Anyone read Unwholly yet?

[Melanie]

I must admit, it was not what I was expecting, and found it actually tame compared to the first book. Though I was a bit squeamish with the idea of Cam at the beginning. But Shusterman makes him SO likeable!

In fact, all of the characters (besides the ex-juvie cop) were very much likeable.

What did you think of the story line? The characters? Where do you think the trilogy will go next?

[J]

Loved all the characters, especially Cam. In fact, I liked Unwholly as well or even better than Unwind. Still thinking about where the story may be going.
What are your thoughts?

[Melanie]

I really did enjoy it. It flowed smoothly and quickly. Loved how he introduced new characters and mingled them with the old. I'm stressing about Risa needing to choose one day between Cam or Connor. I think I'd go for Cam! I'm also glad Risa got the use of her legs back...even if it was at the expense of an unwind. It was an interesting twist. I wasn't expecting them to create a human from unwinds, though it is the next logical step.

I didn't find this installment as horrifying though. Maybe it was the novelty of the first one or the unwind scene. I felt this one was rather tame. I also felt the first book was more thought provoking and ethically contoversial. I was hoping that unwholly would be more politically controversial, but it could have been that I was enjoying the story line and characters so much I didn't pay as close attention.

I did not like the ads through out. I would have preferred them at the beginning of chapters like the quotes in unwind.

Loved the twist by bringing Samson in this book. I predicted it after a while but I still loved it.

How about you? Thoughts?

[J]

Well, I think one of the topics the next book will cover is using unwinding to create human beings. Our society is very much interested in increasing life span, growing older, saving stem cells in case man ever figures out how to prolong life or bring the dead back to life----so with that being all the rage, I think the topic will be over the creation of new human beings using unwound parts. The book will also focus on the consequences of man trying to play the role of God. Just as Unwind and Unwholly focused on destroying life and its consequences. I love Cam and Risa. I love Conner too. I am looking forward to the next book. So what are you reading now and who are some of your favorite authors?

[[deleted user]]

I, too, thought that this one didn't have the same terrifying shock element as the first one, but I do think that it's because we're already familiar with the world shown in the series and have already accepted that people in that time are desensitized to the horrors. There's really only a tiny step from "unwinding" to "rewinding" so it didn't come as so much of a surprise

[J]

W wrote: "I, too, thought that this one didn't have the same terrifying shock element as the first one, but I do think that it's because we're already familiar with the world shown in the series and have alr..."

True ---- unwinding to rewinding

[Tarsh]

Melanie wrote: "I was hoping that unwholly would be more politically controversial"

I thought Neal did this brilliantly, I felt there was definitely an element of political controversy. So scientist create unwinding (which I guess Conner and Lev will track down the creator's in the next book and we'll find out their real intentions) Big corporations and govt's see the huge potential to 'sell' body parts for BIG money.. but big issue being, where do these body pats come from???

At the same time the Heartland war is happening. And here's what I picked up from the book...

The Government shuts down a whole lot of schools and takes away youth jobs, the youth become restless uneducated and bored, therefore the Teen uprising begins, (which is what a lot of those ad's were getting across) parents and communities are fearing their own children. This is where the govt and corporations are able to convince the public that unwinding is a good thing AND solve the Heartland war with one stone. No more abortions, War ends, Unwinding is humane and will save many other lives, Teen uprising 'problem' is solved and parents of ‘out of control’ kids are signing them up for unwinding. The public were played big time!!!

I can’t wait for the next book!!

[J]

Tarsh wrote: "Melanie wrote: "I was hoping that unwholly would be more politically controversial"

I thought Neal did this brilliantly, I felt there was definitely an element of political controversy. So scient..."

True-----good point!!!

[Rini]

Honestly, I thought all the "main" characters (Connor/Risa/Lev/Miracolina/Cam/Starkey) were likable EXCEPT Starkey. I wanted to rip his throat out most of the times.

[Su]

I stumbled upon Unwind at the library a while back and the concept kept me thinking and talking about it for weeks, even months. Neal Shusterman has become one of my all time favorite authors! I liked the fast pace of Unwholly and totally look forward to the next installment. This REALLY needs to be made into a movie!

