Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Unwind

Author: Neal Shusterman
Series: Unwind Dystology #1
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Pages: 335
Review by: Max

“You can't change laws without first changing human nature.”

“You can't change human nature without first changing the law.”

It's after the Second Civil war and a heck of a lot has changed.

Unwinding: A completely LEGAL procedure targeting thirteen to eighteen year-olds that basically takes out all of their organs and spreads them out to people who 'need' them.
Storking: Leaving your baby on someone else's front steps. Completely legal as long as the house owner doesn't catch you.

In case you can't tell, Neal Shusterman's future is Fudged. Up.

At least, Connor, Risa, and Lev think so.



Connor's sort of a bad kid. So maybe he gets in fights sometimes and doesn't do the best in school. That doesn't make him a terrible person, though! He discovers papers his own parents had signed, making his unwinding official, and he only sees one solution: he's got to run away.

Risa, on the other hand, doesn't have any parents, and when the orphanage has budget cuts and can't afford to keep all of the kids that live there, Risa's not 'special' enough to stay. She's riding the bus on the way to the harvest camp (where unwinding happens and organs are 'harvested') when an Unwind escapee by the name of Connor, when she finds a chance to save herself.

Lev has been sacrificed by his religious parents for the 'greater good.' He doesn't mind, because it's all he's ever known. In fact, he's excited to be unwound. And when he's kidnapped by an AWOL ( the name for escaped Unwinds), claiming he's trying to save Lev, Lev isn't happy.

This book was so amazing that I don't think I can explain. I think they only thing I can do is tell you to read it.

The characters in this book are some my favorites ever. Especially Connor, the Akron AWOL.
I promise, you'll fall in love with all of them right away, excluding Lev (who was a little grumpy).  You'll relate to them, smile at them (talking 'bout Connor here), and feel so terribly bad for them. It's amazing.

The world was too creepy. Not too creepy that you don't want to read the book. Just creepy enough that you don't want to think about it all for too long. The world definitely made you guess about everything, and I think this is what every dystopian should be like.

Everything just came together so nicely, and there were things you didn't see coming and things that made you go all like, I SO SAW THAT COMING! and things that you forgot about but tied in nicely and I can't say enough good things about this book, guys.

Okay, so maybe not everything was explained thoroughly, but I think that's good for two reasons: 1. I hate hate hate when authors spell everything out for you like you're dumb and 2. It kept up this awesomesaucetastic air of mystery and ambiguousness.

So here's your mission. Go read this book, and then read the sequel, UnWholly, which was published earlier this year, and then wait anxiously for the third book to come out.

Fly on,
Max