Unwind (Unwind, #1) in The Never Dying Group

Feb 13, 2009 Angel♥ rated it it was amazing

MY GOSH ITS SO GOOD!!!!!

There might be some spoilers. read it if you want.

Here is an attempt to write a book review. Normally I'm too lazy, so here goes...

First: The concept. I love futuristic science fiction-y stuff, like Ender's game. I love to see how geniuses think-- it's why mysteries and other things like that appeal to me. Anyway, I found the concept of having kids "unwound" was awesome--not that I approved-- but it had a dark side to it that appealed to me, mainly because, well, it was p MY GOSH ITS SO GOOD!!!!!

There might be some spoilers. read it if you want.

Here is an attempt to write a book review. Normally I'm too lazy, so here goes...

First: The concept. I love futuristic science fiction-y stuff, like Ender's game. I love to see how geniuses think-- it's why mysteries and other things like that appeal to me. Anyway, I found the concept of having kids "unwound" was awesome--not that I approved-- but it had a dark side to it that appealed to me, mainly because, well, it was probably possible. Which kind of creeped me out. After finishing the book, I hoped there were enough moral and ethical people out there to prevent that from really happening. But the fact that they were brainwashing people into thinking that it was okay to be unwound, convincing them that they were technically still "alive", was what intrigued me the most. In the beginning, the truck driver had a hand from a teenager who did card tricks, and the hand could still do it independently, which drew me in immediately. Thinking back on it now (about 2 years? after I read it) it was almost... violating. Like the people receiving the parts were stealing the skills the teens had spent years working on, like Risa's piano skills.

I also loved (in a way) the concept of storking, where a baby child is left on a doorstep for the family to take care of. When Connor told the story about the baby being passed around his neighborhood, it showed how evil mankind was. It brought out the faults and showed how cruel human beings can be, to refuse a helpless baby, thinking the next person will take it.

Second: the tense. Instead of writing in past tense (i.e. Risa said...) Shusterman writes in present tense, which makes everything more suspenseful without really meaning to. Actually, when I first read this book, I didn't notice it, I only noticed that it felt slightly short and choppy, but it was mainly because it was narrated in present tense-- there wasn't the hindsight of a first person narrator either, which made it feel choppier. But it suits this type of story, where the characters are basically fighting against society to live, whole, as themselves. There's not a lot of deep, deep thought, and if there is, it's kind of woven in so that you can tell they were thinking deeply without actually being told. It drew me in more, too, because I wanted to know what was going to happen, and when things did happen, it had more of an effect on me, making me go, "whoa..." like when Connor shot the officer in the leg with his tranq gun. Not expected. I didn't even expect his dad to track his phone, that's how unexpected it was for me. So if others hate the writing style, I must disagree.

Third: The characters. There's not a lot to say about this, except for the fact that I loved how well developed they were. I can see how Connor started out wanting to run away, but he becomes a symbol for all the other runaways, and in the end, he's protesting against unwinding kids-- in a non-blow-up-everything way. Lev started out as a completely dedicated tithe, but you can feel his unease and confusion and you can see his transition from brainwashed to martyr. You could see the pain in a lot of the other, more minor characters too. I loved it.

Fourth and finally: It was awesome. The plot was complex, but it all fit together to show the development of each character and overall make it an amazing book.

It's awesome :D ...more

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