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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
This is a book that I have been meaning to read for approximately fifteen years. I think it would have been far more compelling if I had read it fifteen years ago. As an adult with a nuanced and solid understanding and opinions on abortion as a topic, this reads (to paraphrase a friend) like a centrist man’s attempt to shock both political parties into some kind of agreement. This novel really takes Judith Jarvis Thompson’s famous analogy of the violinist and turns it into a gimmicky dystopia without meaningfully engaging with the argument at all.
In fact, I would argue that failing to engage with any argument at all is this work’s greatest failure. It is mentioned multiple times that no one really won the war about abortion and that the current laws are simply a compromise that neither side could oppose wholeheartedly, which is frankly ridiculous. In addition, portraying the “Clappers” as some kind of radical protest group with no ideology truly reveals how little Shusterman thinks of anyone involved in activism.
Lastly, I find Shusterman’s engagement with the moral and ethical questions his own work raises to be incredibly lackluster. If disabled people cannot legally be unwound, as mentioned in one of the last scenes, what in the WORLD is the cutoff there? Asthma can be a disability, yet one of the characters has a transplanted lung with asthma. Deafness is considered a disability under the ADA, yet when asked about what they do with a Deaf person’s ears, an unwinding nurse says they are used. What qualifies as a disability for this purpose? What do other people think when they see someone has received a transplant, and does that change if it is a cosmetic one? Do other countries have opinions or laws about this? Can only a parent or guardian allow a teenager to be unwound, or can someone be sentenced to it as punishment for a crime? If not, why not? What happens to organs that are unable to be used? Are there black market unwinders? Why does no one know what unwinding entails besides the medical professionals? The few consequences of Unwinding as a whole that are brought up (one character mentions that perhaps if Unwinding wasn’t an option, doctors would spend more time trying to figure out how to cure problems instead of simply replacing them) read as anti-abortion arguments instead of real world building or actual answers.
In the end, this book reads like a poorly thought out thought experiment from a man who thinks he’s much smarter than he is. The world is one dimensional, the characters are flat, the medical science is hokey, even the body horror is lame. This book isn’t worth reading in 2025.
In fact, I would argue that failing to engage with any argument at all is this work’s greatest failure. It is mentioned multiple times that no one really won the war about abortion and that the current laws are simply a compromise that neither side could oppose wholeheartedly, which is frankly ridiculous. In addition, portraying the “Clappers” as some kind of radical protest group with no ideology truly reveals how little Shusterman thinks of anyone involved in activism.
Lastly, I find Shusterman’s engagement with the moral and ethical questions his own work raises to be incredibly lackluster. If disabled people cannot legally be unwound, as mentioned in one of the last scenes, what in the WORLD is the cutoff there? Asthma can be a disability, yet one of the characters has a transplanted lung with asthma. Deafness is considered a disability under the ADA, yet when asked about what they do with a Deaf person’s ears, an unwinding nurse says they are used. What qualifies as a disability for this purpose? What do other people think when they see someone has received a transplant, and does that change if it is a cosmetic one? Do other countries have opinions or laws about this? Can only a parent or guardian allow a teenager to be unwound, or can someone be sentenced to it as punishment for a crime? If not, why not? What happens to organs that are unable to be used? Are there black market unwinders? Why does no one know what unwinding entails besides the medical professionals? The few consequences of Unwinding as a whole that are brought up (one character mentions that perhaps if Unwinding wasn’t an option, doctors would spend more time trying to figure out how to cure problems instead of simply replacing them) read as anti-abortion arguments instead of real world building or actual answers.
In the end, this book reads like a poorly thought out thought experiment from a man who thinks he’s much smarter than he is. The world is one dimensional, the characters are flat, the medical science is hokey, even the body horror is lame. This book isn’t worth reading in 2025.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think I'm bad when it comes to rating this book because it disturbed me so much. I also know that that is the point. I'm thankful I didn't read this when I was in middle school, when it was first published, as I would've been plagued with nightmares for years.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Violence, Abandonment
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
(4 and ¾ out of 5 Stars)Intense, gripping novel is thought provoking and relevant.
