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Unwind
by Neal Shusterman



More information on the radar plot criteria

This radar plot is meant to give a graphical representation of the book in question. For a better idea of what each spoke means, see the table below. Also, keep in mind that higher numbers are not necessarily better. Depending on your taste, a 0 may be just as appealing as a 10 (or a 5, etc) in a particular category. (Click to close)


Category 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Maturity 18+ 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8
Violence Excessive Violence Violent acts (no blood-gore) No Violence
Action Constant Action Even mix of action-drama No Action
Epic Lord of the Rings Epic Large scope, less detailed Limited scope
World Completely unique Half real/half unique Set in our world
Realism Focus outside the realm of accepted science Focus evenly split between explainable-unexplainable Nothing unexplainable - not the focus
Modernity Present Day (or beyond) 1980-1999 1960-1979 1930-1959 1870-1929 1800-1869 1700-1799 1400-1699 200-1399 (1000)-199 Ancient
Humor Laugh out loud throughout Funny (but not primary focus) Intentionally not funny

In the future, the pro-life/pro-choice debate became so heated that it resulted in a second American civil war. After years of brutal fighting, the two sides signed the Bill of Life which stated the following: 1. All life is protected from conception to the age of 13; 2. Between the ages of 13 and 18 a parent could choose to retroactively unwind a child. Unwinding involved systematically dismantling a person for organ/limb transplant; all parts are used, and all are kept alive, so technically the life of the Unwound was not put to an end. At the start of the novel, Unwinding was an accepted part of life.


Connor Lassiter, 16, was prone to get into fights at school. As a result, his parents decided to have him Unwound. After discovering this, he decides to run away with his girlfriend (who is not an Unwind). When the time comes, she does not leave with him. Risa Ward, 15, is a ward of a state home(Ohio StaHo 23). After making a few mistakes during her classical piano recital, she is sentenced to being Unwound due to budget cuts. Levi (Lev) Calder is a tithe. As the youngest of 10, his parents had him for the sole purpose of tithing 10% of their children to charity. He is having a party on his 13th birthday to celebrate the culmination of his life’s purpose. His oldest brother Marcus refuses to participate and is disowned by the family.


Connor gets the help of a trucker, but the Juvey cops track him using his cell phone. They are stopped on the side of a highway, and Connor flees across multiple lanes of traffic. He grabs Lev (also on his way to the Harvest Camp to be tithed) out of a car as a hostage. The bus containing Risa crashes to avoid the commotion, and Risa races of into the woods. Lev is hit by a tranquilizer, but not before his Pastor (Dan) is able to tell him to run. In the woods, Connor overpowers a Juvey cop and shoots him with his own tranquilizer gun.


The next day they come across civilization. Risa tricks a woman out of food. They are spotted by a cop, so they head towards a bus stop. As they arrive, they hear a boy claim they have been storked (anyone is able to leave a baby at another person’s doorstep. If they get away without being seen, the baby becomes the legal obligation of the home owner) again. Connor (remembering a time when he said the same thing when their neighborhood had illegally passed a storked baby around until it died) takes the baby from the doorstep. He, Risa, and Lev are then forced to board the bus to avoid the cop.


At school they hide in a girls bathroom. Lev slips away and turns them in. When he realizes what he has done, he pulls the fire alarm to help Connor and Risa escape. They do (with the help of a teacher who sends them to a member of the Unwind underground railroad), but not before they see Lev calling their names. They assume (both correctly and incorrectly) that he has betrayed them.


In the underground, they meet Hayden, a sarcastic rich boy, Roland, a manipulative bully, and Mai, a goth. Eventually they arrive in The Graveyard – a decommissioned plane graveyard where an ex-Navy Admiral protects runaway Unwinds until they are 18. We learn Connor’s escape from the Juvey cops is the stuff of legend (he is the Akron AWOL). Connor becomes close to the Admiral, while Risa works as a nurse. Roland builds a network of power to overthrow the Admiral. Lev, meanwhile, helps Cyrus Finch (CyFi) track down the parents of an Unwind who he received a piece of brain from. CyFi still has memories of the Unwind. Lev arrives at the Graveyard a few weeks later, now bitter and angry.


Lev falls in with a group of Clappers (terrorists who turn themselves into bombs). A riot erupts in the Graveyard (due to the discover death of 5 Unwinds at the hands of the Clappers) and the Admiral becomes gravely ill. Connor, Risa, and Roland fly him to a hospital and Roland turns them in. They are taken to a harvest camp. Lev arrives shortly after with the other Clappers (Mai is one as well). Roland is Unwound. Mai and the other Clapper destroy the chop shop just as Connor is taken inside. He loses an eye and an arm. Lev leads the rescue of those injured by the explosion, thus choosing not to clap himself, and eventually confesses to the police.


