Book Review: UnWholly by Neal Shusterman

If you haven't yet read my review of Unwind, you can read it here: Unwind Review

Release Date: August 28, 2012
Author: Neal Shusterman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Length: 416 pages

"It’s finally here. The long-awaited sequel to the bestselling Unwind, which Publishers Weekly called a “gripping, brilliantly imagined futuristic thriller.”

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 simltaneously 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:

Characters: Like it's predecessor Unwholly tells it's story from a multitude of third person views. While we return to the lives of Connor, Risa and Lev, in this installment their role has been downsized a bit to make room for three new characters who each show many similarities which correspond to a member of the original protagonists. Starkey, Miracolina, and Cam are three entirely new character. The first two have aspects to them that I didn't like, however one of them developed into a character that I rooted for while the other only spiraled downward, further earning my hatred. Cam is an enigma however, his thought progression and mindset make him a humorous character to get know. Overall, as with the previous Unwind novel I love how this story is told and how the characters are portrayed.

Romance: Unlike the last novel the romance has been heightened a bit. While Connor and Risa's relationship begins to encounter problems, Lev is finding himself drawn to another tithe rescued from a fate of unwinding, though like Lev was at first, she isn't sympathetic to his cause. I found the rise in romance to add to it's accessibility to a a larger margin of readers while still containing the action-packed goodness that the first installment possessed.

Predictability: While I found that many parts of this book were easily deciphered, others just threw me off entirely. I was astonished when new secrets were revealed and surprising twists were thrown my way. This book is definitely one to blow your mind when it comes to the larger secrets it holds, while the smaller less exciting secrets come out before they are confirmed.

Ending: This book had many endings for many different characters, some triumphant while others were in defeat. Again, I love how this book shows many characters perspectives and the closer it gets to the end the more diverse the perspective selection. I'm excited to see where these characters end up in the final installment to this captivating and intriguing series.

Overall, I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. It makes you think about many of life's difficult and controversial questions. I'll leave you with one question, would you rather die or be unwound?

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