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By Ned Vizzini

March 16, 2008

After the 2004 presidential election, an amusing graphic made its way around the Internet. It took the red state/blue state divide to the extreme, showing two new nations on the North American continent. Canada and most of the coastal states became the United States of Canada. The heartland became Jesusland.

Neal Shusterman’s novel “Unwind” explores the aftermath of just such a division. In an undated future, far enough away for iPods to be sold at antique stores, the Heartland War has devastated the United States. To negotiate a peace between the Life Army and the Choice Brigade, the federal government has outlawed abortion but instituted the practice of “unwinding,” or retroactive pregnancy termination. Before the age of 18, any teenager, at the discretion of a parent or guardian, can be killed and disassembled, with his or her organs going to the sick and injured.

It might seem that killing a child would be as reprehensible to anti-abortion activists as abortion itself but Shusterman draws a clever parallel to the fact that many of them support the death penalty. He’s hard on the other side, too, comparing doctors’ acceptance of “unwound” organs to harvesting stem cells for profit. Midway through the book, the Admiral, a haggard figure who shelters runaways marked for unwinding, explains: “On one side, people were murdering abortion doctors to protect the right to life, while on the other side people were getting pregnant just to sell their fetal tissue.”

Connor, a hotheaded teen whose parents are fed up with his delinquent behavior, is one of the condemned. While in transit to a “harvest camp” (a happy death camp, complete with live music), he escapes, outwits the “juvey cops” and runs into Risa and Lev. Risa has been consigned to unwinding because, at an orphanage, her piano skills were judged inadequate. Lev is the book’s most fascinating character a “tithe,” the 10th child of a rich, religious family who is voluntarily offering himself for unwinding to support humanity through God’s will.

As Connor, Risa and Lev go on the lam, Shusterman’s plot twists and prose hit the mark about half the time. For every sharp observation (“the first sign of civilization is always trash”), there is a passage where a character explains his or her emotional state to an impatient reader.

What keeps “Unwind” moving are the creative and shocking details of Shusterman’s kid-mining dystopia. First, there are the Orwellian linguistic tricks. People who have been unwound are not “dead” they are “in a divided state.” Then there are the rules and rituals. Before being unwound, Lev is honored with a lavish “tithing party,” which bears a strong resemblance to a bar mitzvah. The most terrifying scene is devoted to the unwinding itself. The author’s decision to describe the process is a questionable one a book’s great unknown can leave the strongest impression on a reader but he executes as precisely as the surgeons who perform the unwinding.

Ultimately, though, the power of the novel lies in what it doesn’t do: come down explicitly on one side or the other. After all, there are benefits to unwinding children with fatal diseases can be saved by perfect transplants. And if the people of Jesusland can come to understand their countrymen in the United States of Canada or vice versa aren’t we all better off?

By Neal Shusterman.

335 pp. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. $16.99. (Ages 13 and up)

Ned Vizzini is the author of the young adult novels “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and “Be More Chill.”

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Unwind Teen Book Review

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B.A., English Education and Reading, University of Utah

Unwind is a dystopian thriller by Neal Shusterman that follows three teens on the run from a government that believes “unwinding,” or body harvesting, is an alternate solution to abortions and unwanted teens. Unwinding is also a choice for extremely religious families who want to tithe one of their teens. Although controversial in topic, this disturbing novel inspires deep thought about organ donation, abortion, and one’s personal right to make decisions regarding his or her body. This book is recommended for mature teens.

Story Overview

After America’s Second Civil War between the pro-life and pro-choice factions, a compromise was reached and called The Bill of Life. In this bill, any teens between the ages of 13-18 who are troublemakers, a ward of the state, or a tithe could be “unwound”. In other words, their bodies could be harvested for organ donation in order to give others the opportunity for a better quality of life. To be unwound was to continue “living” through another human being.

Connor, Risa, and Lev are three teens who are scheduled to be “unwound”. Connor is seventeen and according to his parents a troublemaker. Risa is sixteen, a talented pianist and a ward of the state, but she isn't talented enough for them to keep her alive. Lev is thirteen and the tenth child of a religious family. He is proud to be a Tithe until an opportunity to run away is presented and his church pastor tells him to run.

Through unusual circumstances, the three teens find one another, but Connor and Risa are separated from Lev and are taken to the Graveyard, a hiding place for teens on the run. Eventually, all three are captured by the police and are escorted to the Happy Jack Harvest Camp. Now their goal is to find a way to escape and survive until they turn eighteen. Eighteen is the magic number, and if a teen on the run can survive until that golden age, he or she will no longer be a target for unwinding.

Author Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman is an award-winning author who has been writing books and screenplays for more than twenty-five years. When asked about his purpose in writing Unwind Shusterman responded, “ Unwind intentionally does not take a side on any issue. My point was to point out the fact that there are two sides on all of these gray-area issues, and that’s part of the problem. You have to look at it from a different perspective.”

