Center for Teaching & Learning

“In a perfect world everything would be either black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn't a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is.”

This is a world where the government believes in “unwinding,” a way of disassembling criminals or unwanted children from ages thirteen to eighteen without killing them, as an alternative to abortion or disowning. Meet Connor—a seventeen-year-old “troublemaker” who found out about his unwind order, Risa— a sixteen-year-old orphan and a talented pianist that lives in a state home, and Lev—a thirteen year old born into a religious family, who was planned to be tithed (a religious way to give back to God, willingly unwound soon after their thirteenth birthday when they become eligible for unwinding) and is proud about it. Readers follow along as the trio teams up to evade the Juvey-cops and attempt to end the practice of unwinding for good. 

The gripping novel Unwind by Neal Shusterman is written in third-person omniscient, focusing on Connor, Risa, and Lev. I thought this was effective because when the characters split up, readers could follow each of their stories and know what they are thinking and feeling. It shows the reader opinions of other characters that are relevant to the story and how their opinion of unwinding changes throughout the book. Shusterman also includes excerpts from news articles that inform the reader of what laws the government is passing. 

This fast-paced book keeps the reader guessing at every turn. Shusterman leaves each chapter as a cliffhanger, making the reader try to predict what will happen to the characters. He also includes allusions to real life events.

The themes of this story are morality and injustice because the plot revolves around the idea of unwinding an unwanted, which will lead the people to rethink their opinions on the laws in this society. The audience will experience the characters questioning their own beliefs and their way of living. If unwinding existed, would you stand up for the runaway unwinds? Would you go AWOL or accept your unwinding?

I rate this title a ten out of ten and recommend it to anyone who would like to read a fast-paced sci-fi dystopian thriller about unequal treatment and morality. There are three other books in this series: Unwholly, Unsouled, and Undivided. Shusterman has also written multiple other books, including The Ark of a Scythe Trilogy, The Skinjacker Trilogy, and The Star Shards Chronicles. I have only read the first two and enjoyed them almost as much as Unwind. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes a page-turner that makes the reader stop to think about what the world might become.

Nico

Simon & Schuster, 335 pages