Unwind

by Neal Shusterman

Book Overview

Three teens fight for their lives and each other in this breathtakingly suspenseful first book in the twisted, New York Times bestselling Unwind Dystology series by Neal Shusterman.

After America's Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement. According to their Bill of Life, human life may not be terminated from the moment of conception until the age of thirteen. But between the ages of thirteen and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416912053
• ISBN13: 9781416912057
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

Great Story

I liked this book and the rest of the series. The characters where we'll developed and very likable. The story was realistic and gripping. I would recommend this to adults too.

Enjoyed the book but copy I recieved was not what I ordered.

It's a great series but I purposefully purchased this book to get the blue/white cover and I did not receive that which was disappointing.

Great series

Really interesting book... this story is different from any book i have EVER read before! Its a really good series and i cannot wait to read the rest of them! It keeps you hanging right on the edge the entire time.

false advertised

I liked the book but the cover was differeb=nt from what I ordered.

Amazing series.

I loved every part about not only this book, but the following books within the series. Definitely worth the read. I could reread this series over and over again and never get bored of it!

The Best Book Ever!!!

I love this book. The first book opened my eyes to alot of real world debates like abortion, organ donor and religious beliefs in a unrealistic story but realistic outcomes. The series gets darker and darker as well.

banger book

got me buying more in the dystology.. huge fan of how the perspective is presented and how the author phrases things. got me to not wanna put it down

One of my favorite dystopian books.

I’ve always been a fan of having perspectives switch throughout books. The book is such an interesting concept and I couldn’t put the book down. I wish this would be made into a movie.

Amazing, thought provoking, wonderful!

This book is a must read. The characters are amazingly written and come alive and the book really makes you think. The problems that are faced in this story are applicable to the real world we live in now and the best way to appreciate this novel is to read and then think to yourself about what this story really boils down to. It's amazing to break it down and realize how amazing this book was.

Spellbinding story!

The idea behind this story is what intrigued me to buy it, and I am really glad that I did. Shusterman has creates a world were a human being can be viewed simply as valuable parts. Unwinding is the outcome of a war based on the pro-life and pro-choice debate. Unfortunately, unwinding means different things to different people. For some it has become a huge money making business, to the kids it happens to, is a horror and for some parents and some parts of society, it is a nice convenience. The story follows Conner, Risa, and Lev and how, for different reasons, they all have been selected to be unwound. Conner and Risa hate the idea of being unwound and have been selected against their wills. However, Lev has grown up knowing that this was his path in life, and he looks forward, with trepidation and conviction, for being offered up as a gift to God because of the unwinding. Due to an accident caused be Conner, Risa and Lev end up joining Conner as he tried to escape his unwinding. Together and apart, their fears and hopes are tested as they strive to stay alive in a world that believes they shouldn't be. The answer is, will they make it? I would recommend this book to people for different reasons. First, I think that Shusterman did an excellent job in keeping the storyline going; there were no parts that I become bored or wanted to skip. Second, he makes the characters very realistic, and not without flaws. These are kids going through a horrific event and I fell that they acted true to real human nature. Third, the idea and premise behind the book is so intriguing and horrifying that you can't help but want to read the whole thing. All the way around it was an excellent book.

Disturbing but fascinating tale

Imagine a society where a war was fought between Pro-live and Pro-choice. And the end result is more horrifying than either side could have thought. Such is the premise of UNWIND by Neal Shusterman. In the future being a troubled teen means something worse than being sent to a camp to get straighten out. From The Bill of Life: 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. However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively 'abort' a child... ...on condition that the child's life doesn't 'technically' end. The process by which a child is both terminated and yet kept alive is called 'unwinding.' Three teens find out that they are to be unwound. Conner's parents want to get rid of him as he's a troublemaker. Risa is a ward of the state and is being unwound to cut state costs. Lev is a tithe as part of his parent's strict religion. When Conner fights not to be unwound he ends up causing an accident in which he meets both Risa and Lev. Through their journey they meet others who are against the law and help them. Lev also finds out what really happens to those who end up getting the parts of those who were unwound. They fight to make it till their eighteenth birthday. What they all learn on this terrifying journey will haunt readers long after the finish the last page. This story both disturbed and fascinated me. The whole idea that a society would use rebellious teens to harvest body parts is beyond belief. I stopped more than once thinking what would happen if such a law existed? Would the desire to replace damaged body parts cause someone to become so numb to how the newer parts came into existence? Chilling, this story will make you think about your ideas of life and what it means to be truly alive.

Enthralling and repelling

Neal Shusterman's harrowing new novel, UNWIND, is set in the years following the Second Civil War in the United States, also known as the "Heartland War." Shusterman imagines a world in which today's debates over abortion ultimately lead to armed conflict, in which pro-choice and pro-life armies clash. Just like today's wars of words over the abortion issue, however, there can be no clear winners or losers in such a conflict. Instead, at the close of the war, the two sides come to a compromise that fails to adequately address the situation. As a result of the agreement, abortion is outlawed, and there is a place for every baby, wanted or not --- either at one of the State Homes or on the doorstep of other families, who are legally obligated to take care of each of these "storked" babies. That is, until they are 13. At this point, any children who are unwanted can be, effectively, retroactively aborted. They're not exactly killed. Instead, their body parts live on, thanks to recent medical advances that enable every single body part --- from hair to feet to internal organs --- to be donated to others who need (or at least can afford) them. From the age of 13 until 18, millions of kids are at risk of undergoing this procedure, of becoming "unwound." No one knows the dread of this situation or the contradictions inherent in the new social order better than the three teens at the heart of Shusterman's thought-provoking novel. There's Connor, a troublemaker whose parents find it easier to sign an unwind order than to deal with his disruptive tendencies. There's Risa, a ward of the state whose excellent piano playing abilities are not quite enough to save her from unwinding in the face of budget cutbacks. And there's Lev, whose parents are unwinding their tenth child as part of the church's mandate to tithe, or to give one-tenth of their earnings back to the community. Even Lev, who might agree with unwinding on a philosophical level, finds it hard to accept the reality of being unwound. And when he, Connor and Risa learn the stories of countless others who face the same terrifying outcome, the three teens become desperate enough to seek any alternative to what appears a certain, horrifying fate. Shusterman's extrapolation of current political tensions into a horrific dystopian vision results in a riveting portrayal of a future that could, however terrifying, still seem a real possibility. His comprehensive examination of a world in which a single moral issue results in countless questionable moral actions gains a human face in the person of these three young people, whose compelling personal stories will draw readers in. In fact, this human dimension is one of the reasons UNWIND is simultaneously enthralling and repelling, as harrowing descriptions of capture and unwinding procedures result in a narrative that will engage readers with every fiber of their bodies --- shocking their hearts and emotions even as it engages their minds. --- Revie

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

In his chilling new novel, Neal Shusterman paints a picture of a world where there aren't any cures and doctors, just surgeons and replacements. Three unwanted teenagers face a fate worse that death -- unwinding. Their bodies will be cut up, and every part of them used, from their brains to their toes. But if they can stay out of the authorities' clutches until the age of eighteen, they just might survive.... The most frightening science fiction novels are always the ones that are most similar to our world. Shusterman doesn't fail to describe how a wrong solution to a modern issue can affect generations to come. Thought-provoking, terrifying, and almost inconceivable, UNWIND will keep you reading late into the night. Reviewed by: The Compulsive Reader

Unwinding at the end of the day is NOT a good thing

Unwind, Neal Shusterman's newest novel, is the story of three teenagers in a futuristic society. Mankind now believes in the sanctity of life - or do they? Because abortions have been outlawed, many unwanted children are now raised in state homes. Other unwanted children are left on the doorsteps of unsuspecting families, who, by law, must take them in and raise them. Then there are those children who are born into families who love them and who live a fairly normal life. However, once a child turns 13, a family can chose to have the child "unwound." (The decision does not have to be made immediately - the adults are given a five year window in which to make it, but once the child turns 18, he or she cannot be unwound.) The child becomes known as an Unwind and is taken to a harvest camp where he or she will spend his or her last days living life as they have known it. When their time comes, the children are unwound - their organs and tissues are removed and used for transplants. The child does not cease to live, but lives in an altered state. How humane. How generous of the adults who have raised these children who become Unwinds. This is the story of three of those Unwinds: Conner, Risa, and Lev. Each is being unwound for a different reason, but of course, the end result will be the same: Conner will cease being Conner, Risa will cease being Risa, and Lev will cease being Lev. However, things do not go as the adults planned. Conner, Risa, and Lev escape from their captors as they are being transported to the harvest camp and must run for their very lives. How do they survive? Are they able to escape the fate that adults chose for them? This is one of the best and most thought provoking YA books I have read in a long while. I laughed out loud, cried, and became angry at characters. I kept wanting to question the adults - "Why haven't you learned from history?" Unwind