For more information about the author and his writing career, read Spotlight on Neal Shusterman.

The Unwind Dystology

Unwind is Book One in the Unwind Dystology. The complete Unwind Dystology includes the books Unwind , UnWholly , UnSouled and UnDivided . All the books are available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audio editions.

Review and Recommendation

Unwind is a classic study on the value of human life and personal choice. Who owns our bodies? Does the government have the right to determine whose life is more valuable over another? Although the storyline seems extreme, it is not unlike other classic novels such as 1984 and A Brave New World where the individual, in this case, teens, become subordinate to the state. However, in this story, the three teens are determined to fight back.

Without a doubt, Unwind is a disturbing read, but it is a thinking read. Questions about personal rights, especially teen rights, government power , and the sanctity of life flow through your mind as you read. Reading this book puts a new spin on organ donation and gives readers the opportunity to wrestle with difficult topics and think about their personal convictions on emotionally charged subjects. The publisher recommends this book for ages 13 and up. (Simon and Schuster, 2009. ISBN: 9781416912057)

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Book Review

Unwind — “unwind dystology” series.

Neal Shusterman

Readability Age Range

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
United Kingdom Coventry Inspiration "Simply the Book" Award, 2009/2010; Virginia Readers Choice Award, 2009/2010; Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award List

Year Published

This dystopian novel by Neal Shusterman is the first in the “Unwind Dystology” series and is published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Unwind is written for ages 12 and up. The age range reflects readability and not necessarily content appropriateness.

Plot Summary

After the “Heartland War,” a civil battle between those who believed in abortion on demand and those considered to be pro-life, a set of constitutional amendments was passed called “The Bill of Life.” These amendments stated that from the moment of conception, human life couldn’t be ended. But, from the age of 13 until a child reaches 18, a parent or guardian may choose to retroactively abort their child. This process is called “unwinding.” The child is not technically killed, as every useful piece of its body is recycled into the bodies of other people in need.

Connor Lassiter, a 16-year-old troublemaker, has discovered the papers his parents have signed ordering his unwinding. He escapes before the authorities come for him, but the Juvenile Police, or Juvey-cops as they are known, and his parents track him through his cellphone. Connor doesn’t give up easily, and instead flees across a divided highway as the police shoot tranquilizer darts at him. A Cadillac sideswipes him. Inside is Lev Caldor, a 13-year-old boy, willingly being unwound as a tithe to God. Connor makes the snap decision to use Lev as a shield from the tranquilizer bullets. Lev wants desperately to return to his parents and be unwound, but Pastor Dan, his family’s spiritual counselor, yells for him to run away with Connor.

Lev is accidentally hit by a tranquilizer dart. Connor carries him off the road. At the same time, a bus from a State Home swerves and rolls over. One of the passengers, Risa, is another teen set to be unwound. Although not a delinquent, Risa has no parents. As she has not been able to excel over others at the home in academics, sports or musical ability, Risa has been ordered unwound to make room for a new baby. Risa uses the bus accident to escape her fate and follows Connor and Lev into the woods.

Risa and Connor know they can’t really trust Lev, but decide to keep him with them anyway, as they can’t believe anyone truly wants to be unwound. When they come to a town, Connor hears a baby crying. He knows the child has been “storked,” abandoned on someone’s front steps. The homeowner is now responsible for the child unless the mother can be found. Years ago, Connor’s family was storked. Instead of keeping the baby, they kept it inside the house for the day and then storked another neighbor. A week later, the same baby was left on their doorstep, only now it was very ill and soon died. The entire neighborhood attended the funeral. Connor realized that the baby had been passed around with no one to care for it until it finally died. He can’t let that happen again, and so he approaches the homeowner who then insists he and Risa take the child.

Risa, Connor, Lev and the baby follow a group of teenagers onto a school bus. They hope to escape between leaving the school bus and entering the building, but they can’t. They hide out in a girls’ bathroom. Without Connor and Risa knowing, Lev ducks out and heads for the office. He tells the secretary that he’s been kidnapped by two unwinds. She calls the police. He then uses the phone to call home.

Pastor Dan answers. He tells Lev that his kidnapping was never reported to the police. The authorities believe he’s been tithed. Pastor Dan convinced Lev’s parents to see the incident as God’s providence. Lev begs the pastor to tell his parents that he wants to be tithed, but Pastor Dan won’t do it. Lev realizes the pastor never believed all the platitudes he taught about the value of being a tithe. He wants Lev to escape and live a full life.

Lev is devastated by the knowledge that he’ll be the cause of Connor’s and Risa’s unwinding. He flees the office and pulls the fire alarm. Connor and Risa are lucky enough to encounter a teacher willing to help them. As everyone exits the building, the teacher sends them to an antique shop in town and tells them to ask for “Sonia.” Lev tries to catch up with them as they escape so he can apologize, but the crowd of students prevents him.

