junipercelst 's review for:

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

5.0

adventurous dark reflective medium-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

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I am jealous and afraid of whatever was happening up in Neil Shusterman’s brain when he wrote this imaginatively horrific series.

Chuckles! Tears! Existential dread! Curiousity about what the world would be like if unwinding were real—do fewer touchy-feely people go into medicine, with conscientious objections? What disabilities are severe enough to make it illegal to unwind someone? Etc. It’s fun to think about.

Some of the book’s aged poorly or reads very much like a cis white guy in the 2000s wrote it. Ex.

Mai essentially saying she was getting unwound bc of China’s one child policy; renaming races “umber” and “sienna;” portraying most girls as vapid; and fat people as selfish and stupid

Spoiler-y insights re: abortion and storking

There’s very little discussion of abortion beyond vague references to pro-life/pro-choice rhetoric. Occasionally eye-rolled at the “both sides”-ness of it, especially now knowing how dangerous it is to have a uterus post-Dobbs. See point above about… author is cis man. Storming makes for interesting subplots but also safe haven boxes exist why tf would they make it a thing? And so how then do kids get into StaHo custody?

Thought ab like 4-starring it but this was my favorite book as a teenager so it gets the 5-star honor. What a thought-provoking trip of a book I still love to explain to friends.