Unwind (Unwind, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jan 04, 2014 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, wish-list-physical, own-ebook-read, reviewed, young-adult, dystopian, science-fiction, horror

I don't think that I can put into words the love that I have for this book, but I will certainly try my best. This book is special. Unique. Without a doubt, this book is like nothing that I have read before. I wasn't really certain what to expect when I picked it up. To be simply honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. The concept sounded compelling, but I still had my doubts. Needless to say, those doubts have been dashed and slashed to pieces.

What you have to understand about Unwind I don't think that I can put into words the love that I have for this book, but I will certainly try my best. This book is special. Unique. Without a doubt, this book is like nothing that I have read before. I wasn't really certain what to expect when I picked it up. To be simply honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. The concept sounded compelling, but I still had my doubts. Needless to say, those doubts have been dashed and slashed to pieces.

What you have to understand about Unwind is that it makes you think. It makes you think hard. It is not one of those light and airy reads and you can blow through and sigh, and then move on to something new without another thought. Unwind lingers in your brain for days after you have read it. It is full of really heart wrenching gray areas. Nothing is ever black and white in this book. You see things happen from so many different points of view.

This theme of this book in centered about Pro-Choice and Pro-Life and what really constitutes "living" and consciousness and when life truly begins. There is no real way for me to describe the way that this book made me feel. I mean, there are really SO MANY feels going on. The amazing thing about this book is the way that it makes you question everything you thought you knew and felt. Everyone has their own stance on this particular issue. I am no different. While reading this book, I found myself questioning the rights and wrongs of each side of the issue. I mean, this book seriously got into my head.

What I liked
I loved reading this in different points of view. I love books that do this on some level. It is sometimes imparative to see things from the other person's point of view to really get the story right in your mind. When things are one sided then it leaves room for prejudice. This book totally satisfied this problem with all of the different points of view.

These characters are intense. They are not all that they seem to be. They are complex and they all bring something very important into the story. The chemistry between all of the different characters is wonderful. All of their interactions felt well paced and natural. The dialogues were great. Nothing that was said sounded out of place.

The pacing in this book is really quite perfect. Nothing felt like it was rushed into, and nothing felt to be happening too slowly. Everything just syncs up flawlessly.

The absolute best thing about this book is the way that it makes you think and question things. This book makes you look at difficult things from another perspective. There is so much to contemplate.

What I didn't like
There is nothing bad that I can say about this book. It has so many awesome things going for it. I have been thinking about it all day and I can't think of a thing that needs improvement. I will say, however, that I was thinking that something could have been added into the story. Even if just mentioned somewhere in the book. With so many unwanted children in the world, I find it strange that child trafficking didn't come up in the book. Since there are so many more small children than before the war, there are that many more children for child traffickers to prey upon. It seems almost too easy for them in this world that Shusterman has created. I know that it is another important issue that doesn't really tie into the issue in the story, but it did cross my mind more than once while reading the book.

Would I Recommend It
In a heartbeat! Yes! I will be honest and say that this book is probably not really for the faint of heart. I personally had a hard time reading a specific scene in this book because it is so horrific and heart wrenching. And I am usually tough as nails. All of that aside, this book is outstanding. It it thought provoking and it makes you feel something real. ...more

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May 20, 2014 Barbara ★ rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2014, fantasy, zzz-cover-body-part, young-adult, x-set-in-usa-ohio, x-set-in-usa-arizona, dystopia

This is a really fast-paced, suspenseful thriller about survival and the rights of children. In this society, abortion is illegal but parents can choose to "abort" their 13-18 year old teenager. Called unwinding where various body parts (well all of them actually) are given to save the lives of other people. How humane. Unless your the person being unwound but hey you don't die, your body parts are just reassigned to someone more deserving of life.