Sonia, the owner of the antique shop, runs a safe house for unwinds. They are kept in a hidden cellar until they can find transportation to another safe house. Connor, Risa and the baby spend a week in the dark basement with three other unwinds — Mai, Roland and Hayden. Hayden’s parents divorced, and since neither parent wanted the other to have custody of him, they chose to have him unwound. Roland, a muscular teen with disciplinary issues, beat his stepfather in an attempt to protect his mother. His mom, however, took her husband’s side of the fight and signed Roland’s unwinding papers. Mai’s parents kept having children until they got the boy they truly wanted. Since they couldn’t afford to raise all six children, Mai was scheduled to be unwound.

Unable to sleep, Hayden tells the unwinds’ favorite urban legend, the story of Humphrey Dunfees. Humphrey’s unstable parents decided to have him unwound but then changed their minds after their son’s body had been redistributed. Mr. Dunfee worked for the government and was able to track down the recipients of his son’s parts. He and his wife supposedly killed them and tried to put their son back together.

Several days later, Sonia calls each of the teens upstairs, one at a time. She has them write a letter to someone they love. They are to write what they want the person to know, should they die. Sonia keeps the letters for a year after the teens turn 18. If they can keep from being unwound, they are to return and take back the letter. If they don’t return, Sonia mails it.

The next day, the kids are shuttled to another safe house. The teacher who helped Risa and Connor offers to adopt the baby. Risa and Connor spend the next few weeks bouncing between houses until they end up with about 100 other unwinds in a warehouse.

Lev meets a teen nicknamed CyFi. CyFi is Umber, the name now used to describe a dark-skinned person. He speaks in an archaic urban dialect that used to be prevalent before the Heartland War. CyFi tells how after an accident, he received a full frontal lobe transplant from an unwind. CyFi is traveling to Joplin, Mo., but Lev doesn’t know why. He decides to go with CyFi. One day, CyFi starts walking and talking differently, as if he’s another person. Lev nervously follows him as CyFi enters a store selling Christmas items and steals an ornament.

Afterward, CyFi runs to a playground and cries. He smashes the ornament and then tells Lev to empty the pocket of his coat. Inside, Lev finds a treasure of stolen gold and diamond jewelry. CyFi insists he didn’t steal the items and that Lev must hide them somewhere. Lev buries all but a diamond bracelet, and the boys continue their journey. Lev pawns the bracelet for money. He comes to realize that CyFi is being influenced by the brain transplanted in his head.

CyFi’s unwind must have come from Joplin and is trying to get back home. CyFi tells Lev that the other boy, Tyler, didn’t seem to realize that he was unwound. CyFi can hear his thoughts inside of his own head, and sometimes they overwhelm him. When they arrive in Joplin, Tyler directs them to his former house, where the police, his parents and CyFi’s are waiting for him. Tyler is allowed to go into the backyard where he digs up a box of buried stolen items. He gives them to the police and then begs his parents not to unwind him. Distraught, Tyler’s parents are speechless until Lev insists they put the boy at ease and promise not to unwind him. In the resulting reunion, Lev makes his escape.

Soon after Christmas, Risa, Connor and the other unwinds are packed four into a crate. The crates are loaded onto a plane and delivered to The Graveyard. Unfortunately, four boys die from suffocation. Connor and Risa survive the journey and settle into their new lives. The Graveyard is a place where decommissioned planes are sent. The Admiral, an older military man, runs the graveyard. The children live in the abandoned planes and everyone has a job. Risa ends up in the medical clinic while Connor becomes a maintenance man. The Admiral fears someone is trying to undermine his authority within the camp and so takes Connor into his confidence. Five of the Admiral’s top teen aides were murdered. Connor tries to find out who did it. Connor suspects Roland, but doesn’t have the evidence to prove it. Lev arrives at the camp, but does not want to reconnect with Connor or Risa. His time with CyFi and being alone have hardened him. He joins up with the group conspiring against the Admiral. It is not led by Roland, but by the Admiral’s personal pilot, Cleaver.

Mai also joined with Cleaver, as her boyfriend was one of the teens that suffocated in the plane. Cleaver recruits Lev, Mai and another boy for a mission away from the graveyard. They will be injected with a special explosive, infiltrate a harvest camp, and blow up the harvesting facility.

Although Roland is not working with Cleaver, he is trying to take over the graveyard. By spreading rumors that the Admiral is running a “chop shop,” selling unwinds to the highest bidder or using their body parts for himself, Roland is gaining a following.

Connor traps Roland in one of the transportation crates and questions him about the murders of the aides. Meanwhile, the other unwinds start a riot and try to attack the Admiral. When they can’t get him, they beat Cleaver to death. Connor arrives to stop all-out anarchy, but the Admiral has suffered a heart attack. The only one who can fly him to a hospital is Roland. Connor releases him from the crate and he, Roland and Risa take the Admiral to the hospital. Roland betrays them and all the unwinds in the graveyard to the Juvey-cops, hoping to get a reward for their capture. His plan backfires when the cops tell him they’ve known about the graveyard for years but allow it to exist as it helps keep homeless unwinds from living on the streets and becoming criminals.

