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Unwind Dystology #1-3
The Unwind Collection
All three thrilling books in Neal Shusterman’s New York Times bestselling Unwind trilogy, together in one boxed set.After the Second Civil War, the Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen. However, a loophole allows parents to retroactively get rid of a teenager through a process called “unwinding.”
Three teens defy the system and run away from their unwinding: Connor, a rebel whose parents have ordered his unwinding; Risa, a ward of the state who is to be unwound due to cost-cutting; and Lev, whose unwinding has been planned since birth as a religious tithing. As their paths intersect and lives hang in the balance, Connor, Risa, and Lev have to work together to survive.
The complete riveting trilogy, which VOYA calls “smart, intense, and thought provoking,” is packaged together in this boxed set that includes Unwind, UnWholly, and UnSouled.
Three teens defy the system and run away from their unwinding: Connor, a rebel whose parents have ordered his unwinding; Risa, a ward of the state who is to be unwound due to cost-cutting; and Lev, whose unwinding has been planned since birth as a religious tithing. As their paths intersect and lives hang in the balance, Connor, Risa, and Lev have to work together to survive.
The complete riveting trilogy, which VOYA calls “smart, intense, and thought provoking,” is packaged together in this boxed set that includes Unwind, UnWholly, and UnSouled.
1120 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2013
19 people are currently reading
762 people want to read
About the author
Neal Shusterman
90 books29.9k followersAward-winning author Neal Shusterman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he began writing at an early age. After spending his junior and senior years of high school at the American School of Mexico City, Neal went on to UC Irvine, where he made his mark on the UCI swim team, and wrote a successful humor column. Within a year of graduating, he had his first book deal, and was hired to write a movie script.
In the years since, Neal has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. As a full-time writer, he claims to be his own hardest task-master, always at work creating new stories to tell. His books have received many awards from organizations such as the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association, as well as garnering a myriad of state and local awards across the country. Neal's talents range from film directing (two short films he directed won him the coveted CINE Golden Eagle Awards) to writing music and stage plays – including book and lyrical contributions to “American Twistory,” which is currently playing in Boston. He has even tried his hand at creating Games, having developed three successful "How to Host a Mystery" game for teens, as well as seven "How to Host a Murder" games.
As a screen and TV writer, Neal has written for the "Goosebumps" and “Animorphs” TV series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie “Pixel Perfect”. Currently Neal is adapting his novel Everlost as a feature film for Universal Studios.
Wherever Neal goes, he quickly earns a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. Much of his fiction is traceable back to stories he tells to large audiences of children and teenagers -- such as his novel The Eyes of Kid Midas. As a speaker, Neal is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give Neal a unique approach to writing. Neal's novels always deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor.
Of Everlost, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman has reimagined what happens after death and questions power and the meaning of charity. While all this is going on, he has also managed to write a rip-roaring adventure…”
Of What Daddy Did, Voice of Youth Advocates wrote; "This is a compelling, spell-binding story... A stunning novel, impossible to put down once begun.
Of The Schwa Was Here, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman's characters–reminiscent of those crafted by E. L. Konigsburg and Jerry Spinelli–are infused with the kind of controlled, precocious improbability that magically vivifies the finest children's classics.
Of Scorpion Shards, Publisher's Weekly wrote: "Shusterman takes an outlandish comic-book concept, and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination makes it stunningly believable. A spellbinder."
And of The Eyes of Kid Midas, The Midwest Book Review wrote "This wins our vote as one of the best young-adult titles of the year" and was called "Inspired and hypnotically readable" by School Library Journal.
Neal Shusterman lives in Southern California with his children Brendan, Jarrod, Joelle, and Erin, who are a constant source of inspiration!
In the years since, Neal has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. As a full-time writer, he claims to be his own hardest task-master, always at work creating new stories to tell. His books have received many awards from organizations such as the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association, as well as garnering a myriad of state and local awards across the country. Neal's talents range from film directing (two short films he directed won him the coveted CINE Golden Eagle Awards) to writing music and stage plays – including book and lyrical contributions to “American Twistory,” which is currently playing in Boston. He has even tried his hand at creating Games, having developed three successful "How to Host a Mystery" game for teens, as well as seven "How to Host a Murder" games.
As a screen and TV writer, Neal has written for the "Goosebumps" and “Animorphs” TV series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie “Pixel Perfect”. Currently Neal is adapting his novel Everlost as a feature film for Universal Studios.
