Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

13 reviews

cozyscones's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Child death, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Racism and Abortion

heathermarie08's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. At times, it is heartbreaking and others it is hopeful and inspiring. Ending is satisfying! Well thought out and written. Will definitely read the rest of the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Abandonment, and Bullying

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

mokiethe_dog34's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Very good book. Well written and brilliantly paced. However, I am now traumatised and very concerned for what was going on in the author’s head when he wrote this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, Suicide, and Ableism

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

daphrose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Child death, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual harassment, War, Abortion, Car accident, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

malik12345's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mass/school shootings, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Murder

besotted's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Kidnapping, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Torture, and Confinement

clevernamehere's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Police brutality, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

oliverreeds's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Abortion, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Violence

_mims_'s review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Great dystopian  fiction is great because the reader can see the literary dystopias reflected in our current society. This is certainly not the case with Unwind. The premise was  absurd. A civil war over abortion? It felt a little too silly. I picked up the book, fully prepared to hate it. And I did- at first. However, Shusterman managed to turn his absurd premise into something surprisingly readable. It certainly isn’t Nobel prize worthy, but it was easy entertainment. Would have liked to see more focus on the characters rather than just plot progression. I thought the concept of the tithe was very interesting and would have loved to see more of Lev in the book. Overall, if you just want to turn your brain off for a few hours and enjoy some interesting plot twists, this is a good choice.  Felt a little preachy at some points. 

Romance was not fleshed out at all. Shusterman should either have developed it more thoroughly or left it out entirely. However, it wasn’t just the romance that felt hollow. All of the relationships lacked depth. The dynamic between Lev and the other main characters felt particularly nonsensical. </spoiler >

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Medical content

Moderate: Confinement and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Abortion, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Car accident, Trafficking, and Violence

touchegiantsquid's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• 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

The book tries to "both sides" the debate between pro and anti choice laws for the sake of thrills. I would not say it handled that well.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Kidnapping, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Violence, and Suicide