Roland, Risa and Connor are sent to a harvest camp to be unwound. It is the same camp that Lev has infiltrated. Before Risa and Connor can be unwound, Mia and the other terrorist blow up the facility. Lev does not detonate himself. Instead, he helps the injured teens to safety and willingly turns himself into the police. He is visited in his cell by Pastor Dan, who explains that Lev’s actions have changed the face of the unwind industry.

A law has already passed changing the age limit of unwinding to 17. Risa is left paralyzed by the explosion, but refuses the transplants to heal her as then she could be unwound at a later date. Handicapped people can’t be unwound. While Connor is in a coma, he’s given transplants for his amputated arm and injured eye. When he wakes up, he is horrified to learn that his arm came from Roland. Risa assures him that he controls it now. Connor is given the identity card of one of the harvest camp’s dead guards so that he can escape unwinding. The authorities are told that he died in the explosion. The Admiral refuses a heart transplant and so is no longer capable of running the graveyard. Connor and Risa take charge of saving the unwinds.

The Admiral returns to his home. He and his ex-wife are the parents on whom the legend of Humphrey Dunfees is based. They were forced to sign their son, Harlan, over for unwinding. The Admiral has contacted all the recipients of his son’s body over the years. On what would have been his son’s 26th birthday, the Admiral gathered them all together at his ranch in Texas. As the people mingle, they begin sharing memories they have of Harlan. Finally, the Admiral calls his son’s name, and all the people turn to him. One calls him “dad.” The Admiral and his wife welcome their “son” home.

Christian Beliefs

Lev is being unwound as a tithe to God, because he is the 10th child. Pastor Dan tells him that God doesn’t ask for the first fruits but the best fruits. Lev tells Connor that tithing and storking are in the Bible. He uses Moses as an example of being storked. Connor wonders how a good God can let a child be born who isn’t wanted or loved. At first Lev believes his situation is a test from God to see if he will remain faithful to his calling to be a tithe. Pastor Dan’s insistence that Lev see his “non-identity” as proof that God wants him to live, unnerves him. CyFi tells Lev a similar thing, that it may have been God’s plan to have Connor pull him from the car and force him to escape.

Instead of helping his faith, their arguments make Lev doubt everything about God. A line from Gone with the Wind is quoted invoking God as a witness to an oath. Lev’s parents don’t believe in IQ tests, saying everyone is equal in the eyes of God. Lev is angry that his parents love God more than they loved him. He thinks he may go to hell for his thoughts. In the transportation crates, the boys with Connor discuss their beliefs about unwinding. One boy says your soul goes to heaven when you die.

Connor wonders if this is true since if their own parents didn’t want them, wouldn’t they go to the other place? Another boy says that perhaps unwinds don’t even have souls as God would already know they are going to be unwound. Roland asks for a priest before he is unwound, but none is sent to talk to him. Pastor Dan tells Lev that he’s left his church, not his faith. He still believes in God, just not a church that would allow human tithing. Lev says he wants to believe in that God.

Other Belief Systems

Lev once witnessed a friend’s Bar Mitzvah ceremony. CyFi says that Tyler’s thoughts are like those of a ghost that doesn’t know it’s dead. The true story of someone trying to sell his soul on eBay is presented.

Connor and the boys in his crate discuss what happens to an unwind’s soul. One thinks that because all the pieces of their body are kept alive, their soul is divided among those pieces. Another believes the soul is indivisible so must stretch out like a giant balloon among all the recipients. Connor isn’t sure he believes in a soul, but a person’s consciousness has to go somewhere when they’re unwound. He remembers a man he met who had the arm of an unwind. The arm could perform card tricks that the man never learned.

Connor also wonders if your soul or consciousness is shredded between body parts. Lev comments to himself that Cleaver’s love of chaos has become his religion. Luck is invoked several times — a car swerving out of the way is good luck and a certain brick path is bad luck. A teacher wishes Connor and Risa good luck.

Authority Roles

Most of the parents in the novel are seen as incredibly weak and self-centered. Instead of protecting their teenagers or seeking to get them help for troubling behavior, they choose to unwind them and not deal with the problem. Lev’s parents are seen as loving but clueless as to the true meaning of being unwound.

The Admiral does not treat the unwinds with love, but he does respect them. He has a list of rules for their behavior in the graveyard that demonstrates that he believes they are worthwhile individuals worthy of respect and life. The Juvey-cops are seen as manipulative, self-serving and insensitive to the fate of the unwinds. As a spiritual mentor, Pastor Dan comes across as loving Lev and wanting the best for him.

