We are reading this book for my book club, and we have yet to discuss but I have finished the book. And it is amazing! I flew threw this book. It was so good I could not put it down.
This book falls under the Sci-Fi genre, but it is not all futuristic and unrelatable. It is in the future, but it is not the distant future. The chilling thing about this book is that it is the all to near future.
The novel takes place about after the "Heart-land War". This was the second civil war in the United States. As with the first civil war it dealt with social issues. This war dealt with abortion. One side said it was right the other said it was wrong. To stop the fighting a Bill of Life was purposed that supposedly worked for both sides. Unwinding.
Unwinding is a process that can be done on unwanted children between the age of 13 and 18. This process takes apart the body and uses every part in a transplant, so that all of the parts are living and therefore the person is still alive.
Unwinding was created to solve the problem of abortion, but with this solution came different problems. By the age of 13 the unwanted children did not want to die. They did not want to be unwound. This novel follows the stories of three unwinds on their journeys to safety.
Connor was unruly and disrespectful, and his parents were tired of dealing with him. They decided to have him unwound. After finding the slip his parents signed his life away on, he decides to skip town and escape his impending doom.
Risa is a ward of the state. At the age of 13 the state decides that she has not done enough in her short life to show promise for a rewarding future. As a result of budget cuts and over crowding Risa is going to be unwound.
Lev is a tithe. His parents adhere strictly to the belief of giving 10 percent of what you own back to the Lord. Lev their tenth child, is to be tithed to the Lord, and sent away to a harvesting camp to be unwound.
Their paths cross in a rather unexpected way. Connor who is running from the police causes an accident that stop Risa's bus. Lev's car, which is on the way to the harvest camps, is also stopped by Connor. After saving Lev from death by JuveyCops, Connor, Risa, and Lev run into the forest. They escaped their unwinding or so they think. Now they only have to survive until they turn 18, but this task proves harder than it appears.
As different character weave in and out of the book the goal of the three main characters remains the same, escape the horrible fate they were once destined to. They grow and change on their journey, and in the end they hardly resemble the people they started out as.
While following the exciting story of the unwinds, the book brings up many social issues.
In the beginning unwinding is mentioned, but not clearly explained. Through the characters stories you start to understand the inhumanity in this practice. They say that by unwinding a child they are not technically dead, but is that really true? Is it really human to take away a child's future? Their parts are still technically alive, but they have no life. They do not have a chance to contribute to society. They do not have a chance to grow up, to get married, to have kids, to have grandchildren, to live their lives. They really do not have the chance to die either. Everything that should be their's is taken away from them.
This is sickly close to abortion. An aborted child has no chance to live the life they could. All of the things that come with being born are taken away from them. There should not be a discussion of when life really starts. Conception or birth? Does it matter? At either stage they still have potential. They will have things to contribute to the world.
Unwinding was such "a great solution" because by the age of 13 it was said that they could tell whether or not the child would contribute. That is completely untrue. People change, and with that change comes influence. As the main characters travel to safety this becomes very clear. The characters change. They evolve. They become kinder, smarter, important, and needed.
During one part of the novel someone mentions the fact that before the Heartland Wars people started to pick the leaders of the country not because they could leader, but because they had similar beliefs on one subject. This is obviously happening in our society. We are becoming to narrow minded and only seeing the world through our own little view. We put to much importance in topics that will not make a difference to our countries safety or well being. If continue on this path our future may be a kin to Unwind.
By writing this novel Neal Shusterman was making a clear statement on abortion and many more topics, which you will have to read the book to find out. It is a chilling book, that shows the all to near future. The future of our world in which human life becomes disposable, people become immune to inhumanity, and potential is determined to quickly. This book is a must read for everyone. It doesn't matter if you say that you like Sci-Fi or not you should pick up this book.
Lindsey
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