[Tina J]

Rini wrote: "Honestly, I thought all the "main" characters (Connor/Risa/Lev/Miracolina/Cam/Starkey) were likable EXCEPT Starkey. I wanted to rip his throat out most of the times."

Totally agree.
Starkey was too power hungry and I just wanted to slap him every time I was reading his POV. lol

[Su]

Tina J wrote: "Rini wrote: "Honestly, I thought all the "main" characters (Connor/Risa/Lev/Miracolina/Cam/Starkey) were likable EXCEPT Starkey. I wanted to rip his throat out most of the times."

Totally agree.
..."

Well, we can see Neal Shusterman did a good job with the book to provoke such violence from its readers! LOL

[Tina J]

Hahahahaa - yes Su, that's very true! lol

[Nova]

I found incredibly crazy how almost every kid in the camp was killed off...some even suicided themselves and i was like...
"oh be damned"
then Starkey...my goodness that boy was so..so..lets just say I really hate his goddam guts and some vile language was involved
it was just crazy, incredibly mortifying, and just blew my brains out.

[Gaby]

I read it. It was amazing

[Rida]

its a great book. I've read it. One of the best dystopias

[Kelvin]

Good book , not as great as i expected it to be. For me personally it was a let down after Unwind.

[Tedi]

i love it but i wounder why risa just was being a retard about being held captive with cammus camprix i would of injoyed my self i ean if she ever runs into connor again i would slap her if i was him then kiss her because she protected him and had to say all that but if she truely loved connor she would of at least done everything possible to see him again but bisides this im happy about lev and connor and cummus comprix has became a bad boy i gues if you did not know roland was in camus remeber guys

[Natasha]

Yes, I've read it! Alike to the first book 'unwind' it's truly amazing,packed with intriguing concepts. When they used Risa for propaganda it was simply brilliant. And the ambivalence just added bliss drama. Man, I loved this book.

[Dee]

i kind of explained it as a micro and macro look at unwinding - micro in the first book - it focused on the individuals; macro in the second - it looks more at society and how something came to be accepted

I need ot read Unsouled

[Katie]

I read the first one really fast, the second one I just couldn't get into, I don't know why. I still liked it, It just took me way to long to read.

[J]

Katie wrote: "I read the first one really fast, the second one I just couldn't get into, I don't know why. I still liked it, It just took me way to long to read."

Katie wrote: "I read the first one really fast, the second one I just couldn't get into, I don't know why. I still liked it, It just took me way to long to read."

Can't wait to read Undivided

[Saidah]

This series scares me. Up to now I can't read the third book. The graphic description of unwinding and the rewinding of Cam crawls my blood. I like the political, ethical and social issues, though. This is the kind of thing I would love to discuss but nobody I know has read these books.

[Ebony]

No, this is just a really good dystopian book. This crap made me question my life to see if I would get unwound if it were real and socially acceptable. In a way it is a hard reality that a lot of parents would do it for selfish reasons, much like a lot of parents would have abortions. It just brings to light a lot of things people would like to push down. Like if you had a chance to know your kid and watch them grow up, would you still choose to "abort" them? It questions our humanity and that is what makes it a really good dystopian.

[Jed]

To me, Unwind was a very good book and then the author just wrote the same book again. And again. And again.

To be fair, this is YA and I'm as far from YA as you can get and still live on this same planet (I'll be 71 next month). But I've had great YA experiences that didn't feel like the first book was the only good book.

All 7 of the Mortal Engines / Traction Cities books were fantastic.
Uglies, Pretties and Specials (although Extras not so much)
Everlost, Everwild, Everfound - 10/10
THG, CF and Mockingjay - all great
Ship Breaker and Drowned Cities
Maze Runner trilogy (but the 4th book was awful)

So, maybe it's just me.....

[Stella]

its such a good book, i really liked it

[Kenna]

Third book was my favorite too. I thought the second was a whole lot of plot leading into the next two books.

[Mackenzie]

I can't read it cause it won't let me

[Storm]

This one was a really great installment, Neal Shusterman seriously never fails to deliver, I haven't read a book by him I didn't like. Although Unsouled topped that one and of course... Undivded.

(I plan to reread the entire series this year)