Wednesday 19 June 2013

Unwholly by Neal Shusterman

Title: Unwholly
Author: Neal Shusterman
Rating: 5/5

Blurb
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 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
So, let us start by mentioning Neal Shusterman. I adore the man, truly, I do. His storytelling skills are as sharp in my memory since a few years back when I read his Skinjacker trilogy (go check that out too). Neal Shusterman can not only create a riveting setting, but an equally gripping plot. He gives us the POV's of so many distinct characters, and still somehow manages to make them all work out. Let me all explain in detail:
 
The plot, first. The plot of the whole series revolves around the idea of 'unwinding', where adolescents of a certain age are eligible to be tossed out by their parents, and become unwound. The first book introduces all of this unwind business, and in the second book, we're taken a step further. To create a totally new person out of different parts of unwound teens. This is Cam, and Cam is one of the characters who's POV we get to taste. Cam is a curious character, and his curiosity helps entwine his life with Connor, Lev and Risa-not necessarily in that order. He plays many roles in the book, and one specific role that I totally adore him for comes in the end, what he does, you'll have to read to find out.

Ok, then there was Connor. Connor is the kind of character you root for throughout the story. He's the guy who's POV you'd want to read the most. The guy who, if something happened to him, you'd probably roll on the floor going: NO, not my baby Connor *weeps*. He's the leader, Connor, he's the guy who just wants the best for everybody, while at the same time he's doubting certain things about himself. In the first book he gets a replacement arm when his breaks, and this arm belongs to the guy who 'was going to hurt Risa', so now he's not sure he'd be able to control himself before her. Aw, relationship problems between my favourite couple! It only makes the story interesting.

Another character we get to see things from is Starkey, a new to be unwind kid. Starkey is a major fan of Connor, the AWOL, but when he meets Connor, he's a big disappointed. Things happen, and Starkey just proves to be my new voldymort *gags*.

Overall, all these different characters meet and connect somewhere along the way, and they are all connected to the plot, like different pieces of a puzzle. Throughout the book, Neal Shusterman can truly get that reaction from us, the realisation that all the characters are somehow important. In general, his style of writing is truly amazing, and I so can not wait for the third book in this trilogy!

The ending was not a cliff-hanger, but definitely there were many things that happened, and many reactions and results we need to see in the next book.

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