by Neal Shusterman
Review by KM
I spent last weekend reading the entire Unwind series. Five books — it took me forty eight hours (including the twelve that I spent sleeping). Seriously, these books are that addictive.
I remember reading Unwind for the first time as a fourteen year old. There is one particularly chilling scene that left me in pieces in homeroom. (Oh my gosh, I didn’t even mean to make that pun, but it’s perfect so I’m leaving it. Feel free to judge me.)
Last Friday, we received UnBound at the library. It was an insta-memory trip for me and I knew I had to read the entire series before I hit this book.
Summary
Find out what happens to Connor, Risa, and Lev now that they’ve finally destroyed the Proactive Citizenry in this collection of short stories set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman.
Connor Lassiter’s fight to bring down Proactive Citizenry and find a suitable alternative to unwinding concluded in UnDivided. Now Connor, Risa, and Lev are free to live in a peaceful future—or are they? Neal Shusterman brings back his beloved Unwind characters for his fans to see what’s left for those who were destined to be unwound.**
Musings
Now this summary that Amazon so kindly provided me? This summary is crap. I can actually understand the reviews on the book from readers who were left confused. UnBound is not at all about Connor, Risa, and Lev. Thankfully, the actual book revealed the true nature.
This is an anthology from the point of view of all different characters from the series, some that were mentioned a lot and some that were never mentioned at all.
To be honest, the best comparison I have for this is when you’ve finished a book series, but you’re still so in love with the universe that you write the stories of OCs on Archive Of Our Own. Except this is all canon; it’s Neal playing in his own sandbox because he loves that damned sandbox just as much as the rest of us do.
More than anything, this reveals the twisted mindset that wasn’t limited to only unwinding, but the mindset of other ethical issues that accompany it. The most heart-wrenching story had to be the one about a child who was rejected for unwinding, but I’d hate to give away the reason why.
Please, oh, please go read this book. It makes a hell of a lot more sense when you read the entire series, but I really need some more people to nerd out with me as I wait for the movie that will undoubtedly be made.
**Thanks for the summary, Amazon.
Readcommendations 