Profanity & Violence

God’s name is used alone and with my, dear, d–n and h— are used. A– is spoken alone and with pain-in-the . Other objectionable words are suck and crap .

Connor is sideswiped by a car and bruises his ribs. He hits Pastor Dan as he tries to get Lev out of the car. Lev bites Connor’s arm. The Juvey-cops shoot at Connor with tranquilizer darts. A bus swerves to miss the accident and rolls over, killing the driver and injuring several people. Risa and Connor use a Juvey-cop’s tranquilizer gun against him in order to escape.

Risa wrenches Connor’s arm behind his back when she thinks he’s becoming too physical with her. Lev hits a pawnbroker over the head, rendering the man unconscious. Throughout the book, there is an undercurrent of potential violence between Connor and Roland. Roland threatens to rape Risa in the warehouse bathroom as a way to provoke Connor into a fight so he can kill him. When Connor pretends not to care about Risa, Roland backs off.

As they are being sorted into transportation crates, Connor punches another boy so he won’t be put in a crate with Roland. Connor uses a gun to force Roland into a crate that he then locks so he can question him. Cleaver, Mia and another unwind tell how they knocked the Admiral’s teenage aides unconscious and locked them in a crate without air holes so they suffocated. Connor sees their dead bodies.

The unwinds get caught up in their riot. When they can’t get to the Admiral, they find Cleaver, who they believe is working with the Admiral, and beat him to death. Roland attacks Connor in the harvest camp, nearly killing him. Mia and the other clapper are accidently detonated by camp guards. The resulting explosion destroys the harvesting clinic. Many unwinds and guards are injured and killed. Lev manages to help a mangled Connor and paralyzed Risa to safety. He pulls several other injured people out as well.

Roland’s unwinding is described in detail. Although the procedure is painless, it is incredibly disturbing. Roland is kept conscious and alert for the entire process as teams of doctors disassemble him. He senses his body being removed piece by piece as a kind nurse talks with him. Eventually, he can no longer answer her vocally, so she asks him to blink if he understands her. Then she lets him know that he won’t be able to blink anymore. The doctors no longer tell him what they’re doing as they take apart his brain, but it is evident that some part of Roland’s consciousness is aware of the procedure. This continues until there is nothing left of him on the table.

Sexual Content

Connor shares a brief kiss with his girlfriend before he escapes from his home. He and Risa kiss several times. Once they are in the harvest camp, their kisses are more passionate. Roland threatens to rape Risa as a way to spur Connor into a fight.

Mai and her boyfriend make out passionately while waiting in the warehouse. Their behavior isn’t graphically described, but other teens watch them. Several adults tell Connor that if he can get Risa pregnant he will give her nine more months of life since pregnant girls can’t be unwound.

CyFi was storked to a homosexual couple, so two fathers raised him. Homosexual marriages have been outlawed, but CyFi says his fathers made their relationship official by getting married.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Alcohol: Champagne is served at Lev’s tithing party. The Admiral drinks whiskey while telling his past to Connor.

Stealing: CyFi is influenced by Tyler’s mind to steal shiny things, including a gold Christmas ornament and jewelry.

This review is brought to you by Focus on the Family, a donor-based ministry. Book reviews cover the content, themes and world-views of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. A book’s inclusion does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

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From the Unwind Dystology series

by Neal Shusterman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 6, 2007

Shusterman’s Everlost (2006) dealt with death and children with a sense of innocence, redemption and even humor. None of that is present here. In a time not far distant, life is deemed to be sacrosanct from the instant of conception until the age of 13. From 13 to 18, however, parents and guardians have the opportunity to have children “unwound.” Technically, life doesn’t end, but every part of the child is “harvested” to be parceled out and passed on to the highest bidder. In this gruesome age of organ harvest, readers meet Connor (doomed to be unwound by his parents), Risa (doomed as a ward of the state due to overcrowding) and Lev, a tithe, conceived for the express purpose of being unwound and “donated” to society. Their story of escape and struggle to survive in a society that lauds itself on the protection of life, but which has reduced human body parts to market commodities, unrolls against a bleak background of indifference, avarice, guilt, regret, loss, pain and rebellion. Well-written, this draws the reader into a world that is both familiar and strangely foreign, and generates feelings of horror, disturbance, disgust and fear. As with classics such as 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 , one can only hope that this vision of the future never becomes reality. (Science fiction. YA)

Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-4169-1204-0

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2007

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

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IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.

In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me , three characters tell their sides of the story.

Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781728276229

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE

More by Laura Nowlin

by Laura Nowlin

IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013

There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.

The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.

Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.

