Review: UnBound – Neal Shusterman

UnBound – Neal Shusterman

In the latest installment of the Unwind Dystology, Shusterman—along with collaborators Terry Black, Michelle Knowlden, Brendan Shusterman, and Jarrod Shusterman—explores even more aspects of a world that has accepted the unacceptable. These short stories examine the world of unwinding in a way we haven’t seen before, providing a fresh framework, new characters, and a different take on some events.

This is a review of a book in a series. The review is as spoiler-free as I can make it, but you might want to check out my reviews of books #1, #1.5, #2, #3, and #4.

Review: First, the covers changed! I am pleased. No more creepy cover critters for this series! I hope that the new covers encourage more people to pick up these books.

UnBound is currently the last book in the Unwind Dystology. (Is Dystology even a real word? I still haven’t figured that out.) Whatever a dystology is, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’m sad it’s over. I’ll miss this world.

UnBound is a collection of stories and novelettes set in the Unwind universe. A lot of these stories have spoilers for the series. Don’t read them until after you’ve finished book #4. The stories introduce some new characters and give updates on the lives of Cam, Una, Miracolina, Hayden, Grace, and Argent. The stories also fill in some gaps in the series. We get to see the real reason behind why Risa became an unwind and the history of Roland’s tattoo.

I think the stories lack the depth of the novels. I didn’t find them as thought-provoking as the full-length books. None of them blew my mind, but it was so much fun to be back in the Unwind world. I think I said this in another review, but I’d read anything set in this universe. Every time you think this series can’t get more depraved, it does. There seems to be no bottom to the horror that is unwinding. Who knew you could do so much with human body parts?

Like I already said, I didn’t find any of these stories to be mind-blowingly amazing, but I did like some more than others:

“Unfinished Symphony” introduces a few characters who knew Risa before the start of the series. The feud between Risa and the main character is really stupid, but the story has great suspense and untrustworthy characters. It shows why Risa was chosen to be unwound. 

“Unnatural Selection” explains the mysterious Burmese Dah Zey. The doctors who work for the organization make some interesting creations with human body bits. 

“Rewinds” is my favorite story because Cam is in it. I honestly didn’t care about the other characters after the series ended. I just wanted to know what happened with Cam. “Rewinds” follows Cam and Una as they try to deal with Proactive Citizenry’s failed military experiment. 

“UnStrung,” which is the #1.5 novelette, is in this collection, so you don’t have to buy the e-book if you don’t want to. I’m very happy to have a hard copy of it now.  

Mostly, this collection made me sad that the series is over. My favorite characters are the Rewinds, and this book just proved to me that we didn’t get enough of their disturbing awesomeness in the series. I think the Rewinds deserve a spin-off novel . . . .

The Sunday Post #51 – Hiatus Schedule

The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, and share news.

Some of you already know that I’m going to be spending the next few weeks in Kentucky for my grad school residency. I have some posts scheduled for when I’m gone, but I won’t be around the blogosphere very much. Residencies are ridiculously stressful for me. Assuming that I don’t drop dead from a heart attack or end up in a mental institution, I’ll be back to regular blogging on June 6.

Hiatus Schedule

May 23: Review of UnBound by Neal Shusterman.

May 24: Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’ve changed my mind about. (I’m kinda glad I won’t be around for all of the hate I’m going to get because of this post.)

May 25: Review of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

May 28: Bookish questions tag.

May 30: The Unwind Dystology series wrap-up review.

May 31: Top Ten Tuesday: Not-so-beachy reads.

June 3: A story about how my bookish ways corrupted America’s youth + SpongeBob memes because I’m super-mature.

I’ll see you in June!

The “All The Books I Forgot To Show You” Book Haul

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. I get to show off all the books I’ve gotten recently.

So, I’m really bad at remembering to put books in my book hauls. I realize that forgetting to put books in a book haul sounds idiotic, but let me explain. I usually buy a bunch of books at once, chuck them on my TBR shelf, and write a book haul post weeks or months later. Sometimes, I accidently leave a few books out.

I was rearranging my TBR shelf and discovered that I have quite a few books that I don’t remember showing you. I’ve had some of these for almost a year. I guess this is a “better late than never” book haul post. Let me know if you’ve read any of these.

