Name: Danny Werhane's review of UnWholly by Neal Shusterman
Item: UnWholly
Rating: 5
Author: Danny Werhane

Neal Shusterman

"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 and, in the same stroke, 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 expand, allowing the unwinding of prisoners and the impoverished. Cam is a teen who does not exist. He is made entirely out of the parts of other unwinds. Cam, a 21st century Frankenstein, struggles with a search for identity and meaning, as well as the concept of his own soul, if indeed a rewound being can have one. When a sadistic bounty hunter who takes "trophies" from the unwinds he captures starts to pursue Connor, Risa and Lev, Cam finds his fate inextricably bound with theirs"--

UnWholly

Danny Werhane

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. 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.

Monicap

I enjoyed Lev's story the most, and then Risa's. Starkey and the Graveyard stuff honestly bored me too death a bit. This whole book felt a little tedious and unnecessary.

4 of 5 stars

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I almost gave this second book 3 stars, a star lower than the first book's rating. My frustration over Risa's unwise decision was so palpable I started to question why I liked her in the first book. But maybe I shouldn't judged her too quickly. It was a mistake on her part and I was glad that she made up for it in the end. It came to me how essential her not so great decision was to build a great story. Aside from that, I have no other problems with this book. The additional characters and their respective roles gave so much life to the story. Even all the villains, as much as they're so infuriating, they're effectively made to give us exciting story bumps once in a while. Well, maybe more often than once in a while. But they made the book more unpredictable just as much as the main characters did. That was why despite having a thought of giving this one a rating of three star, it was still a solid 4 stars. Definitely a solid rating.

It started off really well. I liked that despite having multiple perspective even from some minor characters, it didn't lead us away from the fact about who the real main characters were. I loved both Connor and Lev. Their character development is what I loved the most about them. I was so glad of their reunion after being apart for almost the whole book. The fact that the Akron AWOL and the clapper who didn't clap, the martyr and the patron saint, would join forces is something I would love to see. I'm waiting for this duo since the first book and I'm glad that there's a possibility of that to happen. 

I have so much anticipation for the next two books. I can only imagine how much more the main characters are going to encounter before the end of it all, or even if they are going to reach it at all.

nina 

Rachel Kanyid

I was very excited to read the second in the Unwind series. 
The first book held me captivated from the beginning to the very end, and while this one was still good, it didn't quite hold as much charm for me as the first book. 
It seemed to jump between too many characters. I would have liked to have more time with Cam and Risa, and get to know their story a little better.. I felt like if there was just a little more bulk to the book, and time spent with each of the many characters, the story would have flowed better... 
In my opinion anyways.

I usually prepare for sequels to be disappointing, but this book surprised me by how much I enjoyed it! The plot is rich and twisty. I love how this book expanded the world in a meaningful way. 

Jeweliet Coffee

Nicole Dykeman

A good book, a really good book, but it wasn't as good as the first one. I'm going to have to finish the trilogy just to say I did, and I have a feeling the next book will be great. The book is a bit weird, probably because the overall subject of the book is just plain strange. 

I can't decide whether I like Cam and feel sorry for him, or I don't. Definately on the fence when it comes to that. He didn't have a choice to be made, but...he just doesn't give me a good vibe, and NO ONE is allowed in the way of Connor and Risa.

I totally love Lev and Miracolina. Predicting it right now: they'll end up together. He TOTALLY likes her, and she TOTALLY likes him. They were teasing each other and flirting by the time she didn't hate him anymore.

Overall, it was a really good book on its own, but not as good compared to the first. I still liked it though, and would definately recommend it.

Lincy

Franzi

WHA- WHAT WAS THAT??? The last 150 pages? Awesome. The story? Awesome. Cam? Awesome. Starkey? Hate him. Change? IS COMING.

Jeni Enjaian

I did have to refresh my memory before delving into this book; it's been a while since I've read UnWind. I ended up enjoying this book far more than I imagined. It also reminded me of why I like Shusterman's books so much. 
The book took a little while to grow on me at first because compared to Lemony Snicket books (what I had just read) it is a "little" grittier. 
While I'm not a fan of the multiple-narrator technique, Shusterman makes it work. He tells just enough through each pov to hook the reader and keep him reading. I could not put it down. The ending came quickly and I didn't quite get everything (I was reading too fast :D) but I cannot wait to read the next one!

Emily C Peterson

A brilliant sequel that is just as good as the first book!

Abby N. Lewis

I've noticed that basically every Dystopian book that is written revolves around kids or teenagers. They are the ones who are forced into the front lines on the battlefield, they are the ones who have to step up and make governmental decisions because they know what's inhumane and what's just plain cruelty in action. 

In all of these novels (The Hunger Gamers, Divergent, The Program, and Unwind) the kids are all thrown into unjust circumstances that are out of their control. The government is trying to regulate them, trying to create the perfect, exemplary teenager. 

In this particular book, those teenagers are tithes, and now Cam. They are the model citizens. 

The question is, who's to decide what is morally right? Making a young man entirely out of Unwinds? That is a very interesting concept that sort of coincides with the story of Frankenstein. But my question is, doesn't destroying a vast number of children for the sake of making just one defeat the initial purpose of Unwinding? It was made so that (spoilers) when a person died of natural causes, not only their organs would be harvested to give to another in need, but every part of their body. Their death would help to restore life to many others. 

It's all rather hypocritical in a way, at least if you target it at Proactive Citizenry. 

This book tackles so many moral dilemmas, and somehow Neal just keeps coming up with more and more ethical and moral roadblocks that make you stop and think, If this were really happening, who would have the right to authorize these things? More importantly, does anyone? 

Sometimes Dystopian books unnerve me, because I can envision some of these scenarios actually playing out in real life, and it just makes me wonder, by writing these books, are the author's inadvertently predicting the future by distilling these ideas into people's minds? What if someone reads one of these books, and decides to take it seriously? What if they think, "I will be the one to allow not just organ donations, but entire body donations." We know how to grow test-tube babies, what if we grew them solely to provide parts for other people? And if we did, is it inhumane?

Food for thought.

Laura

UnWholly is the sequel to Unwind, but not really. In fact, like to think of this book as being the first book in the Unwind spin off series. That's not me saying I didn't like the book, on the contrary as this was probably my favorite book in the series (not counting Unwind), but it's just that Unwind had such a definitive end that it could have been a standalone and UnWholly takes place a year or two later and greatly expands the world of Unwind and there are other elements that make this book feel more like someone could read the entire series excluding Unwind and still know what the books were about. But anyway, I still love this book because it has Connor and Risa and Hayden in it and I love Connor and Risa and Hayden. Mostly, I love Connor and Risa together. There are other new characters too, like Cam and Miracolina and Starkey and that's another reason why this book feels like a spin off because these characters were not in the first book at all and are huge presences in the rest of the series. Unfortunately, I hated both Cam and Starkey, but I don't think I was supposed to like them anyway. UnWholly is the perfect series opener, with characters that are diverse and fun to follow around, violence, and fantastic intrigue, and rereading it reminded me why I love these books so goddamn much.

Read more like this review on my blog, http://www.bookwormbasics.blogspot.com

Danny Werhane &
UnWholly by Neal Shusterman

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UnWholly by Neal Shusterman