necessaries are tasked with keeping the town functional. Farming, cleaning up trash, and other menial tasks. They are deemed Necessaries because they are neither smart nor creative in the eyes of the High Priestess.
- Unwanteds are the creative people. Telling stories, drawing in the mud, humming a tune, throwing a temper tantrum, these are all things that the Unwateds are deemed as such. The Unwanteds are shackled at the end of the Purging Ceremony, and led onto a drab, gray bus, and driven across the island to the "Death Farm." Fearing the lake of Boiling oil, but having come to terms with their looming death since they were discovered being creative or emotional, the children road in silence to the "Death Farm."
After the children arrive at the death farm. They are met with the scenery of the dull, grayscale death farm which is devoid of both the Lake of Boiling Oil and the walls and mesh nets of the rest of the island of Quill. Then there's a conversation between the executioner and the Quill guards. We learn or infer later on that there are no guards stationed outside the death farm. (We'll get to that soon.) After the guards leave and the sound of the bus fades into the distance, the children are met with the scenery before them magically changing into the most colorful, magical place. None of them had really seen color before other than the dark greens of leaves covered in shadows from the mesh dome covering Quill.
Now we get to unpack Artimé. Artimé is a magical colorful world that's hidden from the people of Quill using some sort of magic (I forgot what made that possible, it's been a few years since I've touched up on the first books.) There stood a mansion in the center of Artimé, which had perfectly manicured grass coating the ground, closer to the beach, the grass turned to dirt and sand. Artimé was beautiful all the way around, with statues and sculptures that had been brought to life with the magic of creativity. Older Unwanteds roamed the gardens and lawn soon after the bus had left and Artimé was revealed to the newcomers. Mr. Today, the "executioner" or rather, leader and creator of Artimé, made sure to give the newcomers a gentle warm welcome, though his coat seemed rather outlandish in both style and color.
Inside the mansion, it was much bigger than it appeared, quite like the Tartus from Doctor Who. Girls could not see the boy's dormitory door, and therefore could not enter, and vice versa. one of the newcomers could see a third door and asked what that led to, even though the other students could not see it. Mr. Today dodges the question like a master, saying it's a secret (We'll find out in the later books.) They're shown around the mansion, including how to get around, using the tubes created for transportation to magically created spaces, including a lounge, kitchen, and theater. They are shown classrooms where they will practice their creative arts. Everything has so much color it's mind-boggling for the students.
So first, let's unpack Quill in the earlier books. The setting and mood of the town is quite dreary. Walls block the view of the ocean, on top of the wall is a dome made of metal mesh if I remember correctly. The town is described as colorless and grayscale. The people in said town are forbidden from being creative in any way. They're also forbidden from feeling emotions. If someone is discovered to be creative/emotional by the time they're 13, they get sent to the "Death Farm" which contains a lake of boiling oil. Or so the people of Quill believe. They get sent to said "death farm" on the annually held purge.
So let's talk about the Purge. The Purge is also a coming-of-age ceremony for those deemed uncreative and unemotional. There are three categories the 13-year-olds are sorted into. Wanted, Necessary, and Unwanted. "Wanted" children are typically smarter than "Necessaries."
- The Wanteds are deployed to a school of sorts where they will learn how to best utilize their smarts in an "uncreative" way. Now we as an audience know that that seems impossible, however, the High Priestess of Quill doesn't see science and its related practices as creativity, despite the need for ideas to spark the scientific method and such. So the students must also learn to write so they can record their mathematical and scientific findings. But I must also add that there are other properties to this school. Physical education and political knowledge are also taught here. Many of the students will go on to become guards for the High Priestess, maybe even going on to hold positions of political power.
- The Necessaries are kind of in the middle of Wanted and Unwanted. Necessaries are tasked with keeping the town functional. Farming, cleaning up trash, and other menial tasks. They are deemed Necessaries because they are neither smart nor creative in the eyes of the High Priestess.