Pub Date: April 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5

Page Count: 336

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013

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BOOK REVIEW: Unwind (Unwind #1) by Neal Shusterman

Synopsis: Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives. The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive. " Characters live and breathe; they are fully realized and complex, sometimes making wrenching difficult decisions. This is a thought-provoking, well-paced read that will appeal widely. " School Library Journal, starred review " [A] gripping, brilliantly imagined futuristic thriller...could hardly be more engrossing or better aimed to teens." Publishers Weekly, starred review " [A] nail-biting, character-driven thriller." Horn Book magazine

In a perfect world everything would either be black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn’t a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is.

Wow. I don’t know what I expected….but it certainly wasn’t that. I wasn’t expecting a broken, tortured soul of a boy who would win my heart on page one. I didn’t expect a fast-paced plot. I didn’t expect disturbing and grotesque images that would haunt me forever. I didn’t expect a heartbreaking romance that would be exactly what I needed. I didn’t anticipate falling for all these flawed characters no matter their faults….and I certainly didn’t expect that I would immediately want to start book two. But guess what? I got all of these things . And there wasn’t a moment I didn’t want to be reading this book.

People aren’t all good, and people aren’t all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives.

Is there a word for….HJhfjhfhdfhhfasdfjh? What would that be? Flabbergasted? Shocked? Bewildered? Extraordinary? Sure, this book wasn’t without it’s flaws. There were parts of it I didn’t even like. But I think that marks the work of a great book-that feeling when, even though there are little parts you wish you could skim, in the end, you are so enthralled by it you just. Don’t. Care. That’s right where I am. These characters really meant something to me. And yes, I know I know, I am always talking about how much I love characters in a book I’ve just read-but this is different. This was a case where, even if I hated certain characters, I ended up rooting for them in the end or feeling remorse for what happens to them. That doesn’t happen with me…EVER. If I hate a character, I hate them. End of story.

The better to run. The better to hide. The better to lose himself now that darkness is his friend.

But what happens when the boy who annoyed the shit out of me becomes someone who I couldn’t stand losing? What about the guy who, despite causing PROBLEM AFTER PROBLEM, broke my heart because he deserved so much better? And then there’s Connor and Risa-their story, while not a main plot point, had me so enraptured that I couldn’t see straight while I had to reside in ‘the real world’. These characters meant something to me-and not just on the surface-they touched me deeply and I cared about what happened to them to the bottom of my soul. This book was deep-it only fits that my feelings reflect that amount of depth.

Unwinds didn’t go out with a bang-they didn’t even go out with a whimper. They went out with the silence of a candle flame pinched between two fingers.

And how does someone explain this book? It’s dark. It’s gritty. It’s disturbing as fuck. There’s a chilly detachment that isn’t often seen in YA stories. Parents sign their kids’ lives away just to get rid of a ‘problem child’ or just because they didn’t want another member in their family. And that, to me, is the creepiest part. Once you sign?? No negotiations-Your child is now due to be cut up into pieces for the betterment of the world. Someone’s lungs are no good? Awesome!!! We just removed a perfectly healthy left lung today! SOLD to the highest and most eligible bidder! It literally is that cold. Your son is misbehaving? Time for the juvey cops to come pick him up and transport him to the harvest camp of your choice! Let’s name the camps something uplifting (or retarded) like ‘Happy Jack’. Perfection! Now kids won’t be scared as their numbered days wind down (hardy har har) and they lose themselves piece by piece by piece.

Now, while I could go on and on and on about how creepy this whole process is, I think I need to move on to my favorite part of this story: Connor! You surely KNEW I wasn’t going to skip gushing on my main man, right? If so, you are sadly mistaken. He was loyal. He was sad. He was determined. He would do anything to keep Risa (and even Lev) safe. From the moment I opened this book, I knew I was going to have a deep-rooted connection to this guy, this poor boy who just can’t believe, despite his numerous fights and misbehaving, that his parents would sign him up to be unwound-and not even tell him about it!!!! As the story progressed, we got to see Connor become responsible for his actions and those around him. Some of the things he did were mistakes that might have changed the course of their journey for the worst, but one thing is consistent with his character: Every decision he made was with his heart. And that’s why I truly loved him. His fierce loyalty to Risa and those that couldn’t defend themselves was what broke my heart and kept me addicted to this book. Risa was a stubborn, determined little shit, but her hardheadedness was no match for that of Connor’s.

She takes her time, and seems more surefooted on the steps than she does on level ground. Connor tries to hold her arm to give her support, but she shakes him off, and throws him a nasty gaze. “If I want your help, I’ll ask. Do I look feeble to you?” “Actually, yes.” “Looks are deceiving,” she says. “After all, when I saw you, I thought you looked reasonably intelligent.” “Very funny.”

