Unwind Book Review

The novel Unwind, written by author Neal Shusterman, is an amazing science-fiction thriller. The book tells the story of three teenagers in a terrible future where a practice known as unwinding is accepted in there society. Parents may have their child (person under eighteen years of age) unwound, if they are displeased with them. For that, they must sign a waver, and from there, the child is picked up and taken to a harvest camp. Eventually (soon after the child's arrival), the child will be humanly taken apart. Their body parts will be donated to people who have experienced incidents and have lost a body part, or to just greedy freaks that want something as stupid as a new eye color. The main characters Connor, Lev, and Risa try to get escape from this cruel society and live to the age of eighteen (adulthood), so that way, the government cannot have them legally unwound. This is quite a challenge, due to the fact that Juvey-cops are everywhere on the lookout to captire and turn in any runaway Unwinds. Whenever I read this book, certain thoughts started coming to me. I began thinking about which audience would enjoy this story the most. The character that changed the most ever since they became an Unwind. And, of course, how did this book compare to other science-fiction books that I have read.

Identifying the intended audience was possibly one of the most simplest things that I have ever done in my life. The book centers around three teenagers and their struggle for survival by escaping the almost certain fate of every Unwind. The book has quite a bit of action, some mild blood and gore, and a few teenage romances. So, from what I am able to deduce from this, this book is strongly intended for teenagers and young adults. Primarily those that have a bit of knowledge of the Pro-life and Pro-choice causes. Unwinding was created in order to please both sides, in some strange way. All of the three main characters share some things in common. Like that fact that they are all were going to be unwound, and they all feel a bit like loners. Teenagers can relate to the arguments Connor Lassiter and his parents have all the time. Connor's parents want him unwound because he is a trouble-maker in school, always getting into fights. He does not have many friends either. So now, his parents are fed up with him, and have signed the unwinding order that will have the State send people to pick him up. At one point, when Connor was younger, his parents used to love him. Now, all that they do is argue with each other. "'Why do you have to get wound so tight?' his father once asked, exasperated, and Connor had snapped back, 'Maybe someone oughta unwind me'" (pg. 94). Connor later on runs away from home, before the people from the state come to collect him for unwinding. Risa on the other hand, has no parents. She is a Ward and lives at a Sta-Ho (state home), a place that is pretty much a large orphanage. As an orphan she has learned not to trust many people, except for Mr. Durkin, her piano teacher. He has become nearly a father to her. The third main character is Lev. He was a tithe (to be unwound as a proper sacrifice to God) with some pretty darn religious Christian parents. They were the ones that guided him down that path. It was quite lonely because, growing up, there are not many tithe, especially of the same religion. But, Lev's entire world begins to change once he and Connor cross paths.

Levi Jedediah Calder is one of the three young main characters. Of them, he is the youngest, but appears to undergo the greatest change. At the age of thirteen, his Christian parents threw him a tithing party before he was to be unwound. His oldest brother Marcus, was the only person who openly disapproved of his parents actions by simply letting Lev go with God. He caused a big commotion at Lev's party that Lev had not fully understood. Marcus goes and says, "'Gotta wrap up all those life events, all those parties, into one-birthdays, wedding, funeral'" (pg. 29). He wanted Lev to hear what sort of impact unwinding has on families. Lev did not fully understand what was going on because his father then shields Lev from the truth by asking Marcus to leave. A few days later, when Lev's time has come, and Pastor Dan and his parents are driving him to the harvest camp, there is a huge incident on the highway they were on. One thing led to another, and all of a sudden Lev is captured by Connor and Risa. Lev thought that he was being held hostage at first, so he plays it cool. Lev's tithing had been interrupted, and he was angry with these two Unwinds. So, Lev plans it all out. "Let them think they're earning his trust. And once they're lulled into their own false sense of security, he'll make sure they both get exactly what they deserve" (pg. 43).

