Unsouled

4.5

“Hope can be bruised and battered. It can be forced underground and even rendered unconscious, but hope cannot be killed.”

The skinny:

Lev and Connor have one clue that is driving them forward: Janson Rheinschild. They believe that by seeking out the woman connected to Janson that they can find the answers to the end of unwinding. Unbeknownst to Connor and Lev, while they are trying to unravel the mystery of Rheinschild, Nelson is still on their trail. Nelson has not given up his goal to capture them, not in the slightest. Cam, inconsolable after Risa leaves, is taking out his anger and frustrations on the organization responsible for his ‘rewinding’. His plan, his obsession, is to take down Proactive Citizenry. Risa, on her own, is unsure of who she can trust. She desperately searches out a safe location to stay while she waits to be reunited with her friends. With the help of friends, the drive of determination, and the power of hope, these four characters meet again and learn answers that could change everything.

The reivew:

I liked Unwind. I liked UnWholly even a little bit more. But I pretty much loved UnSouled.

I made a little listy-poo to help me organize why I liked this book so much:

1) The first reason I liked this book was also present in previous stories, but I noticed it more so in this installment. I really appreciated that all of the kids/young adults in this book excel in one area or another. At first this annoyed me because I couldn’t understand how every character could be SO brilliant in one concentrated area or another (technology, leadership, etc.) – it just didn’t seem realistic. It was particularly hard to swallow the fact that even the characters that were supposed to be less intelligent were basically awesome masterminds. But then I started to look at it a little differently. I began to think that maybe, as an adult, I underestimate the intelligence and drive of young people. Perhaps the author wanted the readers to see each person in the novel as important and valuable in their own right. Possibly he wanted me (and I’m sure other adults) to not limit the capabilities of others. There is the real possibility that we don’t know what someone is really capable of until they are put into a situation where they have no other choice than to be amazing. MAYBE I’m seeing too much into this, but I just really ended up liking that aspect of the novel (in an I-hated-it-then-loved-it-because-I-over-think-things kinda way).

2) The second reason I liked this novel is the emphasis placed on the creation of unwinding. It was fascinating to see how Shusterman spun that aspect of the book. I really felt for the people who, inadvertently, invented the one thing that would change the history of the world as they knew it in such a disturbing way. It was saddening to see how people who just wanted to help the human population, instead see the horror that they caused.

3) The third reason was that the “Oooos and Ahhhhs” in this book really wowed me. There was one particular ‘reveal’ that I hadn’t anticipated. When this ‘reveal’ occurred, it really hit me hard; it not only made me feel like my insides were being squeezed, but also really made me think. It made me think about the process of unwinding, specifically unwinding that happens due to parts pirates. I thought deeply about what it must be like for someone to be caught, for someone to know they are going to die, and for family/friends to know that someone has been taken to be unwound.

Overall:

These were only a few things that stuck out to me. Generally I enjoyed this book more than the previous two because I felt like the process of unwinding and the setting of the story had been established. I felt like this book allowed me to focus more on the emotional aspect, and less on the sensationalism of unwinding itself.