Connor receives Roland’s arm, and he is given the false identify of a nineteen year old. Risa is wheelchair bound. Lev’s decision not to clap puts a face on the anti-Unwind movement and changes begin to occur. The legal age is reduced to 17. Connor, Risa, and Hayden take over the Graveyard. The Admiral recovers, but not fully (he refuses Unwind transplants). We also learn he is the parents of the infamous Humphrey (real name Harlan) Dunfee. After he was unwound, his parents spent their lives trying to piece him together. They did so by gathering everyone who got a part of him. At his 26th “birthday party” all these people gathered together and, for a moment, their collective consciousness came together and “Harlan” was there.


Lev will go to live with his brother Marcus. Connor will lead the new Unwinds in the Graveyard in an effort to free as many Unwinds as possible, at least until the Unwinding is put to an end permanently.




I would like to evaluate this book in terms of themes and ideas on one hand, and actual literary skill and composition on the other. First, this is a fascinating concept that does an excellent job of bring the issues surrounding abortion to light. I feel Shusterman does an excellent job of handling this delicate issue without preaching towards a particular agenda. Ultimately, his message is that whether life starts at conception, or at birth, there can be no doubt that life itself is a precious thing. By having the “death” or Unwinding occur at the age of reason, it puts it sharply in focus what a despicable act it is. In fact, the scene where Roland is being unwound is extremely disturbing and, for a young adult, nightmare inducing.


I appreciated Shusterman’s willingness to approach this subject without obviously choosing a side. In fact, when characters discuss the issue of when life begins (a very brief discussion), each side is taken by different characters and not resolution is attempted. It’s simply accepted that people have different opinions on the matter.


Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the depth to which Shusterman developed a world in which Unwinding was a common practice. Not only was there Unwinding itself, but he also added in things like Storking, the way state homes would deal with children (i.e. only keeping those with the most skills/promise to add to society), Tithing, the legend of Humphrey Dunfee, Clappers (a society that demeans life so much would probably lead to such a bitter, cruel, spiteful form of protest), and even the consistency of adult characters simply accepting that Unwinding isn’t really death, but just a different state of living. Outside of this culture it seems obviously ridiculous, but when you grow up being told something our whole life, it’s hard to see things otherwise. Conceptually, Shusterman does a good job of capturing this.


My only complaints with the book are not with its ideas, but with the writing itself. Ultimately, Shusterman’s writing is just passable. There isn’t beauty or subtlety to it. The characters have different characteristics and motives, but they feel flat otherwise. This is especially relevant, and evident, considering the structure of the book. Each chapter is titled based on the character (Connor, Risa, etc.) or group (Unwinds, etc.) it follows. However, in spite of this, the tone and style of each chapter is exactly the same. Connor chapters aren’t written to illicit the powerful will and anger that accompanies Connor, nor are the Roland chapters written in such a way to capture his manipulative, power hungry nature. They all feel the same, which is a huge let down, especially since it is core to the structure of the book.


The lack of greatness in the writing is amplified by the difficulty of the subject matter, and the cleverness in the ideas and depth of the world that Shusterman created. Had the writing shown the same level of skill as the ideas that are present in the book, this would be much easier to recommend. As it is, however, I do not recommend this book unless you are specifically looking for something to help broach the subject of abortion with a young adult. If you are just looking to recommend a young adult something that is entertaining and full of great writing, there are numerous other books to choose from (Harry Potter, Ender’s Game, and the The Hunger Games all come to mind).


As an aside, the moments where Roland was building power, being manipulative, and Connor was trying to combat him reminded me a lot of Ender’s Game. It wasn’t as good, but it seemed very similar and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was inspired by Ender.

Another aside. I was, coincidentally, just informed about Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay “A Modest Proposal” in which he satirically claims that the Irish can deal with their poverty problem by having the children of the poor eaten, but not until they are 1 year of age. This is disturbing, of course, but the connections between this satire, and Unwind should be quite apparent. Both are meant to shed light on the true worth of a person by suggesting a disturbing “dismantling” at an age when there can be no doubt that it is the wrong thing to do. Furthermore, in both cases, the dismantling is considered a good thing because it serves to improve the rest of society as a whole. Even the extent to which Swift relates how his proposal will result in a booming economy for Ireland is consistent with how Unwinding became such big business in Shusterman’s work. Additionally, Swift claims that it would be better for someone to be sold as food, and to help the nation, than to live a miserable life in much the same way it is claimed in Unwind that it is better to be a part of greatness than to be entirely worthless.


In a way, Unwind serves as a modern take on Swift’s proposal, but it assumes that the proposal was accepted (in spite of the original proposer’s attempt to shock the audience). This is consistent with how the Admiral relates that the military meant to shock the two sides of the war into realizing how terrible their fighting was, but did not expect them to actually accept the proposal. I wish I still had a copy of the book to check this with, but I wonder if the Admiral refers to this suggestion as a “modest proposal” as an intentional reference to this essay. It would not surprise me considering the similarities.





16 - Disturbing, frightening imagery. Mature concepts.



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