- Unwanteds are the creative people. Telling stories, drawing in the mud, humming a tune, throwing a temper tantrum, these are all things that the Unwateds are deemed as such. The Unwanteds are shackled at the end of the Purging Ceremony, and led onto a drab, gray bus, and driven across the island to the "Death Farm." Fearing the lake of Boiling oil, but having come to terms with their looming death since they were discovered being creative or emotional, the children road in silence to the "Death Farm."
After the children arrive at the death farm. They are met with the scenery of the dull, grayscale death farm which is devoid of both the Lake of Boiling Oil and the walls and mesh nets of the rest of the island of Quill. Then there's a conversation between the executioner and the Quill guards. We learn or infer later on that there are no guards stationed outside the death farm. (We'll get to that soon.) After the guards leave and the sound of the bus fades into the distance, the children are met with the scenery before them magically changing into the most colorful, magical place. None of them had really seen color before other than the dark greens of leaves covered in shadows from the mesh dome covering Quill.
Now we get to unpack Artimé. Artimé is a magical colorful world that's hidden from the people of Quill using some sort of magic (I forgot what made that possible, it's been a few years since I've touched up on the first books.) There stood a mansion in the center of Artimé, which had perfectly manicured grass coating the ground, closer to the beach, the grass turned to dirt and sand. Artimé was beautiful all the way around, with statues and sculptures that had been brought to life with the magic of creativity. Older Unwanteds roamed the gardens and lawn soon after the bus had left and Artimé was revealed to the newcomers. Mr. Today, the "executioner" or rather, leader and creator of Artimé, made sure to give the newcomers a gentle warm welcome, though his coat seemed rather outlandish in both style and color.
Inside the mansion, it was much bigger than it appeared, quite like the Tartus from Doctor Who. Girls could not see the boy's dormitory door, and therefore could not enter, and vice versa. one of the newcomers could see a third door and asked what that led to, even though the other students could not see it. Mr. Today dodges the question like a master, saying it's a secret (We'll find out in the later books.) They're shown around the mansion, including how to get around, using the tubes created for transportation to magically created spaces, including a lounge, kitchen, and theater. They are shown classrooms where they will practice their creative arts. Everything has so much color it's mind-boggling for the students.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2018
I enjoyed The Unwanteds series. I loved most of the characters, and the plot was amazing. The only thing I did not enjoy was Alex's wallowing in self pity that gets worse as the series goes on.
August 24, 2017
There are seven books in this series. The books are about a magical land and the people's nearly constant battle for survival and freedom. I wanted to quit reading somewhere in the middle of book two or three, but I'm nothing if not dedicated. The series was a bit juvenile for me. It would be better suited for around 10 year olds.
June 8, 2025
I loved this series. It was really comforting to fall back into and always a fun read each time. I loved the magical fantasy and all the creatures, all the concepts and the characters. It took me a while to finally get through this series, once you pick the next installment up it’s so hard to put down. I didn’t want it to end.
August 30, 2017
I absolutely LOVED this series!❤️❤️❤️
May 17, 2018
This is the best fantasy series it is like Harry Potter which I love that series
January 17, 2022
YA dystopia novel, what a great series!
August 7, 2022
Whole series: 5 stars for sure
October 21, 2023
Literally one of the best fantasy series I ever read
May 28, 2025
i also have intense beef with my twin although we are not magical but we could be
Read
September 20, 2025the series is so good can't wait to read unwanteds quests
February 10, 2022
I read these books a while ago but I think it is a very good choice for maybe 5th grade. I think many kids would like the books. The only thing I don’t like about this series is when Alex died. I literally threw my book. I love how it includes many different characters with diversity. I encourage you to read all 14 books or stop at the first 7. All in all I think these books are a splendid choice for early middle school.
January 10, 2018
We really enjoyed this book! Can't wait to start the next book in the series!!
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September 26, 2018I loved this series.
It reminded me a great deal of Harry Potter but on a simpler level, and I found each new book a new adventure.
It reminded me a great deal of Harry Potter but on a simpler level, and I found each new book a new adventure.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews