A review by julesarano
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Set in a chilling near-future Sweden, this novel imagines a society where childless individuals over the age of fifty are deemed obsolete and confined to state-run facilities, subjected to experimentation, and harvested for their organs. While the premise is undeniably dark, the story that unfolds is unexpectedly tender: a moving exploration of love, friendship, and the quiet resistance of human connection. At its core, the book challenges the notion of “disposability,” revealing it to be far more nuanced—and far more human—than it first appears.

This is the dark side of collectivist thinking taken to its extreme: the idea that your worth is measured by what you produce or reproduce for society. Once that logic takes hold, human rights become conditional. It’s not compassion—it’s control. And history has shown, time and again, that when governments start deciding who is expendable, it never ends with just one group.
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