Scan barcode
kissfist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
milshollini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
snazz07's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Abortion, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Cursing, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
touchegiantsquid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It's hard to take this dystopia seriously since it seems to lack any theory of how politics works. It's just "what if a bunch of terrible things happened? Wouldn't that be terrible?" It doesn't seem to have anything to say about the debate, it just wants to use it to give the appearance of synthesis at the conclusion.
The craft of the conclusion was good, which is why I didn't rate the book lower.
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
scarlettskyes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment
martereadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and War
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked and I'm looking forward to how the sequels (hopefully) develop and complicate the world. UNWIND has a specific and pretty interesting plot, but narratively it does the heavy lifting of a kind of tour, showing all the different facets of existence for someone impacted by the unwinding, the ways that this deeply flawed plan has cracked and broken the people under it. The main characters are slated to be unwound, some willingly and some not, but the mix of perspectives combine to show just how fucked up the whole system is. Secondary characters get a few chapters and even minor characters might get one to show how everything in their world is bent by this paradigm.
In a book meant for teens, it's especially poignant that since Unwinds are always children the majority of recipients of their organs will be adults. This sets up a paradigm where the old are preying on the young in a visceral way. Page counts are lower in YA, and part of what makes this world so immersive are the little things. Even something as simple as recipients continually referring to the donated organs and body parts as if they don't belong to them, they belong to the person who was unwound, it creates this sense of disassociation. There's a character who received a lung and consistently draws a distinction between himself and this lung that's in his body but isn't his, it belongs to some other kid who was unwound. This distinction is one of horde of tiny details in how everyone is committed to the idea that the unwound are that, unwound, a state that is somehow distinct from state-sanctioned murder plus organ donation on the basis that a bunch of people said so and everyone plays along.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, and Slavery