Friday, August 24, 2012

Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman


Title: Unwind (Unwind, #1) 

Author: Neal Shusterman 

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Unwind is a novel that made waves in the book blogging community when it first released and has continued to do so even now, with the release date of its sequel looming ahead. Thus, I was sure I would love like this novel and while I certainly did immensely enjoy it, I do believe I am the most surprised out of anyone to find that this book - for all its brilliant concepts - failed to "wow" me in its execution or ultimate message, which I believe to be its downfall.

I find it difficult to summarize Unwind in just a few phrases, but long story short, this is a dystopian novel in which the issue of abortion has been solved by a new concept called unwinding. In this world, children between the ages of 13-18 can be unwound and their body parts used for medical purposes, thus, these children are not believed to actually be dead as some part of their body lives on in someone else. Unwind revolves around the stories of Connor, whose parents signed him up to be unwound after he got into one too many school fights; Risa, who is an orphan; and Lev who is a tithe and has been preparing to be unwound every since he was born. When Connor runs away to escape being unwound, planning to stay in hiding until he is 18 and a free man from the law, his life becomes inexplicably interwoven with that of Risa and Lev and the three must struggle to escape authorities or face - not death - but unwinding.

In all honesty, Unwind had a LOT to like. For one, I loved the concept and the pacing is phenomenal, making you flip the pages frantically and switch from Connor, Lev, Risa, and a couple of other perspectives as well. I think a lot of people have difficulty grasping the reality of this concept and while I agree that a war over abortion is a little far-fetched, overall I thought this was handled extremely well. If fathers in the Middle East can sacrifice their daughters to polygamous and cruel marriages, then surely parents are certainly able to sign up their children to be unwound - after all, they're not REALLY dead, are they? So you see, I loved this idea and found it to be so psychologically intriguing. Connor and Risa's perspectives were certainly interesting, but seeing what a tithe like Lev had to say after essentially being brain-washed his entire life or meeting characters who had a part of someone else's brain in their mind was all very imaginative and interesting and I loved it. Yet, for all my praise of this novel and its writing and its psychologically scarring elements - because there is one gruesome scene that may throw off other readers - what really brought down this novel was its ultimate message.

Every author has a point they're trying to make in their work and from the surface, the point of Unwind is quite obvious as a rebellion against this cruel and unnatural mode of living slowly begins. Yet, there were so many discrepancies that made me sit back and think after finishing this book and while I loved reading it, I don't think it's a book that deserves all the praise it receives. Yes it's a new and original idea, yes the writing is great, yes the characters are well-developed, but let's look at what this story ultimately says.

Note: Yes, there are spoilers ahead, but they will not ruin the story for you. In fact, if you haven’t read this novel, they will most likely not make much sense, so you can read them without any harm, but if you don’t wish to read them, skip below to wear the semi-spoilers end. 

First of all, Connor receives an arm from an unwound at the end of this novel which seems to take away the entire purpose of it. You see, Connor is running away from being unwound only to receive a part of that procedure because he's in trouble which is a huge irony and red flag for the ultimate message. I think the saddest thing though, is that this unwound arm he receives was only a part of the tale to further the romance, which isn't even that great to begin with. It's disturbing and bothered me immensely.

Next: Lev. I loved Lev because of the conflicting emotions he went through as a tithe, but ultimately, he never realized the value of life and living. For a tithe, being an unwound means doing a great service and once Lev understood the horror he was about to face, instead of embracing life, he became a human bomb to destroy an unwinding hospital facility. Okay, this is good...right? Yes, he's destroying these horrible facilities, but at the cost of his own life because he still does not see that being alive is better than being unwound or dead and it is his near-death and not near-unwinding experience which enables him to see the light which, again, contradicts the true message of this novel!

