The first twisted and futuristic novel in the perennially popular New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology by Neal Shusterman.
In America after the Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement: The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, a parent may choose to retroactively get rid of a child through a process called “unwinding.” Unwinding ensures that the child’s life doesn’t “technically” end by transplanting all the organs in the child’s body to various recipients. Now a common and accepted practice in society, troublesome or unwanted teens are able to easily be unwound.
With breathtaking suspense, this book follows three teens who all become runaway Unwinds: Connor, a rebel whose parents have ordered his unwinding; Risa, a ward of the state who is to be unwound due to cost-cutting; and Lev, his parents’ tenth child whose unwinding has been planned since birth as a religious tithing. As their paths intersect and lives hang in the balance, Shusterman examines complex moral issues that will keep readers turning the pages until the very end.
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Sexual Content - 1/5
1/5
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Violence - 3/5
3/5
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Language - 1/5
1/5
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Drugs and Alcohol - 1/5
1/5
Summary
When I first heard about Unwind, my first reaction was \"gross!\" It was also the topic of a question in a scholar bowl tournament that I got wrong and I decided I would have to read it. The topic of this book was delicate, and I was surprised and pleased to discover the author didn't offer an opinion or indicate that he was pro-life or pro-choice. My initial assumption about this book was true later, though: There are certain parts of this book you really don't want to read by flashlight alone in the middle of the night. When they start mentioning \"The Story of Humpherey Dunfee\"...turn on the lights or put the book DOWN. This book is CREEPY. I was also slighly frustrated that an important part of the book is left to the imagination- if you find that Lev's story leaves some blanks, there's an eBook, Unstrung, that will set you back two bucks. This made me mad. Anyways. I thought this book was incredibly thought-provoking and clever. It definatly makes you think. I think this book is a must-read for teens and adults.
Violence-Well, they're capturing teens and harvesting their body parts...that's not exactly warm and fuzzy.
Language-I was surprised there wasn't more crude language considering the characters were all delinquent teens.
Sexual-There was some kissing and attempted rape
Drug & Alcohol-There weren't really any