Does that make me a murderer? How could it, whe ...more

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Feb 22, 2011 A. S. rated it it was amazing

I did not have faith in YA lit after I read Twilight and realized almost all the YA out there for young adults emulates the weak-willed heroine/abusive-but-hot-n-mysterious dude paranormal romance format. But I took a chance and bought this last year because I was intrigued by the synopsis: a distopian future in which the people have fought a terrible war over the right for abortion. In this world, a compromise was made in which fetal abortions are banned, but a parent can essentially retroactiv ...more

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May 10, 2012 Jenn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dystopian-post-apocalyptic, 2012

I just finished reading Unwind by Neal Shusterman, and all I can say is wow! I came across the book on Simon and Shuster’s young adult community Pulse It. Simon and Shuster places a few books on the site every month that members can read online for free. Unwind was one of these books. I have to admit that I was a little hesitant about reading it – most dystopian books kind of depress me. I started reading Unwind and I quickly got sucked in. I couldn’t stop reading until I’d read the last sentenc I just finished reading Unwind by Neal Shusterman, and all I can say is wow! I came across the book on Simon and Shuster’s young adult community Pulse It. Simon and Shuster places a few books on the site every month that members can read online for free. Unwind was one of these books. I have to admit that I was a little hesitant about reading it – most dystopian books kind of depress me. I started reading Unwind and I quickly got sucked in. I couldn’t stop reading until I’d read the last sentence. Unwind is a gripping, action packed, horrifying in places, edge-of-your-seat adventure and receives a very enthusiastic five stars from me.

Unwind takes placed in our future, after the country has gone to war with itself – pro-choicers against pro-lifers with the military stuck in the middle. A compromise was reached to end the war – abortion is illegal, but when a child is between the ages of 13 and 18, they can be “unwound” – basically, they are still alive, but their parts are harvested and used for other people. The procedure doesn’t kill the teen – though whether they have a soul, or where it exists after they are separated into so many other parts is questionable. Unwinding becomes a way for parents to rid themselves of “bad” seeds permanently.

One such juvenile that is about to be unwound is Connor. Connor doesn’t get great grades and gets into some fights in school. His parents decide to have him unwound. Connor stumbles across the paperwork and decides to go on the lam. Along the way, he joins up with Risa, a good girl, who is only being unwound for the sheer reason that she is a ward of the state, and they need to make room for new wards of the state. Lev, a tithe, also becomes part of their runaway group. A tithe is a child that parents purposefully give birth to, with the purpose of unwinding, as their tithe to their God. The tithe unwinds are treated differently than the other unwinds, and grow up knowing that they will be unwound.

I have to say, I am horrified by parents throughout this book. The existence of the law has made parents apathetic. Instead of doing real parenting, they choose to unwind obedient teens. You can’t really look at this part of the book from the view point of a parent today. Parents today would be horrified by the thought – and most have this built in desire to protect their children. But in this story, unwinding is the norm – it’s how people live, it’s what they know. Despite that, it’s still awful. The tithing is awful too. What kind of parents purposely have a child and raise it and love it and treat it likes it’s wonderful and tell it that it’s an honored child because at age 13 they are going to sacrifice the child to the Harvest Camps so that the child’s organs, blessed by God, can be part of so many other people? It’s also horrifying. How can anyone think that this is what God would want from his worshippers?

Another thing that is horrifying, is as can be expected of society – unwinding becomes a lucrative business. The body parts and organs of the unwinds become transplants for people that become ill. The doctors almost forget what it’s like to practice real medicine. Their answer is to replace parts instead of fixing them. There are other people that get harvested parts for cosmetic reasons – they want different color eyes – etc.

Connor, Risa, and Lev meet a lot of other unwinds along the way – and their stories are equally sad. One teen is being unwound because his parents divorced and they each couldn’t bare for the other to have him, so they decided to unwind him so neither could have him. I know this story sounds bleak and sad - and parts of it are sad. It was hard for me, because I can actually picture society acting in some of the ways that the book talks about. It isn’t just sad though – there is hope, horror, love, beauty, shock and a whole rollercoaster of emotions.

The main characters are well developed and very relatable. They could be your brother or sister, your best friend, even you. The side characters are well developed as well and all add something to the plot. The storyline moves along quickly and contains several surprises. At times I found myself biting my nails or holding my breath. A few places I actually cheered. I really hope you take the time to read this book. It’s amazing. It’s one of my new favorites – ever. I have the feeling that I will be thinking about this book and the issues contained within for a very long time. ...more

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