I'd never read a book like Unwind before. I was completely thrilled by the idea of it -- In a near future a new law is in place, an agreement made to end a war over the rights of abortion. Children between the ages of 13 & 18 can be 'aborted', a legal declaration from a parent or guardian to the system, which agrees to donate almost 100% of the child's body parts in order to save people who need & deserve them more -- and I thought yes, i'll have some of that.
I quickly browsed some reviews and found that so many people were left completely disturbed by a particular scene in the book which made me even more excited to get lost between the pages of this tale. It did not disappoint.
In this world we meet Connor, who although could buff up on his attitude somewhat, is actually a nice guy. Your typical misunderstood teenager with typical misunderstood issues.
It moves into the plot line quite quickly and within a few pages we are running down a highway with Connor, preparing to meet the rest of the gang -- Lev & Risa
I liked Lev's character so much. He is a young boy with an entirely different opinion to the Unwinding process & at times that alone is so upsetting to get your head around but it sets up well for a few events that happen later on in their journey.
Risa is your average girl. She's smart, but not gifted. She does well in school, but isn't top of the class. She has a talent, but so do many others who live as state children (orphans). Unfortunately there isn't room for them all and Risa's future isn't looking too put together... *Ahem* Ignore my attempt at humour.
The relationships that develop between the characters are natural and believable. Neal Shusterman has done well bringing them all together in the way he did. Even the villains of the story are written in a believable way. A certain villain will have you feeling all sorts of strange feelings about them by the end of the book.
What I liked most of all about 'Unwind' was the way Neal packed this story full off little stories. Whilst we are mainly focused on the initial character's journey, we do end up following a couple of other character's too.
In all, this book did not fail my expectations & it was superbly written - Exciting, creepy and down-right heartbreaking at times.
The book cover is less than desirable (the UK cover is much prettier) but the story is magnificent & is a must read for sure! I'm whacking 5 big stars on this one.
- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (November 6, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1416912045
- ISBN-13: 978-1416912040
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