Release Date: November 6, 2007
Pages: 335
Rating:💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository
In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would unwind them. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives are hanging on the line. If they survive until their 18th birthday they can't be harmed, but in this world 18 seems far, far away.
This book has been on my bookshelf for as long as I can remember. I vaguely remember getting it for Christmas when I was 10 (?) which means I've had it for 7 years and only just picked it up. I have started reading it several times over the years, but I always ended up putting down and reading something else, until I decided enough was enough. If I din't read it this time I would have to get rid of it, so naturally I've finished it and make plans to read the rest of the series as soon as possible.
This book was incredible. It is advertised as 'before the Hunger Games there was...' but I have to say that I enjoyed this book far more than the Hunger games. Where the Hunger Games was twisted this book went one further, until you couldn't believe what you were reading. The whole concept of this story is that the children are threatened with unwinding throughout their whole life. If they fail a test, if they disrespect their parents, if they generally cause trouble they are risk of being unwound. Parents willingly give up their children to be taken away and taken apart. Although the Hunger Games was messed up, this novel was far far worse. There were parts that made me feel sick with how gruesome it was.
I loved the characters in this book. At first you despise all of them for being stuck up and a little pathetic but they slowly grow on you. The amount of character development that came in each chapter (not book, chapter) was incredible. The three main kids (Connor, Risa and Lev) grew up so much in this that the were unrecognisable by the end. They had to cling onto each other for sanity, but also for comfort, and i really showed the reader how friendships can form in the most unlikely places. There were hints of romance in the book, but these came right at the end of the novel, and were so minor that they are easy to overlook. Hopefully these hints will develop more in the next two books, because I loved those characters together!
The world-building in this novel was phenomenal. Although it was set on Earth the basic framework of the world had been changed in such an effectively way that it made this reality seem like our reality. I could picture where everything could fit into my life, what it would be like to have the Unwinding hanging over my head and what lengths I would go to survive. I think the thing that made this book most scary was the world it was, because Neal Shusterman didn't shy away from showing us the similarities of this world to ours. These similarities remind us that this world could be ours, and these characters could real people if the government was able to implement these ideals. Which is horrifying.
There is so much I could say about this book, but all I'm going to say is go read it! I regret putting this book off for so long, but at the same time I'm glad I did because it meant that my understanding of dystopian novels had developed more than when I was 10. Since then I read so many dystopian novels that I know what makes a good book, and this book is definitely one that will stand out to me for years to come.
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