One last example: the Admiral. The Admiral unwound his son but wanted to stop it from happening at the last minute, but since he couldn't, he spent the rest of his life finding out where the parts of his son had gone and gathering them together. (Not the parts, the people who had the parts). On the surface, this seems very sweet since he’s just trying to be with his son again, but really, it isn’t sweet at all! What Shusterman essentially does is show us that yes, Unwinds are alive because even if their body parts are not all put together, by assembling a group of people who contain the same body parts as one person, that makes the person whole and alive once again. The Admiral was essentially speaking to his son's brain and seeing his son's lungs of asthma and hearing his son's voice so how was he not alive? The point of this novel was to show that there are things worse than death, such as unwinding and ceasing to be yourself, but then the author went and proved that unwinding really wasn't that bad after all! I think what Shusterman meant to do was something much different with this scene, but its execution and the way it is ultimately interpreted fails to really add to the message he’s building up with his story. 


End Semi-Spoilers 

I liked this book - I really did. It was such an original and creative take on a very pressing and modern issue, but there were way too many plot holes in it. Some of the rebellion mobs made no sense and many of the secondary characters were vastly underdeveloped too. I would still recommend this as most people seem to have overlooked or skipped the plot holes, but I simply cannot. I still don't know what this author planned to achieve with this book, only because so much of it was contradictory, but hopefully the sequel will be better! 

23 comments:

  1. Ooh, this definitely sounds intriguing and your review has me very curious, especially about the gruesome part (I'm wondering if it would be too much for me.) I haven't read much about this, maybe only one other review, but I can see why it's a bit controversial, I might just have to give this a go!

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    1. I'd love to see what you make of this, Mandee! It's such an intriguing and unique tale, so I think you'll really like it! :)

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  2. You're right I've heard non-stop praise about this book, the premise does sound fascinating, but for some reason I still haven't picked it up :( and reading some of the issues you had with it I'm really unsure now whether it would be my sort of book :/ I'm sorry this didn't work out for you as you'd hoped, but another gorgeous review Keertana! :)

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    1. Thanks Jasprit! I really do think you should pick this one up, despite my issues with it. It's an extremely unique and intriguing plot, so you might surprise yourself by enjoying it! I hope you give it a shot! :D

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  3. Nooo this was my worst read ever! I hated it with every fiber of my being. But I won't judge you... much. Bahah just kidding. Great review, though!

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    1. I totally understand why you hate it, Giselle. It's a tough book to like, but it has creativity and originality - that can't be denied! :)

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  4. It's really interesting to hear your thoughts, Keertana! I'm one of the many people who were absolutely blown away by this book. Even thinking about it now, I get goosebumps! It's a shame it didn't wow you in quite the same way but you do make valid points. I'm glad you enjoyed it though and look forward to seeing what you make of the sequel. I hope it is slightly better for you. :)

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    1. I hope the sequel is better for me too! I can't wait for it to release this week and am eagerly looking forward to it. I'm glad you were blown away by this though - I can see why and if I didn't constantly question everything, I'm sure I would have been too! :)

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  5. :) I haven't read this so I was pretty confused reading about the plot wholes, but i enjoyed reading your review. Its nice to hear your opinion on this story. Fantastic review! Wonderful points.

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    1. Thanks Rachel! I think you should totally give this one a shot - it's amazing! You'd definitely enjoy it! :)

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  6. I've seen this book a couple of times but never really checked it out. The premise sounds really good and very intriguing. Sorry, it didn't completely work out for you Keertana but I'm glad that you still enjoyed the overall. Brilliant review. :)

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    1. Thanks Eunice! I'd definitely encourage you to read this one as it has such an intriguing concept! I loved that and while I had a few problems with this, I'll definitely be picking up the sequel! :D

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  7. When I read Unwind in 7th grade it absolutely BLEW MY MIND. I loved it! I'm not sure if I'd have the same thoughts as an adult, though. Still, the concept is awesome. Have you seen the short film based on the book? It's about 5 minutes long and is on YouTube. Definitely look it up--it's creepy as all get out! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! :)
    - Lauren @ 365 Days of Reading

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    1. I definitely think this would have blown me away if I was younger as well! It still did, just not as much. Wow, I haven't seen the film but I'll have to check it out ASAP! Thanks for letting me know, Lauren! :D

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  8. Aww, I'm sorry that you didn't love this much as most people did Keertana!! I actually did end up loving it, but I can understand why you didn't. The pacing is really wonderful in this book, and I loved the messages, but I do understand why you think some parts are ironic. The romance wasn't one of my favorite parts of this book, but I did love both Risa and Connor. And Lev becomes really wonderful in the second book, so I hope you end up picking up the sequel!

