By Neal Shusterman
Genre YA dystopian
Pages 335
Recommended by Book Club
First Sentence "There are places you can go, " Ariana tells him, "and a guy as smart as you has a decent chance of surviving to eighteen."
Synopsis
In the future, parents have the choice to have there children between the ages of 13 to 18 "Unwound". Conner, Risa, and Lev are on the run after their parents choose to have them Unwound.
What it has going for it
I have absolutely nothing against Neal Shusterman, the man's a genius and a damn fine story teller. I'll admit I've only read a few books by him so far but I've enjoyed each one. This one's strongest attribute is how much it makes you think. I read it for book club and, boy, did we have a fun discussion. You can't read a book like this one and not discuss. Told from mostly three point of views, I was surprised that in the end I most enjoyed Lev and was curious as to where his story would go. Conner and Risa were fine but I couldn't connect to either and I felt a little bit like I was being told what to feel for them. Not so with Lev. And, yeah, that's about all I can say in support of this one.
What's lacking
Sadly I was rather disappointed in this one. First off, it was completely unbelievable. I have a hard time buying that pro-life people would actually agree to the whole Unwind thing. I seriously doubt it. Second, I was expecting this nonstop, gripping, un-put-downable book and what I got was a rather dull "journey" book. Everything that happened didn't exactly feel like it fit together. No, instead it felt rather episodic, if that makes sense. I really did like Lev, though, (don't ask me why, I'm not sure) and I think I might read the rest of the series just for him.
Favorite moment
Hands down how Lev steals from the pawn shop....AWESOME!
Yea or Nay?
Once again I seem to be in the minority on this one so don't take my word for it. Go ahead and give it a go.
This cover totally freaks me out. A lot. I'm sorry you didn't like it more, but it's probably something I'll pass on because it sounds a little to weird for me.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I was just looking at the cover when I saw writing this review thinking, that is so disturbing.
Delete+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteI love Neal Shusterman, but I haven't got to this series of his yet. The novel of his that I always recommend is Downsiders. =)
One part of your review confuses me, though. When you referred to "pro-life" characters, did you mean that the abortion has been outlawed in the future, but unwinding is okay?
Yes! See? No way pro life people would be OK with unwinding.
DeleteI just finished reading this one the other day and although I didn't for one second believe in the premise, for some reason I really loved the book. I think because of the scene with Roland at the end. It was slightly gimmicky but I fell for it!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to get into it more but it wasn't quite doing it for me. That scene at the end with Roland was awful! That really brought me into t the story, I must say.
DeleteI think it's so interesting that Lev was your favorite of the three. I actually connected more with Risa and Connor than I did with Lev. I didn't hate him, but I just liked him less than the other two. Also, I loved that scene too where he stole from the pawn shop. I was so happy Lev had grown some cajones. :)
ReplyDeleteI know. He just ended up having the most depth to him in my opinion.
DeleteThis one sounds scary and I've heard mixed things about it.
ReplyDeleteOh, I thought most people liked it. Maybe there's others out there like me after all.
Delete