Review of Unsouled by Neal Shusterman

Unsouled is the third book in the Unwind series by Neal Shusterman, and was released this month. I finished about a week ago and have taken this time to process it all and get my thoughts together. Even so, it's going to be hard to do this book and series justice all in one go. I therefore recommend you read my previous post here so that I don't have to recap the general series premise. (Actually just read the books. Most of this terminology is going to make no sense otherwise and reading is good for you anyway.)

In this installment of the series, Connor and Lev have escaped from their ruined former safe haven (The Graveyard) and must avoid juvie cops and parts pirates as they look for answers about the mysterious Jansen Rheinschild, the scientist and creator of the process that allowed unwinding to become a reality. They've uncovered that he has been wiped from the history books, the Internet, everything. It becomes increasingly clear that finding the truth about him may be the answer to ending unwinding once and for all. In order to do so, however, they must return to their home of Ohio, where it all began and where Rheinschild's wife Sonia (from the first book) still lives.

On the other side of things, Risa has renounced the media statements she was forced to make by Proactive Citizenry. In Unwholly, they had blackmailed her with the security of her friends at The Graveyard but lost their leverage when the kids were attacked, killed and/or rounded up for unwinding anyway. Risa also cut ties with Cam (a little background: Cam's a modern day, handsome Frankenstein made entirely of Unwind parts), who doesn't take it well. He's obsessed with winning her heart even if it means cutting his own ties with Proactive Citizenry (which made him) and crushing anyone in his way, especially Connor.

As you can tell, there is A LOT going on in this book, but I've broken it down into some highlights and lowlights for a quicker and more accessible review (spoilers ahead):

Highlights:

Flow: The story is still smooth, transitions mostly seamless. It still reads with the urgency of a film script and yet allows for deep introspection and characterizations more predominantly found in books.

Villains:  The new greaseball Argent Skinner is pretty hopeless as a villain, but his strange manipulative/idolizing relationship with almost equally hopeless parts pirate Nelson is amusing and will probably do some damage to our favorite characters later on. Most importantly, Starkey's villainy has really taken form. The most traumatic moments in the book are his displays of violence against all who stand in his way and represent unwinding (specifically of storks, which are children abandoned on doorsteps and who become legally a member of that family, whether they're wanted or not). 

World Building: We've learned even more about this world now. People smoke tranquilizers recreationally. A push towards allowing criminals to be unwound is on the voting ballot. Most Native Americans (now known as People of Chance or ChanceFolk) generally abstain from unwinding practices. 

Recurring characters: CyFi! Hayden! Baby Didi, renamed Dierdre! Sonia!

Biggest Bad: I love the idea that the real string pullers behind unwind are corporations profiting from it instead of the government. We've seen this before in real life -- big business winning out at the expense of the people. Society will literally rip itself apart as it's manipulated by greed.

Biggest Bad Kryptonite: Obsolescence. Also taking a page from reality. What happens when people can get organs and other parts cheaper, faster, and without having anyone be unwound?  Unwinding goes the way of the VHS player. 

Lowlights:

Uneven character usage: Right now, it's hard to remember what Risa really got to do in this book, besides be an obsession for Cam. Well, she did stuff, just nothing particularly important. Got herself caught by a parts pirate then killed him, nearly got eaten by coyotes, hung out with CyFi at his weird commune, worked/hid at a salon, hung out with Sonia. At least she got to kiss Connor instead of Cam but that's probably going to come back to haunt her (that guy just isn't right).

Resolution: The answer to ending unwinding has apparently been right under their noses with Sonia and that feels pretty convenient. I miss the open ending of Unwind, but I know that the resolution offered will be hard-won in the fourth book so maybe that's okay.

No Trio Reunion: I want the original three back together all at once. I want Risa, Connor, and Lev, that weird little dysfunctional family. Glad Connor and Lev spent some time together, but it's just not the same dynamic.

Connor/Conner: The story occasionally slips between two spellings of Connor, though Connor is the predominant version. It's a small detail, but it irritates me. Isn't an editor or someone supposed to catch that? What about Find and Replace?

General weirdness: Connor talks to Roland's hand. And the shark tattoo talks back. Cam got pieces of Samson Ward and Wil? Who else does he have in there? Roland? Also Starkey's villainy also includes the need to impregnate girls under his authority...I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

Summation: Overall, this book was pretty awesome but it does show that the longer a series goes on, the more likely it will have a few missteps and a little more beating around the bush to get to the big picture. I'm ready for the next book, the title of which has been announced as Undivided.

Unwind "Dystology": Standalone Novels vs Series

Quite a few years ago, I picked up a YA novel called Unwind, written by Neal Shusterman.  It's one of the most compelling YA novels I have ever read.  In many ways, it reads like scenes of a movie -- present tense, action-packed, and showing different points of view even from minor characters.  This all culminates into effective world-building and one thrilling story that kept me engaged the whole way through. 

The story takes place in a futuristic (but still very recognizable as our own) society in which medicine and science have progressed to the point of making all body parts viable for human transplant.  Arms, legs, eyes, brain and other internal organs -- all of it can now be removed from donors, stored, and surgically grafted onto needy recipients.  This medical advancement and the Second Civil War (a war between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice citizens) have resulted in a compromise of sorts in society.  Abortion is now illegal, but parents or guardians may now legally elect to have their 13-18 year olds "unwound" -- a process in which they are surgically dismembered but in which all their body parts will "live on" in transplant recipients.  The story centers on Connor, Risa, and Lev -- Unwind teens trying to escape that fate and survive until 18.  

The novel touches on many social issues, like how social conflicts of the present can affect future generations, ethics of law, right to life, abortion, and even theology such as the concept of the soul.  Even though it discusses these heavy issues, it never attempts to sway.  This is the story of the characters, dealing with the world and the law as they affect their own lives and destiny.  Every chapter moves the story forward, giving no time to linger and very little breathing room.

By the end of the novel, I was satisfied.  It was compelling and refreshing to see a standalone novel fulfill me so much.  These days, it seems like true standalone YA novels don't actually exist.  Nearly everything, and certainly everything popular, is part of a series.  I championed the book not only for its amazing storytelling but for that reason as well. 

And then, years later, it was announced that it would be a trilogy, which later turned into a series of four (not including a short novella e-book) when the third book ran over 600 pages long.  The mixed feelings I had about this were understandably intense.  I wanted more of that world, more of those characters, just more in general.  But Unwind had felt so complete and I just wanted to believe that amazing standalones could exist in the world.  And then Unwholly was released and I fell right back into it; the same quality of writing, but with old and new characters, and old triumphs heralding new problems and -- it was amazing, once again. Even if some elements of the world-building did feel a tiny bit tacked on.

Overall, it was great storytelling and I cannot wait for the next book to come out in just a couple short weeks.

But I do still wonder if standalones can ever hold the same kind of appeal and popularity of a series, and whether this is good, bad, or just the way it is.  Are there any series you believe could and should have been standalones, or visa versa?  Do series become more loved simply because readers get to spend more time with the characters?  If you find out a book is part of a series, does that make you more or less likely to check it out?

Feel free to sound off with a comment and check out the Unwind series while you're at it.