Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

17 reviews

_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 >

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Moderate: Confinement and Mass/school shootings

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

cepbreed's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I really love Neal Shusterman, I love the YA dystopia genre and I miss its golden age. Doesn't mean this doesn't hold up today! I really enjoyed this book and finished it in one school day so I think I'll finish the second tomorrow, but I'm interested to see how the series continues, this didn't exactly end in a way that needs continuation. I bet it's a new cast of characters. If that's the case I'm really going to miss the intellect and the impulse. How in the hell did Shusterman manage to sneak a fake-dating trope in a dystopia and why did I love it so much!!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual assault, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gun violence, Blood, and War

_morgan's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

martereadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

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

skl_hcn'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
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and Sexual violence

Minor: Gun violence

booksthatburn's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

UNWIND is a dystopian future where abortion is outlawed but teenagers can be "unwound", a state which is distinct from death in ways that are legalistic, technical, and horrifying.

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

bill369's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Child death

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, and Police brutality

Minor: Grief, Car accident, and Abortion