bluebeardswife's review against another edition
1.0
this book had weird and illogical elements about the society, the pacing of the story wasn’t the best and the characters were dull
the ending was, as well as the whole book, useless
the ending was, as well as the whole book, useless
alliebenoit07's review against another edition
3.0
Meh
Definitely not as good a the scythe book series, but this is definitely an interesting story but the 1st book didn't really grab me. Might come back to this series later, but we'll see.
Definitely not as good a the scythe book series, but this is definitely an interesting story but the 1st book didn't really grab me. Might come back to this series later, but we'll see.
amandainpa's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely a book worth reading. I couldn't put it down! The story was fascinating to me and I am looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here.
belle_fiction's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
THAT. WAS. INTENSE.
Neal Shusterman is something else. His vision of what humankind are capable of achieving is deeply disturbing but by no means unbelievable. Unwind is the second series I have started reading by him (the first being Scythe) and his work is pure perfection. I can't believe why I haven't read his work earlier or heard much about him. He is an author who deserves much more recognition so I shall sing his praises here.
Unwind is a totally unique book which focuses on a society where parents can sign over their children to the government in order to be unwound. The unwinding process involves dissecting the body and removing every organ and limb from a body to give to others who require say an arm or a leg. What is horrible though is that the unwound's muscle memory still remains. A case in point involves a certain character in the story who has received part of an unwound's brain but the unwound does not remember being unwound and begs their parents not to unwind him.
This story is a very harrowing, devastating, and, at times, incredibly upsetting read - one particular chapter springs to mind (you'll know which chapter I am referring to if you have already read the book.) I was horrified at the brutality and cruelty shown by the government towards those about to be unwound but I could see the parallels in contemporary society which makes Unwind an incredibly hard-hitting but relevant read.
There are plenty of twists and turns throughout, and the three main characters (Connor, Risa and Lev) are all compelling in their own way. Shusterman makes you care deeply for the trio and plot wise, Unwind is flawless. I am excited to see how the story continues and what magnificent tricks Shusterman has up his sleeves for the rest of the series. I didn't award it the full 5 stars as I felt this lacked the humour Scythe possessed but considering the subject mater, I think you'd be hard pushed to find anything funny considering the circumstances.
A very powerful and thought-provoking read.
THAT. WAS. INTENSE.
Neal Shusterman is something else. His vision of what humankind are capable of achieving is deeply disturbing but by no means unbelievable. Unwind is the second series I have started reading by him (the first being Scythe) and his work is pure perfection. I can't believe why I haven't read his work earlier or heard much about him. He is an author who deserves much more recognition so I shall sing his praises here.
Unwind is a totally unique book which focuses on a society where parents can sign over their children to the government in order to be unwound. The unwinding process involves dissecting the body and removing every organ and limb from a body to give to others who require say an arm or a leg. What is horrible though is that the unwound's muscle memory still remains. A case in point involves a certain character in the story who has received part of an unwound's brain but the unwound does not remember being unwound and begs their parents not to unwind him.
This story is a very harrowing, devastating, and, at times, incredibly upsetting read - one particular chapter springs to mind (you'll know which chapter I am referring to if you have already read the book.) I was horrified at the brutality and cruelty shown by the government towards those about to be unwound but I could see the parallels in contemporary society which makes Unwind an incredibly hard-hitting but relevant read.
There are plenty of twists and turns throughout, and the three main characters (Connor, Risa and Lev) are all compelling in their own way. Shusterman makes you care deeply for the trio and plot wise, Unwind is flawless. I am excited to see how the story continues and what magnificent tricks Shusterman has up his sleeves for the rest of the series. I didn't award it the full 5 stars as I felt this lacked the humour Scythe possessed but considering the subject mater, I think you'd be hard pushed to find anything funny considering the circumstances.
A very powerful and thought-provoking read.
tophobgoblin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
leewicks's review against another edition
4.0
4.25 stars.
A pretty solid dystopian book! I was kind of sceptical going into this book, due to the fact that the dystopian genre is so over-saturated. A lot of dystopian books have the same vibe as other dystopian books, and it gets kind of tedious after a while, but Unwind's plot is unlike anything else I've ever read, except perhaps a vague link to Frankenstein, because HOLY CRAP THIS BOOK IS INTENSE.
I was drawn in before I started reading Chapter 1, to be honest. The "Bill of Life", at the very beginning of the book, is so creepy and intriguing and makes you ask so many questions that you just have to read on to find out those answers.
Unwind is so fast paced, and with so many p.o.v's, you're never missing out on some action either. The p.o.v's link and flow together really well, too. It felt like one story, spread across multiple characters, rather than multiple stories trying to bring themselves together.
I really enjoyed this book, and I'm so glad that I already own the rest of the series because I can just power-through and carry on to enjoy this story!
...although, side-note, I did notice a surprisingly high amount of grammar/spelling errors in this book, which was a bit surprising, but didn't put me off in the slightest.
A pretty solid dystopian book! I was kind of sceptical going into this book, due to the fact that the dystopian genre is so over-saturated. A lot of dystopian books have the same vibe as other dystopian books, and it gets kind of tedious after a while, but Unwind's plot is unlike anything else I've ever read, except perhaps a vague link to Frankenstein, because HOLY CRAP THIS BOOK IS INTENSE.
I was drawn in before I started reading Chapter 1, to be honest. The "Bill of Life", at the very beginning of the book, is so creepy and intriguing and makes you ask so many questions that you just have to read on to find out those answers.
Unwind is so fast paced, and with so many p.o.v's, you're never missing out on some action either. The p.o.v's link and flow together really well, too. It felt like one story, spread across multiple characters, rather than multiple stories trying to bring themselves together.
I really enjoyed this book, and I'm so glad that I already own the rest of the series because I can just power-through and carry on to enjoy this story!
...although, side-note, I did notice a surprisingly high amount of grammar/spelling errors in this book, which was a bit surprising, but didn't put me off in the slightest.
saturn's review against another edition
4.0
maybe a 3.5? but it was good for what it was (YA dystopian). i wanted to read this bc i remember i would always see it on the display shelf at the school library but i never read it back then bc the cover kind of scared me lol
Spoiler
i can’t believe they keep the kids conscious while they unwind them... that chapter was 😨.. also this is random but it was funny to me that they had the words “umber” and “sienna” but still called asian people asianrogosticks's review against another edition
4.0
Love the subject this book looks to tackle. My biggest criticism of this book is its pacing. The book spends half of its length building to the main characters reaching a certain point, and then the action after that event is very choppy and rushed when so much more time and energy could have been invested into developing the location, atmosphere and new characters after this point in the book.
However, still a very intriguing book.
However, still a very intriguing book.