Lynnie
dystopian, young adult, sci fi, fantasy
Unwind by Neal Shusterman takes place in a future where there was a great, bloody civil war over the issue of abortion. And, the result was that it was illegal for human life to be ended from the moment of conception until a child reached age 13. But, between ages 13 and 18, a parent (or guardian) could choose to “unwind” their child through a process that “terminated” the child but found medical uses for all the child’s parts so that the child lived on through the recipients of their pieces.
Lynnie read this one 1-1/2 years ago and Amy finally just got to it.
Amy's review
This book was so entirely implausible from the first page that I could not enjoy it. I read lots of fantasy, lots of YA, lots of sci-fi, lots of dystopian fiction. I am VERY accepting of unrealistic, far-fetched, creatively built stories as long as it feels plausible on any level and the story is entertaining. But this one was so entirely unfounded in any possible sense of reality that I could not get past the premise. Unwind had been recommended several times. I finally got around to listening to it in audio-book format because I needed something to listen to while I was out walking and on a long car trip. If it hadn’t been fulfilling this specific need, I never would have finished it!
Aside from the fact that this would never, ever happen, I plowed through. I did find some enjoyment in the main characters themselves—they had a lot of heart and integrity. And, there were interesting sections of the storyline. But, it was built on a flimsy house of cards that could not be stabilized in my brain. I think that teen readers are more willing than adults to accept the possibility that adults would actually decide to throw them away if they caused trouble. Perhaps it’s a deep, dark childhood fear and feeds their mistrust of adults. That’s the only reason I can figure that this book has had any measure of success and warranted 3 more sequels!! I had also posted my review on Amazon.com and someone responded with this suggestion: "the setting is a tool to highlight a social theme to be debated. In this book it allows the reader re-evaluate his beliefs on pro-life/ pro-choice. Society as a whole today defends life after birth, but not before birth. By creating a setting that flip-flops societal values, the reader has to question the values of today's society. "If life is sacred after birth, why is it not sacred before birth?" Okay, I'll buy that. But, I still didn't like the premise.
Additionally, the narrator read most of the novel in a robot voice that was rigid and unexpressive. He had vocal acting talent which was obvious when he was voicing characters. But, as the narrator, he was painful to listen to. Also, what was with all the southern accents for characters in Ohio? This was my least favorite reader of any audio book I've heard. And, it probably did add to my dislike of this novel.
Lynnie's review
I thought this was an interesting story. The characters & plot were engaging, but also at times, so far-fetched that I often became annoyed. If anything it was the characters that made me want to continue- they were well- drawn & interesting enough that I wanted to see what happened to them. I felt like the morality issues in the story were gimmicky, for what it's worth & that part of the story annoyed me more than anything.
Since I read this book so long ago, I feel I should point out that I have yet to develop any desire to continue the series which is unusual for me- I rarely give up after the first book in a series, but I'm still not interested in continuing. That said, my teenage son would like me to point out that he LOVED the series & has read all four books. So, as Amy suspected- this book definitely resonates more with the younger crowd.
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