And one thing I cannot stand is when a story is so amazing, but has horrible writing. Well, this wasn’t the case. I feel like excellent dystopian is so hard to find these days. It’s my favorite genre, yet I rarely read them-why is that? I’ll tell you why-so many authors think a fast pace and awesome plot are enough to excuse shaky or manipulative writing-but that’s not the case at all, and we see that here with this novel. I am super picky before I pick up dystopian anymore, and this is exactly why: I found this excellent, disturbingly realistic portrayal of a futuristic society I would NEVER want to be part of. And not one moment was dull, wasted, or drawn out. It was what it was- stark, harsh, and bleak. No questions, no bending the rules, just cold, hard statistics and surgeries. It was fast-paced and without long scenes that were unnecessary, and every character played a part-sometimes they played too well into the hand they were dealt, and it cost some of them their lives. What would that be like, to be punished for being who you are? You’re manipulative- so is the government. Beat that.

So, yeah. This book wasn’t without it’s flaws-I’d be lying if I said there were parts I didn’t like….but none of that compared to the overwhelming moments where I would cover my eyes and my mouth in horror, or when my heart would beat so fast it felt like I was losing breath-this book wasn’t without it’s butterflies…duh. I do so love a fantastic and bleak dystopian romance. This book will not be for everyone-of that I am certain. But, for those of you wanting to try something different? This is the book for you. And I assure everyone: Just when you think you know what’s going to happen and things couldn’t get any worse? You’re wrong. You bet your ass on that.

**********************

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The BiblioSanctum

A book blog for speculative fiction, graphic novels… and more, book review: unwind by neal shusterman.

Genre : Dystopia, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Series : Unwind Dystology #1 Publisher : Simon and Schuster Publication Date : June 2009 Author Info : www.storyman.com

Wendy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars: Every time I thought I knew what was going on, Shusterman yanked the carpet out from under me so damn fast that it left my head spinning.

There are many stories about clones used for their body parts to save their original counterparts. We go along their horrendous journey with them as they learn the truth about their purpose and prove their humanity to the reader. Unwind twists all of that around by making the organ donors very human. Not grown in a vat. Not stored in a special facility. Real kids who live and breathe and grow up next door to you. All thanks to the Bill of Life that resulted from the pro-choice/pro-life war that tore the country apart. The Bill of Life tabled as a solution to the war permits the retroactive abortion of unwanted children between the age of 13 and 18. With revolutionary technology that allows their body parts to be used in all manner of ways, this is bill is hailed as a triumph and unwinding becomes the ideal solution for dealing with unwanted children and for saving lives. Win-win, right?

Unsurprisingly, few unwinds agree.

The moral of this story isn’t the answer to the pro-life/pro-choice debate. The overriding theme is organ donation. If more people donated their organs rather than letting the rot with their dead bodies, there would be no need for unwinds.

The unwinds tend to come in three forms: wards of the state, like Risa, for whom there just aren’t enough resources to take care of, delinquents, like Conner, whose parents willingly sign the unwind contract, and tithes, like Lev, who lovingly raise their tenth child as the the blessed ten percent that they will return to God.

As expected, these three are literally thrown together. Their lives become intertwined as they come to terms with their fate and try to survive. But after the soon-to-be legendary highway crash and hostage taking that results in their meet up and escape, nothing else goes as expected. Every time I thought I knew what was going on, Shusterman yanked the carpet out from under me so damn fast that it left my head spinning.

With two hours left on my audiobook, I met up with some friends and sang the praises of the book which had already leapt from four to five stars. One friend who had already read it in her book club warned me that I still had one very harrowing scene to go, which I ended up listening to on my drive back home. Um. Yeah. Bookflail happened as soon as I got off the road and Songza decided to play creepy tricks on me by offering the following themes for my listening pleasure:

This is a YA novel, but one I would recommend to any reader. I prefer my YA without obnoxious, petulent teenagers, and this one served me well. The three characters are still very much teens, making impetuous decisions and revealing their immaturity and emotions at times, but they are also intuitive and even wise. Shusterman presents teenagers respectfully, giving them credit for their status as young adults. Yes, they have their negatives, but they also have their positives, which for me, means the characters can be appreciated by both adults and teenagers alike.

Shusterman wastes nothing in this story and ensures that even the smallest detail will come back and haunt you later in the story. And I do mean haunt you. There are some really disturbing situations and concepts presented, such as the afterlife of an unwound child, the “storking” process and, of course, the unwinding itself, which my visual mind pictured in its chilling, clinical entirety.

3 Comments on “Book Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman”

Honestly I think it blows all the other YA dystopia off the freaking planet. I just finished the series, so just you wait because he will continue to yank the carpet out from underneath you.

Like Liked by 1 person

I really do need to pick up the other books in the series. Good to know it just keeps getting better!

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Book Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

22 comments:

Wow, this sounds like an intense book. It has a very similar theme to an adult book that I read earlier in the year, The Unit. I definitely want to give this book a try. Thanks for the review!

That sure is a unique cover!

This doesn't seem like my type of book but I love how thorough your review is! CEP

I've got this one on my TBR. I need to read it already.

Ohhh! Thanks for the heads up on this one! Sounds like a wicked cool concept.