Wherever Neal goes, he quickly earns a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. Much of his fiction is traceable back to stories he tells to large audiences of children and teenagers -- such as his novel The Eyes of Kid Midas. As a speaker, Neal is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give Neal a unique approach to writing. Neal's novels always deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor.
Of Everlost, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman has reimagined what happens after death and questions power and the meaning of charity. While all this is going on, he has also managed to write a rip-roaring adventure…”
Of What Daddy Did, Voice of Youth Advocates wrote; "This is a compelling, spell-binding story... A stunning novel, impossible to put down once begun.
Of The Schwa Was Here, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman's characters–reminiscent of those crafted by E. L. Konigsburg and Jerry Spinelli–are infused with the kind of controlled, precocious improbability that magically vivifies the finest children's classics.
Of Scorpion Shards, Publisher's Weekly wrote: "Shusterman takes an outlandish comic-book concept, and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination makes it stunningly believable. A spellbinder."
And of The Eyes of Kid Midas, The Midwest Book Review wrote "This wins our vote as one of the best young-adult titles of the year" and was called "Inspired and hypnotically readable" by School Library Journal.
Neal Shusterman lives in Southern California with his children Brendan, Jarrod, Joelle, and Erin, who are a constant source of inspiration!
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 28, 2017
4.5 stars to this amazing series. You'll notice that this box set only contains the first three, which is ridiculously convenient - I didn't read book four or the novella until 2016 and still loved both, which just goes to show that this series truly is amazing.
Unwind is about a world where society’s distrust for teenagers has been taken to a further extent. Instead of aborting unborn children, governments allow parents to unwind their kids at ages 13-18. Your organs will be given to people who need them – cancer patients, car-accident victims, sick, mangled or disease ridden people. This concept could’ve been terrible in any other author’s hands, but Shusterman executes it perfectly. He writes about how teens are seen as property, existing as aspects of their parents or not at all.
Shusterman has extremely well-written main characters. Connor's character development is complex and interesting. He’s sarcastic and willing to do what it takes. Also, nice socks. Lev isn’t the most interesting towards the beginning of this book, but he has incredible character development, going through a slight villain arc and learning who he is slowly but surely. Risa is emotionally cold, but also badass and lovable.
He doesn’t stop there; this series is also packed with interesting, developed side characters. Una has broken my heart so many times, Hayden has broken my heart so many times. I've only read one or two other series where the character arcs are so consistently interesting, especially with such a large cast.
There’s not too much romance, but what romance exists is amazing. The romance between Connor and Risa is developed extremely slowly, no instalove, with them gradually becoming a team. They’re one of my favorite couples.
While this series is fairly diverse in terms of race and gender, I do have a few quibbles. Throughout the series, we have so many interesting girl characters… but none of the major girls are leaders. All the leaders here are guys, and it's not the greatest. Also, there is not a single lgbt character in this entire series. That’d be fine with a small cast, but there are around 20 major characters in this series. There’s a short novella where Hayden is implied to be bi (which he totally is), but a one-line reference to bringing either a boy or a girl to a party is not enough. I need more.
There is also too much backstory for villains I didn't care about. This aspect is really awesome for the first two books, but it gets old after a while. Not every villain can be symapthetic.
All that being said, I recommend this series wholeheartedly, to everyone.
Unwind is about a world where society’s distrust for teenagers has been taken to a further extent. Instead of aborting unborn children, governments allow parents to unwind their kids at ages 13-18. Your organs will be given to people who need them – cancer patients, car-accident victims, sick, mangled or disease ridden people. This concept could’ve been terrible in any other author’s hands, but Shusterman executes it perfectly. He writes about how teens are seen as property, existing as aspects of their parents or not at all.
Shusterman has extremely well-written main characters. Connor's character development is complex and interesting. He’s sarcastic and willing to do what it takes. Also, nice socks. Lev isn’t the most interesting towards the beginning of this book, but he has incredible character development, going through a slight villain arc and learning who he is slowly but surely. Risa is emotionally cold, but also badass and lovable.
He doesn’t stop there; this series is also packed with interesting, developed side characters. Una has broken my heart so many times, Hayden has broken my heart so many times. I've only read one or two other series where the character arcs are so consistently interesting, especially with such a large cast.
