Book Notes: Unwind

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I feel a little sheepish giving a Juvenile Sci-Fi book 5 stars, but I'm going for it anyway! If not for my book club picking this book it would have been so far off my radar screen. In short, it is set in a post-Apocalyptic America, after the pro-life and pro-choice debate turned into an actual war that the military had to try to break up. The peacemaking compromise was to outlaw abortion as we currently know it, and once a child is 13-18 years old, a parent or legal guardian can sign orders for their child to be "unwound." Unwinding involves every single part of the teen being recycled for parts; knee transplants, fingernails, blood transfusions even "brain bits." The story follows three "Unwinds," Lev, Risa and Connor. Lev is a tithe who was conceived and raised to be unwound as a religious offering, “giving 10% to the church” and he was the 10th child. His parents even had a wedding-scale party for him, and he was proud to be a tithe, the only future he’s ever known. Proud until he met Connor and Risa, who join forces to escape the Juvi-cops.

Shusterman provides a nice balance of political hindsight, character development, adventure and horror. He hints at teen romance and angst but does not dwell on it. Chapter 61 on the actual unwinding was absolutely agonizing to read as the Unwind has to be awake and conscious through the whole process from; "you'll feel some pressure on your ankle, but it's nothing to worry about," to three hours later, "You'll feel some pressure on your scalp but it's nothing to worry about."

The book forces readers to take a closer look at the country's cast-offs, at our political practices, and naturally at abortion and value of a life. The norms and laws have changed, but is human nature the same? I’ll be looking out for more Shusterman books, maybe I should not walk so quickly past the young adult section!





View all my reviews