UNWIND, written by master storyteller Newal Shusterman, is truly and astonishing piece of young adult literature. It is compelling, intense, and resonating, as well as centering around a very intriguing and important issue in the only way Shusterman can. Generally, this is a lot like his Bruiser. It took an important topic and intertwined it into a sci-fi thriller. It is written poetically but not philosophically; the message isn’t in black and white, which makes finding the message all the more rewarding to find. Although I like his Bruiser better, this was still a telling, profound piece of literature that I think would suit for readers of all genres. (It’s worth noting that this is a real treat for horror fans as well as contemporary junkies)
The Second Civil War was fought over abortion rights. One side wanted pro-choice, and the other wanted pro-life. The two groups came to a consensus about a solution that scientists found- unwinding. The Bill of Life was formed, a law that stated that parents could not touch their child from 1-3. But once they went past that age, parents could unwind them. Unwinding is a process where every single piece of a person’s body is taken out- that way, the child isn’t technically ‘dead’. They’re alive, just apart. The unwinded pieces are given to people who need new body parts, or just want to change. Parents can sign their children up for unwinding—if they’re problems, or something like that. Once they sign the unwinding forms, they can’t change their minds. The children are property of the government. There are also tithes, children who volunteer from birth in the name of God, to help other people.
Connor is a problem child. He gets into fights at school and misses curfew, so his parents ship him off to be unwound. Risa is a ward of state. When the state doesn’t have the money to keep her anymore, they ship her off. Lev is a tithe. He is determined to get unwound, and believe h is doing the right thing. Connor and Risa run away, trying to escape their destiny. When their paths cross, they go on a mission to find a safe haven until they’re eighteen.
Through the search for a safe haven, the kids learn a lot about themselves. They learn about the price of morality, as well as the fight for hope in any situation. These kids change themselves along the way, not being able to distinguish themselves from their past lives. It is an amazing ride for the reader, unexpected twists at every turn. IT truly was an amazing book. Well written and perfectly paced, I cannot WAIT until Mr. Shusterman’s next YA.
Number of pages: 350
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Price: $8.99 Paperback
Recommended Reading Age: 13+
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars
Review is also available on my website, http://jasonsbookstack.blogspot.com/
Follow us on twitter!: http://twitter.com/#!/JBookstack
UNWIND, written by master storyteller Newal Shusterman, is truly and astonishing piece of young adult literature. It is compelling, intense, and resonating, as well as centering around a very intriguing and important issue in the only way Shusterman can. Generally, this is a lot like his Bruiser. It took an important topic and intertwined it into a sci-fi thriller. It is written poetically but not philosophically; the message isn’t in black and white, which makes finding the message all the more rewarding to find. Although I like his Bruiser better, this was still a telling, profound piece of literature that I think would suit for readers of all genres. (It’s worth noting that this is a real treat for horror fans as well as contemporary junkies)
The Second Civil War was fought over abortion rights. One side wanted pro-choice, and the other wanted pro-life. The two groups came to a consensus about a solution that scientists found- unwinding. The Bill of Life was formed, a law that stated that parents could not touch their child from 1-3. But once they went past that age, parents could unwind them. Unwinding is a process where every single piece of a person’s body is taken out- that way, the child isn’t technically ‘dead’. They’re alive, just apart. The unwinded pieces are given to people who need new body parts, or just want to change. Parents can sign their children up for unwinding—if they’re problems, or something like that. Once they sign the unwinding forms, they can’t change their minds. The children are property of the government. There are also tithes, children who volunteer from birth in the name of God, to help other people.
Connor is a problem child. He gets into fights at school and misses curfew, so his parents ship him off to be unwound. Risa is a ward of state. When the state doesn’t have the money to keep her anymore, they ship her off. Lev is a tithe. He is determined to get unwound, and believe h is doing the right thing. Connor and Risa run away, trying to escape their destiny. When their paths cross, they go on a mission to find a safe haven until they’re eighteen.
Through the search for a safe haven, the kids learn a lot about themselves. They learn about the price of morality, as well as the fight for hope in any situation. These kids change themselves along the way, not being able to distinguish themselves from their past lives. It is an amazing ride for the reader, unexpected twists at every turn. IT truly was an amazing book. Well written and perfectly paced, I cannot WAIT until Mr. Shusterman’s next YA.
