Review: Unwind by Neal Schusterman

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Released: 2007

Pages: 335

Source: Personal Copy

Unwinding is a result of a second Civil War that was fought between Pro Life and Pro Choice advocates. The new laws protect children until they are thirteen years old. If a parent didn’t want to keep the child, they were free to leave them on a doorstep. If they were seen leaving the child, the child became their responsibility and they could no longer walk away. Once the child was theres, they had to keep the child until they were thirteen. Once a child turned thirteen, parents could choose to “unwind” their children. This consisted to having all the parts of the child harvested to “live on” in someone else. Unwinding was a compromise between the two parties.

In Unwind, we have Connor, the “troubled” teen, Risa, an orphan and Lev, a tithe. They are all about to go to the harvest camp. Connor’s parents have signed the papers, and they don’t know, he knows. Risa is told she is to become unwound because of budget cuts and Lev has always known he would become unwound, because he would be a tithe. He’s accepted his faith, and although he’s scared, he doesn’t feel like he has a choice. The three of them end up on the run, trying to escape. Lev is really confused, and doesn’t want to be kidnapped by Connor and Risa. He’s a tithe, people have always made him proud to be in his shoes.

Unwind is a very interesting book that I didn’t really know about when I started reading it. I went in not knowing much about it, and I was really hooked. It’s very fast paced, action packed, different and disturbing. The story is told from three perspectives. The plot became very real to me, the world building was fantastic. There’s one section that gave me chills. I highly recommend this one. I haven’t been into young adult for a while, but this one was so original and interesting. I believe there are 4 books in the series, and I will be reading the others.