There’s not too much romance, but what romance exists is amazing. The romance between Connor and Risa is developed extremely slowly, no instalove, with them gradually becoming a team. They’re one of my favorite couples.
While this series is fairly diverse in terms of race and gender, I do have a few quibbles. Throughout the series, we have so many interesting girl characters… but none of the major girls are leaders. All the leaders here are guys, and it's not the greatest. Also, there is not a single lgbt character in this entire series. That’d be fine with a small cast, but there are around 20 major characters in this series. There’s a short novella where Hayden is implied to be bi (which he totally is), but a one-line reference to bringing either a boy or a girl to a party is not enough. I need more.
There is also too much backstory for villains I didn't care about. This aspect is really awesome for the first two books, but it gets old after a while. Not every villain can be symapthetic.
All that being said, I recommend this series wholeheartedly, to everyone.
February 18, 2014
loved it. creepy, great writing, cohesive story, food for thought.
well worth the read for fans of the hunger games-- this is the most accurate read-a-like trilogy i've picked up yet. warning that as with hunger games, there are some disturbing parts. if you make it through book one, you're good to go.
well worth the read for fans of the hunger games-- this is the most accurate read-a-like trilogy i've picked up yet. warning that as with hunger games, there are some disturbing parts. if you make it through book one, you're good to go.
August 17, 2013
Absolutely love these books!!! Read them all in 5th grade and they were so good.
November 18, 2013
OMG! Just got finisshed reading unsouled!im finally done with all the books! I hope they make another though cant wait!On every page i was locked in my book. Lots of enemies and friends and secrets.
May 14, 2014
One of my Favourite Series! It's amazing guys! Seriously if you haven't read it, GO READ IT NOW!!:)))
August 18, 2018
This was the best book series I have read so far! I absolutely love how you watch all the characters develop over the entire series and all the twists in it! I would give these books 110% if I could!
January 9, 2022
I absolutely loved these books. It was a dystopia with a unique spin on it. I wish I could reread for the first time!
September 25, 2023
Favorite author!
March 9, 2017
The idea behind this book is crazy... but I couldn't put it down!
January 6, 2017
very interesting
March 18, 2016
I love how Neal made it so that the children don't die, instead they just stop living. The First book was so descriptive it made me feel like i was really in the story. Neal also had a great ending that made the transition to the second book much easier.
The second book was very intriguing as we are introduced to a completely new character Camus Comprix. Camus is a human mad up completely of other people, nighty-nine to be exact. I enjoyed how the added Starkey, a character that is as great as Connor, but has his own goal of becoming better than Connor.
The Third book was intense due to the fact that Starkey was out destroying harvest camps and lynching the people who run them. Camus Made the story that much more intense by pursuing the main characters girlfriend. All in all these are great books and i recommend them to all.
The second book was very intriguing as we are introduced to a completely new character Camus Comprix. Camus is a human mad up completely of other people, nighty-nine to be exact. I enjoyed how the added Starkey, a character that is as great as Connor, but has his own goal of becoming better than Connor.
The Third book was intense due to the fact that Starkey was out destroying harvest camps and lynching the people who run them. Camus Made the story that much more intense by pursuing the main characters girlfriend. All in all these are great books and i recommend them to all.
November 21, 2013
Shusterman did a great job with this book. I wasn't happy with the second so I hesitated with this one,. Shusterman nailed it! He pulled the story together . Brought back characters from the first book. Now I'm excited for the next one. Shusterman has a way that makes the reader think twice. This is why science fiction is so ... Creepy? The topics he discusses Always are introduced with a legit newspaper article relating to the topic. We r a crazy world. U must read the series. Could this possibly be the way we r headed?
October 25, 2014
I loved these books. The concept is a little creepy and crazy but the series is amazing. The big topics in this book are abortion, stem cell research and the decline of the public school system. So while this is a young adult series it covers a lot of really big issues. I definitely recommend this collection and I wish I read a little slower, I'm upset I've finished already.
May 24, 2016
Absolutely riveting! Couldn't wait to keep reading and reading! I loved this series!! The concept is something that could happen and it made it feel real and that's what I loved about it! I loved how the hero changes and shifts and how your opinion changes of how you feel about the supposed villain.
May 25, 2013
Oh.My.Gosh.
Thrilling :)
Thrilling :)
Read
August 14, 2014best series I've read so far
January 30, 2017
Favourite book series ever!
September 10, 2014
it was one of the best books i ever read
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews