Unwind Reaction

Reaction to Unwind What if your parents could kill you? This is the, at times ridiculous, premise of Unwind by Neal Shusterman. The book is set in a future world where a war was fought over abortion rights and the compromise they reached was instead of abortion, parents could get rid of their children as teens. They do this by having them unwound, which is harvesting every part of their body for donation. This concept is the main focus of Unwind. The story follows three characters, Connor, Risa, and Lev, who are on the run from being Unwound. The book had good characters and relationships, but lacked in plot believability and tried too hard to bring up its point about unwinding; I saw many connections between this and modern life, so I would
recommend it to some people. I enjoyed the book’s characters, their relationships, and how they changed throughout the story. I liked all of the book’s main characters; Connor, Risa, and Lev. They all were unique and interesting. Connor was a bad boy with a good personality, Risa was smart but misunderstood, and Lev was a good kid who was confused about his future. These character’s relationships also helped the book. Connor and Risa became friends by circumstance and then by choice, which made their relationship fun to read about. However, Levs relationship with them two was far more interesting. I didn't know, at any given moment, whether he trusted Connor and Risa. The final thing I liked about Unwind was how dynamic the characters were. For instance, Lev went from a good boy, to a mystery, to a bad boy, and then back again. My favorite part of Unwind was this book’s dynamic characters, and their strong relationships. I strongly disliked this book’s overall idea, details of unwinding, and how the police ignored the Graveyard. The overall idea of this book, that people’s compromise on abortion was unwinding, is dumb. No one would agree to this. Pro-life people wouldn’t like it because it is the same amount of killing, except not its killing people who have been alive for over a decade. Pro-choice people wouldn't like it because the mother's still has to give birth to the child and then either raise it or abandon it. My second dislike has to do with the details of unwinding in this book. It says that over 99% of an unwinds body is donated and reused, but this doesn’t make sense. Why could there possibly be a need for so many unwind parts? The book shows that there are many unwinds in the world, but doesn't explain why they need all of the less useful parts. I would think there would be a far greater need for new legs and hearts than something like a skull. Finally, I didn’t like how this book’s Juvey Cops ignored the Graveyard. In the real world, if the police know a place here in the US where hundreds of criminals are all taking refuge, they would go and get them. Instead, Unwind has us believe that the cops just ignore the place entirely, even though they know about it. From Unwind’s overall premise, to the details of unwinding, and the police ignoring the graveyard, there was a lot not to like. There were multiple things in this book that I was able to connect to the real world, and other literature.
This is a good thing, because connecting to the literature makes a reading far more thought provoking and enjoyable. The first connection I made was when Connor and Risa realize the power politics that Roland is using to take control of the other unwinds in the Hangar and Graveyard. I relate to this because I see the same kinds of things happening around the school. With kids doing anything they can, using many of the same tactics are Roland, to get to “the top”. Another connection I saw with this novel is the connection between Abortion and Unwinding. Unwinding is supposed to be the solution to the Abortion debate, with the Heartland War fought to reach unwinding as a compromise. While I don’t see Unwinding as a sound solution, it did get me to think about my opinions on abortion. Lastly, I connected this book to another book I am reading; Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. This book’s both tell versions of the future where things have changed, and the reader is left to examine where our world is heading, and how we feel about it. In Unwind it makes you question where abortion is heading, and Brave New World makes you ponder the direction of all progress. Unwind had many connections to the real world and other
book’s. I would recommend this book for a few different types of people, but there are some people I wouldn’t recommend Unwind for. This book would not be a good fit for adults; it is definitely geared towards teens , and I don’t think many adults would enjoy it. I would recommend this book for most teens who like dystopian type novels, but are looking for something that is a little less futuristic. I would not recommend this book for high level readers. They will likely find this book shallow, and not nearly as thought provoking as other book’s. Unwind is a great read for most teens, but I wouldn't recommend it for high level readers or adults. I had likes and dislikes about Unwind, but it had connections to the real world and other literature, and I would recommend it to some people.