Rating: 6/10
In the near future, abortion is illegal. A child's life is protected until they turn 13. Between the ages of 13 and 18, parents can decide to have their child 'unwound', a process where the child is taken to a medical facility to have all their body parts separated, to be donated to those who need or can afford them. As 100% (well, 99.44% to be exact) of the body is used, it is believed that the child is still alive, just in pieces, so according to law never dies.
Connor, Risa and Lev are scheduled to be unwound and are on the run. Their very different lives collide and this book is based around their journeys after that moment.
A few months ago, I accidentally bought this book online. Since then, some of you will have been aware that I have tried to read it numerous times. I've shelved it, and come back to it between other books. Finally, this week I was determined to finish it.
It's not that Unwind was poorly written or slow paced, I just kept getting bored while I was reading it. My mind would drift and I struggled to stay focused on the story. I liked this book, but I didn't love it.
Something that Unwind did really well was changing perspective/focusing on different characters each chapter. Instead of causing the story to feel disjointed, it brought it together and helped me to understand each character more.
I personally found the whole 'unwinding' a little far fetched. Yes, I know, books of this genre do not have to be realistic, but the difference with other dystopian books, is that as horrible as some worlds are in them, I still understand how earth has ended up this way. I personally don't see any government ever allowing people to be born just to be 'unwound' as a teenager and think that they are still technically 'alive'.
However, it seems that most people loved this book and I'm in the minority, so if you've been thinking about reading it, you still should.
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