UnWholly by Neal Shusterman

 

Series: Unwind Dystology #2
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Amazon: UK|US
Synopsis: Thanks to Connor, Lev, and Risa — and their high-profile revolt at Happy Jack Harvest Camp — people can no longer turn a blind eye to unwinding. Ridding society of troublesome teens while simultaneously providing much-needed tissues for transplant might be convenient, but its morality has finally been brought into question. However, unwinding has become big business, and there are powerful political and corporate interests that want to see it not only continue, but also expand to the unwinding of prisoners and the impoverished.

Cam is a product of unwinding; made entirely out of the parts of other unwinds, he is a teen who does not technically exist. A futuristic Frankenstein, Cam struggles with a search for identity and meaning and wonders if a rewound being can have a soul. And when the actions of a sadistic bounty hunter cause Cam’s fate to become inextricably bound with the fates of Connor, Risa, and Lev, he’ll have to question humanity itself.

Rife with action and suspense, this riveting companion to the perennially popular Unwind challenges assumptions about where life begins and ends—and what it means to live.

Review: I read Unwind way back in 2012 when I first started reviewing, and it has been one of the books that has stuck with me ever since. If you have ever read it you’ll probably know the scene that managed to shock me so much that I still talk about it to this day, but for some reason I never managed to pick up the sequel…until now!

This book is no longer entirely focused on Connor, and includes a wealth of new fantastic characters that drive the plot forward. It still follows the horrible idea that you can unwind your child for any sort of misdemeanour, and starts to uncover the reason behind the creation of unwinding!! Which was a fantastic plot twist. I think this entire series is something that I’m going to thoroughly enjoy getting my teeth into, despite having a four year gap between reading the first and the second.

The characters are so fabulously written and deep that I really didn’t mind changing between them, and there wasn’t any perspective that I didn’t enjoy reading. This book gives you so many different perspectives on unwinding, and very clearly shows the brainwashing that has happened to this society. Miracolina and Cam are probably the best perspectives to see this from. Miracolina because she has been told from birth that she will be unwound, and despite her parents changing their mind, still leaves to be unwound because she believes it is her job. Cam is an even better example of this brainwashing, as he is part of the propaganda machine himself due to being a direct product of unwinding He is definitely one of my favourite perspectives featured in the book, and allowed me to see inside the corporation that controls unwinding.

This book is so morally complex and interesting! One of my favourite things is the adverts for unwinding interspersed throughout the book. They make it seem so reasonable to kill your child for being a rebellious teen, and I have to say it was one of the scarier aspects of the book. Society makes it seem like your doing the right thing, that your saving these childeren by seperating them, but it is honestly a chilling concept that is presented so well in this book.

I will admit that I don’t think I enjoyed this book as much as the first one, and I think this is probably because most of the drama happens towards the end of the book; but the characters are engaging enough that I didn’t find myself urging the book onwards, and in all honesty this a great sequel that I can’t really fault.

Recommend: Yes but read unwind first!! I think this book series will probably be one of my favourites!

Stars:  ★★★★★

 

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