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A review by eesh25
UnDivided by Neal Shusterman
5.0
The Unwind Dystology officially joins the ranks of series with good endings. And when I say good, I don't mean kinda good, or mostly good, or good-except-for-that-one-thing-you've-convinced-yourself-you-don't-have-a-problem-with (even though you totally do). No, I mean that I'm fully satisfied with this ending. And that doesn't happen very often.
As you know, we left UnSouled with revelations about just how big the cover-ups by Proactive Citizenry have been. The propaganda, of course, has been pretty obvious. And they have a stake in keeping Unwinding going. But to cover-up an organ printer that could save the lives of countless kids? That's next-level evil corporation stuff. President Snow wants what Proactive Citizenry has. But, jokes aside, the revelations are not done with you yet. And it's almost scary how every new thing we find out makes the current state of this world more believable.
Connor, Risa and Lev are still trying their best to stop unwinding. Connor is still his imperfect and troubled self, and I love that Shusterman shows us how Connor has matured without taking away the things that make him who he is. Risa is still a little too composed/perfect. And Lev is... Lev. You never know what to expect with him.
But again, these are not the only perspectives and storylines. Starkey's still around. And joining him in his shittiness are Nelson and Argent. There's also Hayden, Cam, Grace, Una and several others. We're also keeping with the tradition of POVs of nameless individuals and articles/posts from the real world. And while I'll never figure out how Shusterman balances all of them, I can definitely say that he does a great job of it. This book was perfectly paced and structured.
Additionally, I want to reiterate that I loved the way the series ended. This was the best conclusion that I could have hoped for. And this series as a whole has been great. I've come to care a lot about these characters, so I'm happy the author did them justice. And I'm glad to tell you that he even sold me on the romance, finally.
I don't have any issues with the book. There was one scene that made me very angry, but it was resolved. I guess I do have a series-wide... it's more of an observation than a complaint. It's about some similarities I've noticed in the treatment of Connor and Rowan (from Arc of a Scythe) compared to Risa and Citra (also AoaS). Long story short, Rowan and Connor are always hated and wanted dead, whereas Risa and Citra seem to garner more... admiration. Maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there, I can't be sure. I'll report to you after I read another of the author's series.
P. S. Just found out that there's a short story collection published after this book. So, I'll be reading that at some point.
As you know, we left UnSouled with revelations about just how big the cover-ups by Proactive Citizenry have been. The propaganda, of course, has been pretty obvious. And they have a stake in keeping Unwinding going. But to cover-up an organ printer that could save the lives of countless kids? That's next-level evil corporation stuff. President Snow wants what Proactive Citizenry has. But, jokes aside, the revelations are not done with you yet. And it's almost scary how every new thing we find out makes the current state of this world more believable.
Connor, Risa and Lev are still trying their best to stop unwinding. Connor is still his imperfect and troubled self, and I love that Shusterman shows us how Connor has matured without taking away the things that make him who he is. Risa is still a little too composed/perfect. And Lev is... Lev. You never know what to expect with him.
But again, these are not the only perspectives and storylines. Starkey's still around. And joining him in his shittiness are Nelson and Argent. There's also Hayden, Cam, Grace, Una and several others. We're also keeping with the tradition of POVs of nameless individuals and articles/posts from the real world. And while I'll never figure out how Shusterman balances all of them, I can definitely say that he does a great job of it. This book was perfectly paced and structured.
Additionally, I want to reiterate that I loved the way the series ended. This was the best conclusion that I could have hoped for. And this series as a whole has been great. I've come to care a lot about these characters, so I'm happy the author did them justice. And I'm glad to tell you that he even sold me on the romance, finally.
I don't have any issues with the book. There was one scene that made me very angry, but it was resolved. I guess I do have a series-wide... it's more of an observation than a complaint. It's about some similarities I've noticed in the treatment of Connor and Rowan (from Arc of a Scythe) compared to Risa and Citra (also AoaS). Long story short, Rowan and Connor are always hated and wanted dead, whereas Risa and Citra seem to garner more... admiration. Maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there, I can't be sure. I'll report to you after I read another of the author's series.
P. S. Just found out that there's a short story collection published after this book. So, I'll be reading that at some point.