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    1. I'm so glad the second book is equally as good as this one, so I'm very excited to pick it up! I'm definitely picking up the sequel - don't worry - so I'll let you know what I think of it the moment I get around to reading it! :)

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  9. I love your analysis of this book! I am not a huge fan of the book - I am definitely one of those readers who mentioned who was thrown off by that one gruesome scene. I still feel all grossed out thinking about it now, months after I finished reading that book. Unwind is one of those books that just didn't fit with me, so it's nice to have someone who also wasn't a huge fan of it.

    In terms of your points, I completely understand the direction you are taking in your anaylsis. I will say that from my own interpretation of the book, I thought that Connor's new arm was kind of creepy and disturbing but didn't necessarily go against all the messages presented by Shusterman. I agree 100% of the irony in Connor receiving that arm. But I think it's supposed to be ironic, kind of showing how convulted and messed up everything has become. And there's the fact of whose arm that is...which I'm sure is another major thing. I think there's definitely a message about how no easy solutions can be made, and how the problem has become so ingrained in so many aspects of the society. And maybe their rebellion will eventually force changes to occur, but there are still all of these unintended and unwanted consequences that the characters can't will out of existence. As for Lev, it is weird and seemingly out-of-character for him to decide to kill himself in emancipation of his own life. But, at the same time, at least he's actively deciding what he wants to do with his life and how he'd rather die, given the chance. As for the Admiral, I think that once again Schusterman is showing how the situation is not so cut and dry. But I didn't interpret echoes of his son's life through body parts as his son actually being alive again.

    I do not disagree with anything you're saying. Your interpretations have just inspired me to come up with my own reasoning and rationale. So thank you for writing such a thought-provoking review on such a thought-provoking book. :)

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    1. Wow, thank you for such a thorough comment, Amanda! You bring up some excellent points and I really do think that you make some really good arguments. Shusterman's reasoning behind some of the events in this novel seem much clearer to me now, although I do wish it was more explicitly stated in this book itself. Still, I'm really excited to read the sequel and I'm THRILLED that I inspired you to think out of the box and respond to this review! Once again, thank you SO much for this beautiful comment - it really enabled me to see this book in a different light altogether! :)

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  10. Keertana, your review is so very insightful and exceptionally written. I liked how you brought up the subject of young women being forced into polygamous and undesired marriages in the Middle East, and comparing such to the concept in Unwind where people give up there children to be "unwound". This is excellent and very true comparison. :)

    I borrowed this book at my local library yesterday and am really excited to read it because of all the glowing reviews. Lovely review. :)

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    1. Thanks Leanne! I really thought about how so much injustice happens to children in the world, which made me realize how shockingly realistic this novel could be. I can't wait to see what you think of this, Leanne, so I'm keeping an eye out for your review! :D

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  11. Okay I admittedly skipped the spoiler section because I like going into a book as blind as possible and I do still want to read this one, but I'm sorry it didn't wow you! I think you clearly need to lay off this genre for a bit...this was supposed to be one of the great ones! :P

    I think that the concept of unwinding IS intriguing, and even though I often shy away from perspective-jumping books, this one seems fast paced and gripping enough to to be a bother.

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    1. I can't wait to see what you think of this one, Heidi, but I do think you're right - I'm reading too much dystopia these days! I think you'll really like this though and I've heard the sequel is even better, so I'm excited for that! :)

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  12. -The children's hospital is a rejected “Doctor Who” set from the 60's. Marble or Super Ball Art. The collation of the object definition always matches that of the calling database context. You will find information about the March 2011 Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Release of Radiation

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