Review- Unwind

Title: Unwind
Author: Neal Shusterman
Series: Unwind Trilogy #1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publisher
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

My thoughts: 

**CAUTION!!! This review contains SPOILERS!!! Read at your own peril!!**

I don’t know any other way to start this review except by saying that Unwind is totally awesome! I read this book in one day and stayed up way past by bed time to finish it. Neal Shusterman is just a fantastic writer and I can’t believe this is the first book I’ve ready by him.

One of the main reasons I barreled through this book is because I had to have confirmation on what it meant to be Unwound. Throughout the whole book the concept of being “unwound” is only implied, saying that life doesn’t technically end because every part of that person is used in some way or another. At first when I started reading it I thought that it was really weird but I didn’t really understand what was going on. As the book progressed it became more and more clear what was really going on. This book takes place sometime in the future where advanced technology and medicine allows doctors to transplant any part of the body onto another person.

Unwind is told through the prospective of a bunch of different characters but mainly through Conor, whose parents chose to have him unwound, Risa, who had become a burden to the state and Lev, whose parents raised him to be a tithe, a sort of sacrifice for the good of the people. The book chronicles their journey of escape and trying to avoid a horrible ending. Because abortion in the womb has become illegal in this world, life cannot be touched until the child is between the ages of 13 and 17. Once they turn 13, their parents can choose to have the child unwound. Even though it’s such a grizzly concept it made for a fantastic book!

The three main characters end up at a “harvesting camp” where they are supposed to be unwound. When one of the other characters is taken to be unwound, the character witnesses the whole thing and it is one of the creepiest scenes I’ve ever read. They don’t put him to sleep (because they’re not allowed), they put each of his limbs on a separate table and as each part of him is removed he sees them taking away the tables. It’s so, so creepy! I thought for sure I was going to have dreams of being unwound.

Unwound is just so full of adventure that I just had to read it in one day! I love the whole futuristic feel with a little bit of science fiction thrown into it. I have to give Unwound 5 hearts because I have not read a book like it!!