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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
I do not understand why I let this book sit on my shelf for ten thousand years before I picked it up! Neal Shusterman has fantastic writing skills and is seriously giving Beverly Jenkins a run for her money as my fave. Lucky for me, I firmly believe in the mantra "Porque no Los dos?!"
Let's get down to business -sings- to defeat the Hans! No seriously, Unwind is the first in a series. It follows many points of views, but tastefully and we learn of a future dystopian America that has solved the issue of abortion, by utilizing the unwinding process. Instead of aborting your offspring, you now have the age window of 13-18 to decide to unwind your child. It is the ultimate fix because instead of wasting life or having useless degenerates in our society, we can now utilize every part of an unwind to create a better society.
Honestly, I have never thought of anything so fucking scary in my life and I was sitting here like "Who the hell just sits around and thinks "Hey, what if we unwound unruly teens?!?"" Then I realized the jump from transplants to unwinding isn't that huge. Neal Shusterman does a fantastic job of drawing you into his stories while showing different facets of very relevant topics. He has a unique ability to tell different stories with the Shusterman mark, so although each story is different you always know it is his writing. I found the plot very immersive and he managed to make me care and pay attention to each character in the book. I can't wait to read the next book...as soon as I get it.
Let's get down to business -sings- to defeat the Hans! No seriously, Unwind is the first in a series. It follows many points of views, but tastefully and we learn of a future dystopian America that has solved the issue of abortion, by utilizing the unwinding process. Instead of aborting your offspring, you now have the age window of 13-18 to decide to unwind your child. It is the ultimate fix because instead of wasting life or having useless degenerates in our society, we can now utilize every part of an unwind to create a better society.
Honestly, I have never thought of anything so fucking scary in my life and I was sitting here like "Who the hell just sits around and thinks "Hey, what if we unwound unruly teens?!?"" Then I realized the jump from transplants to unwinding isn't that huge. Neal Shusterman does a fantastic job of drawing you into his stories while showing different facets of very relevant topics. He has a unique ability to tell different stories with the Shusterman mark, so although each story is different you always know it is his writing. I found the plot very immersive and he managed to make me care and pay attention to each character in the book. I can't wait to read the next book...as soon as I get it.
In short: I found it very predictable. The topic could have been so great exploring the morals and the cultures that would/could come with being able to "unwind" someone. But it just didn't do it. It felt to me like pure action - running away, being chased, and end of book... I wished to be confronted with that interesting problem - to be made to think about it and to have to really deal with the morals behind it all. But there was nothing at all of that in this book, and so it fell completely flat for me.
I would have loved to force a bunch of 15 year olds to read this in an AP Lang Class
Really enjoyed it! A bit simply written but the premise is interesting and if you like action/adventure books then this one is well-done.
Haunting. This book will stay with me for a long, long time. How do you hold onto hope in a world that doesn't give you a choice? How can you stand in the face of a future that was determined for you and not feel fear? How can you see an opportunity to seize back the control you were denied and not take it?
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This has got to be one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is for young adults or teens, but I would say the topic and ethical dilemma posed belongs belongs people over 14 at least. It is a great book to make you think.
It started out slow; I actually thought I would abandon it. Glad I stuck with it. Just when you think you know the plot line and characters, you're sent in a completely different direction. Disturbing premise.
challenging
dark
reflective