Number of pages: 350
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Price: $8.99 Paperback
Recommended Reading Age: 13+
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars
Review is also available on my website, http://jasonsbookstack.blogspot.com/
Follow us on twitter!: http://twitter.com/#!/JBookstack
"We move in and out of darkness and light all our lives"
I REALLY enjoyed reading Unwind, it's one of my favourite YA dystopian books I've read(it might even top The Hunger Games if the series is consistent). Im rating the first book 4.6 out of 5!
This book felt horrifyingly realistic. It made me think about so many questions about morality and evil and justice. Sometimes they aren't just black and white, and in Unwind there's so much of it overlapping each other that you start to begin to understand the things that opposes your beliefs.
The plot was continuously fast paced up until the end, with quite a few twists and shocking discoveries. The world set-up wasn't all explained right away, and that was also one of the things that gripped me into the story because i really wanted to know how the whole unwinding system works. It was strangely creepy to realize that the world in Unwind isn't that far off from our own world. The only difference would be that in that world, the whole abortion debate with the life vs choice issue was taken way too seriously and shaped how everyone lived. I shuddered thinking what would happen if our world had something like that happening. It's very scary, especially when you get to experience it all from the victims' POV.
The plot and the writing really complimented each other. It usually takes me a while to get used to multiple POV in a book but this worked out super well for me. We have Connor, Risa and Lev's POV alternating and sometimes there'll be random POV from an outsider or minor character. This really helped to see things from a different perspective. At one point, we even get to read a character's experience while they're actually BEING unwound. I got goosebumps, man. I couldn't stop saying OH MY GOD.
The characters are pretty great. There's so much development, especially for Connor and Lev. I love all three characters, each of them(though kinda dumb at first) are really smart. I like the way they follow their instincts and learn from their mistakes and the way they handle certain situations. It even had a bit of romance which i actually really liked, and as much as i wish there was more of it, it was pretty good that it wasn't at all a main focus.
All in all, i highly recommend it to everyone who loves YA dystopian, especially if you've gotten bored of the same typical plotlines. This one is a bit different. It has a more realistic vibe to it, and kids do get hurt.
I REALLY enjoyed reading Unwind, it's one of my favourite YA dystopian books I've read(it might even top The Hunger Games if the series is consistent). Im rating the first book 4.6 out of 5!
This book felt horrifyingly realistic. It made me think about so many questions about morality and evil and justice. Sometimes they aren't just black and white, and in Unwind there's so much of it overlapping each other that you start to begin to understand the things that opposes your beliefs.
The plot was continuously fast paced up until the end, with quite a few twists and shocking discoveries. The world set-up wasn't all explained right away, and that was also one of the things that gripped me into the story because i really wanted to know how the whole unwinding system works. It was strangely creepy to realize that the world in Unwind isn't that far off from our own world. The only difference would be that in that world, the whole abortion debate with the life vs choice issue was taken way too seriously and shaped how everyone lived. I shuddered thinking what would happen if our world had something like that happening. It's very scary, especially when you get to experience it all from the victims' POV.
The plot and the writing really complimented each other. It usually takes me a while to get used to multiple POV in a book but this worked out super well for me. We have Connor, Risa and Lev's POV alternating and sometimes there'll be random POV from an outsider or minor character. This really helped to see things from a different perspective. At one point, we even get to read a character's experience while they're actually BEING unwound. I got goosebumps, man. I couldn't stop saying OH MY GOD.
The characters are pretty great. There's so much development, especially for Connor and Lev. I love all three characters, each of them(though kinda dumb at first) are really smart. I like the way they follow their instincts and learn from their mistakes and the way they handle certain situations. It even had a bit of romance which i actually really liked, and as much as i wish there was more of it, it was pretty good that it wasn't at all a main focus.
All in all, i highly recommend it to everyone who loves YA dystopian, especially if you've gotten bored of the same typical plotlines. This one is a bit different. It has a more realistic vibe to it, and kids do get hurt.
Highly recommended. I'll be reading anything this writer churns out.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Medical trauma