Unwind by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've already been a fan of Shusterman's, so digging deeper into his original novels isn't that big of a stretch.

Cool underlying concepts taken to their full extremes? Check.
Kids having to live under these extreme conditions? Check.
A horrifying look at a society that has gone completely bonkers? Check.

Sounds pretty average for REALITY, right?

Eeehhhhh. Wait a moment. The Second American Revolution was fought over reproduction. Indeed, it was the Lifers and the Choicers that took it nuclear, with one little handwavium. All medical science now allows for totally easy transplants and a single human can be chopped up into all different kinds of pieces and used for... anything!

Of course, my mind went to huge flesh monsters first off, but no, this is all for *valid* reasons. It's all totally dehumanizing. You know, because while abortions are no longer legal... at all, we can now recycle our children when they turn 13. Have them live on eternally (or rather, internally) in other people. It's a respectable way to keep on living. And economical, too.

Enter another handwavium here about people actually agreeing to this horrific compromise. It happened, okay? This is America, home of the brave and terminally psychotic, and no one won the war.

*deep pause*

This is a rather dark book. For a YA, I kinda expect this kind of thing as a matter of course, but I'm just gonna say it. This is a rather dark book.

And especially if we just run with the natural problems being presented here and enjoy the truly sick premise of Humpty-Dumpty having a great fall, it's still sick.

It SHOULD be a straight horror. Not a YA. It ought to be hitting all the most horrific high-points of a horror novel. It doesn't. It's NORMAL. Adventure, escape, and confrontations, choices, growing as a person... all that is here. But DAMN. This is Human Centipede territory.

I think it's even SICKER because it is almost like it's a commentary on YA novels and how much they truly get away with. I'd have less an issue with it if it just went the way of blood. lol

I'm likely to continue. I have this horrid fascination thing going on inside my noggin.



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