This Side of Providence – Rachel M. Harper

Arcelia Perez fled Puerto Rico to escape a failed marriage and a history of abuse, but instead of finding her piece of the American dream, she ends up on the wrong side of Providence. With three young children, Arcelia follows a rocky path that ultimately leads to prison and an agonizing drug withdrawal. But her real challenge comes when she’s released and must figure out how to stay clean and reunite the family that has unraveled in her absence. 

Through rotating narrators, we hear from the characters whose lives and futures are inextricably linked with Arcelia’s own uncertain fate: her charming, street-savvy son, Cristo, and brilliant daughter Luz; their idealistic teacher, Miss Valentin, who battles her own demons; and the enigmatic Snowman, her landlord and confidante.

Oranges are not the only fruit – Jeanette Winterson

This is the story of Jeanette, adopted and brought up by her mother as one of God's elect. Zealous and passionate, she seems destined for life as a missionary, but then she falls for one of her converts. 

At sixteen, Jeanette decides to leave the church, her home and her family, for the young woman she loves. Innovative, punchy and tender, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a few days ride into the bizarre outposts of religious excess and human obsession.

Rosemary’s Baby – Ira Levin

Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, an ordinary young couple, settle into a New York City apartment, unaware that the elderly neighbors and their bizarre group of friends have taken a disturbing interest in them. But by the time Rosemary discovers the horrifying truth, it may be far too late!

Life as we knew it – Susan Beth Pfeffer

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. 

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

Brides of Eden – Linda Crew

When, in 1903, the fiery preacher Joshua arrives in sleepy Corvallis, Oregon, Eva Mae—and the whole town—is never the same again. 

Joshua is wonderful. He's charismatic. Insisting on simplicity, he commands his converts to burn their possessions. Demanding devotion to Christ, he tells them to abandon their personal ties. 

But there's a surge of violence rising, and before it's over, families will be ripped apart and lives will be destroyed. Eva Mae's gripping true story is a stranger-than-fiction tale of a turn-of-the-century apocalyptic cult.

UnBound – Neal Shusterman

In the latest installment of this sequence, Shusterman—along with collaborators Terry Black, Michelle Knowlden, Brendan Shusterman, and Jarrod Shusterman—explores even more aspects of a world that has accepted the unacceptable. These short stories examine the world of unwinding in a way we haven’t seen before, providing a fresh framework, new characters, and a different take on some events.

FF Friday: In Which I Tell You Why I Read YA

Feature & Follow is a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. This week, I’m going to tell you why I read young adult books, even though I’m not the target audience for that genre.

Why I Read YA

Quick reads: YA books tend to be shorter and have larger font and margins than adult books. It usually takes me between 1 and 3 days to finish a YA book. Adult books can take me up to a week. I read a lot of YA whenever I get behind on my Goodreads reading challenge.

Relatable: I have very vivid memories of being a teenager. I can relate to many YA contemporary protagonists because I’ve been there, done that.

Variety and choices: Since YA is such a popular genre, there are a lot of books to choose from. You can find a YA book about almost any topic. “YA” also covers a wide range of reading and maturity levels. The writing in books for tweens is different from the writing in books for older teens. I like the variety.

   

Relatively straightforward: Some adult books require the reader to do a lot of thinking in order to understand the story. This is especially true of classics and experimental books. I spend a lot of time thinking about everything I read, but YA books usually take less thought to figure out.

Easy to find out about: Most of the blogs I follow review YA, so the books are easy to find out about. When I walk into the bookstore, I know the plots of most of the books on the YA shelves because I’ve seen them on blogs.

Interesting life stage: I think the teenage years are an interesting life stage to read about. The teenage years have a lot of “firsts,” and I love coming-of-age stories.

Curiosity about the future of the genre: YA is a relatively new genre. In the past, there were very few books written specifically for teenagers. I’m interested to see what the genre becomes in the future.

Nostalgia: I grew up reading YA, and I still have the maturity level of a 14 year-old. Why would I stop reading YA?

Do you read YA? Why?

The follow part of FF Friday: If you are a book blogger and you leave a link to your blog in the comments below, I will follow you on Bloglovin’. If you want to be friends on Goodreads, Twitter, BookLikes, or G+, that would be awesome, too. Click the links to go to my pages on those sites. I’m looking forward to “meeting” you.