The time does come. At a school where Connor, Lev, and Risa were seeking refuge, Lev called the cops and told a few teachers that he was kid-napped by two Unwinds. But, after a talk with Pastor Dan, Lev is told that he does not have to live the life of a tithe. His parents did not call in a search for Lev, so he felt pretty hurt by that because it showed his parents had a lack of caring. Lev helps Connor and Risa escape the school situation and gets separated from them in the process. By this time, Lev had made the transformation of tithe to Unwind, and gains a new companion on the way. The solder outhern accented umber skinned guy's name is Cyrus Finch, but goes by the name CyFi (he is a runaway, but not an Unwind). Lev and Cy grow quite close together on their voyage. All it took was one obsessive-compulsive shop-lifting episode, and Cy tells his secret. He had a whole piece of an Unwind's brain because of an accident he had long ago. The Unwind's name is Tyler. Tyler does not know of his unwound state, but for some reason really needs to go to the city of Joplin. When Lev and CyFi get to Joplin, CyFi 's parents are already there waiting for him to meet Tyler's parents, and Tyler takes over Cy's whole body. Tyler apologizes to his parents for all the bad things he has done (obsessive-compulsively steal shiny objects) and begs them not to have him unwound. All that Tyler's parents do is stand there holding each other feeling victimized that their son has come back to plague them. They do not feel any remorse for their son who they had unwound. Then, Lev yells and threatens Tyler's parents and commands them to tell Tyler they will not unwind him. When they finally do, Tyler gets his closure, and CyFi takes over again. This is when Lev escapes in all the chaos with the great feeling of change in him before the Juvey-cops arrive. "He knows he's been changed by this moment, transformed in some deep and frightening way" (pg. 193).

Lev later on shows up at the Graveyard, a place where run by Admiral Dunfree where worn down planes are stored, resold, and also where Unwinds can hide. Here is where Lev meets up with Connor and Risa. Their old conflicts are resolved, and they become dear friends. Risa and Connor notice the "new Lev" and just decide to live with it. But, also, the Graveyard is where Lev joins the secret group of Clappers. These Clappers have a solution injected into them so that in a few days, their bodies become dangerously unstable, to the point that they can blow up. All that it takes is a strong enough impact on the surface of their body, a clap or two should do. Lev became this suicidal Clapper because he wanted the world to "suffer a small part of the loss and the emptiness and the utter disillusionment he feels inside" (pg. 284). Lev and a few other Clappers are then sent from the Graveyard to Happy Jack Harvest Camp in Arizona. Their mission is to destroy the Chop Shop (the place where the adolescents are unwound) inside. At high noon, his two Clapper companions detonate (after experiencing a bit of hesitation). Lev gets ready to detonate, but realizes that his two friends, Connor and Risa were at the Chop Shop when it blew up. Connor walks out a bit dismembered (missing an eye and has a limp arm) while Lev has come to the conclusion not to detonate. Then he immediately runs to Connor's aid. Lev did not detonate not because he was scared. He was fully committed, but knowing that his friends were in danger was the feeling that prevented him from clapping. Hell, one of the reasons why Lev became a Clapper was to ensure that Connor and Risa were safe. Lev left to go out on his mission while thinking that "Connor was safe at the Graveyard... The one thing that Lev had taken comfort in-the safety of his friends..." (pg. 296).

Unwind by Neal Shusterman is a fascinating science-fiction thriller. It is one of the best, if not, the best novel I have ever read. Neal takes a highly interesting approach in telling the story of the three teenagers, Connor, Levi, and Risa, by rotating through each of their perspectives. Along the way, a few other character perspectives are included in the story (some more significant than others). In the end, all of these perspectives are put together in such a well-mannered way that just seems to fit perfectly. This book was full of so much action that I just had to read faster to find out what would happen next. After reading a certain amount of chapters, I would usually take a break and ponder about what could happen next. Some of my predictions proved to be true, others were close. The book appeals greatly toward the teenagers who have experienced times of loneliness and have a small understanding of Pro-life and Pro-choice causes. Out of the three main characters, Lev is changed the most. Throughout the book, he changes phases. He begins at the stage of a tithe, becomes an Unwind, gets angry with the world and joins the Clappers, but when the time came, he chose the righteous path and became a savior by helping Connor leading the rescue of the Chop Shop victims. Unwind is a great book. Unfortunately, I have to end this review in a "corny" matter by saying, I give Unwind a 9.5 out of 10.