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A review by bookedbrunette
UnBound by Neal Shusterman
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
βππ ππ π₯ πππ§π ππ π₯π π₯ππ π¦π£ππ π₯π ππ©π₯ππππ¦ππ€π π πππ€πππ ππ π₯ππ π¨ππ₯ππ£π€ π π π₯ππ π¨π π£ππ, ππ¦π₯ πππ€π₯πππ ππ π πππππ₯ πππ π§π π₯ππ π€π π¨ππ₯ππ£π€ π₯π ππππ‘ ππ¦πππ π₯ππ π¨ππͺ.β
βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ/5
Unbound
Neal Shusterman (and company)
305 pages
FC: Colton, Thor, Bryce, Divan.
I donβt know why I didnβt read this book sooner. I always have a negative mindset about books that donβt overtly follow the story but deal with the same world and characters from the actual series but, Unbound blew me away.
This book was a delicate addition to the series in a wonderful way. It told of the loose ends that the readers arenβt even hoping for at the end of the series. But getting these loose ends tied ANYWAY?
MAGICAL!
We were not only thrown into multiple stories that told of the βafterβ but we finally got a visual addition of the past that created the world we know from the Unwind series.
Itβs actually so good. I could write a whole paper on the entire series but this book specifically takes the cake.
Firstly, Neal Shusterman (and company, he wrote this with a couple of authors and his two sons), really are exceptional at telling stories. I donβt know if his editor is just fantastic but HE NEVER MISSES!! So good.
Writing aside, these characters are all so complex. In a world that is run by the level of money someoneβs parts are worth, everyone alive seems worthless. There are moral dilemmas that I donβt have solutions too, questions that I get dizzy thinking of answers for and, best of all, my heart is able to accept everything this book has to offer. Even the villains of the world have a place of origin and a childhood, Iβm glad I got to experience some of that.
So many interesting things this book touches upon that really exist between the spaces of words are too heavy and deep to recount.
But, the topic that was shown in every instance and made me so uncomfortable ALWAYS, was the level of power.
There are 5 groups that hold the world together.
- the government
- Burmese dah Zey
- Black market/parts pirates
- Anti divisional resistance
- The AWOL unwinds
If you havenβt read this series, thisβll sound like mumble jumble. But if you have, I hope it makes sense :)
Anyway, all of the people involved not only believe they are on the right side but usually use one (or two) other groups to vindictively take apart the groups they dont like.
Every single leader thinks what they do is correct, for money, for fame, for the saving of lives, for justice, forβ¦and the list continues.
The world Shusterman was able to create, the living, breathing characters who I love like true friends, the moral dilemmas, the war, the bloodshed and the over all possibilities of a world like this coming to be are all thoughts and fears that wrack my brain.
But I LOVE IT.
Some favorite quotes of mine, too good not to touch upon.
- βHow do you dream of a future when youβre not supposed to have one? How do you keep going when the world has disowned you?β β’ βI keep reminding myself that Iβm right, and the world is wrong.β β’ βbut how do you know?β β’ βI believeβ
- βand maybe theyβll come back someday and maybe they wonβt. But I think theyβre happy. Not happily ever after kind of happy, because no one gets that. I mean we all get sick, and get hit by trucks, and fall out of love, and stuff, but I swear I can see Connor and Risa dangling their feet off that catamaran, saying, sure, as hell beats Soniaβs basement.β
- βIn every memory is his music, and she hears it again every day, playing in the wind through the trees to tease and torment her. Or maybe to comfort her and remind her that nothing and no one is ever truly lost.β
- βFunny how morality, which always seems so black-and-white, can be influenced so completely by what you were raised to believe.β
- βThatβs the problem with unwinding - itβs not about problem kids, itβs about problem adultsβ
The only thing I have left to say is one all encompassing phrase: nice socks ;)