I've been very curious about this one...and you've sold me. I'll pick it up next time I come across it. Fantastic review :)

Sounds awesome! Fantastic review :) You've left me quite curious about this one.

Ooh, I love the creepy cover. And I am a huge sucker for anything that can make me cry! I will be putting this on the TBR list. Thanks for the review!

Wow! I've never heard of this one! It sounds fascinating. I love reading about crazy societies like this. Great review. I'm honestly adding this to my Goodreads TBR list.

I'm a bit surprised there is a sequel coming out to this title. I thought it was fine as a standalone. I agree, really good, however un-nerving some parts are!

Nice! I won this book and haven't had a chance to get to it yet. My son saw it sitting there and may be reading it soon. Now, I can't wait to delve into it myself. Thanks! :) Lisa ~ YA Literature Lover

This sounds AWESOME! I added it to my TBR list, thanks for posting and great review!

Absolutely FANTASTIC review. I have never heard of this one and I don't generally read YA but this book is being added to my TBR list pronto. Thanks for the review and heads up. Happy Monday!

I have only heard *AMAZING* things about this book!! SOOOOOOO GONNA READ IT SOON!! =D =D

This story gripped me immediately, and it had been a while since I had reacted so strongly to a book as I did to that one. Parts of it make me feel physically sick they were so ... unimaginable. I think it raises a lot of interesting questions about the value of life and decisions that we make. I agree - I am a little worried about sequels sometimes.

Holy crud, that sounds super intense. I'm surprised that you find it appropriate for children (I believe you; you have no reason to lie about it- it's just surprising given the description).

I absolutely loved this book and I'm so glad that you did too. I had no clue about a sequel in works. SO looking forward to that! Thanks for the info!

This book sounds like one that I'd love. I love reading a good dystopia--And this one seems to fit that category. Thanks for your recommendation. I might have skipped it otherwise! Here from the CEP.

Kelli, I loved and appreciated your review so much, I have highlighted it on my blog here: http://psychoticstate.blogspot.com/2010/09/must-read-review-id-so-rather-be.html Thanks again for the fantastic review!!

Wow, you have me sold, it sounds great and frightening!

I've had this book one my 2 read list 4 ever! i guess i should bump it up on my list :D

I am so getting this book next!

Word verification stinks--- but spammers are worse. Thank you for your patience!

Neal Shusterman

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Neal Shusterman's Unwind . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Unwind: Introduction

Unwind: plot summary, unwind: detailed summary & analysis, unwind: themes, unwind: quotes, unwind: characters, unwind: terms, unwind: symbols, unwind: theme wheel, brief biography of neal shusterman.

Historical Context of Unwind

Other books related to unwind.

Full Title: Unwind
When Written: 2006
Where Written: California
When Published: 2007
Literary Period: Contemporary
Genre: Young Adult Literature; Dystopian Fiction; Science Fiction
Setting: Ohio, Arizona, and Mississippi, sometime in the near future
Climax: Lev chooses not to clap, saving Happy Jack Harvest Camp from being blown up.
Antagonist: Roland; the Clappers; the Bill of Life; the individuals who legalized Unwinding
Point of View: First Person, narrated by various characters

Extra Credit for Unwind

Overtime. While in Unwind the unwinding process takes only three hours, organ transplant surgeries today can take up to 16 hours for a single organ. Hearts, lungs, and intestines represent the most complicated and lengthy surgeries.

Paid Gig. Shusterman wanted to be a writer since he was a child, but it only began to feel like a real possibility to him when he was in ninth grade. At that point he was in dire need of extra credit, so his English teacher offered him extra credit to write a story per month.

Unwind (1) (Unwind Dystology) › Customer reviews

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Unwind (1) (Unwind Dystology)

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Unwind: unwind dystology, book 1.

Parents say (33)
Kids say (141)

Based on 33 parent reviews

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Parents...listen, great read for hesitant readers. once they get into, they will finish it. that says a lot in the ipad eara., too violent and heavy for children under 16, good for 12 and up, obviously brilliant, so not everyone will get it, makes you reflect, high level read for mature young teens, thought-provoking and relateable introduction to social issues.

– Entertainment Analysis and Reviews

Unwind Book Review: Exploring Themes and Messages

“Unwind” by Neal Shusterman is a young adult science fiction novel set in a dystopian future where parents are allowed to “unwind” their children between the ages of 13 and 18. Unwinding involves harvesting the child’s organs and tissues for transplants, thereby allowing the child to live on in a “divided state”. The novel follows three teenagers who are scheduled to be unwound and their struggles to survive and fight back against the society that sees them as expendable.

Beyond the plot, “Unwind” is a thought-provoking novel that tackles a range of important themes and messages. One of the central themes of the book is the value of human life and the idea that every individual, regardless of their age or abilities, has inherent worth and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. The novel also explores themes of identity, individuality, and the power of choice, as the three main characters struggle to define themselves and forge their own paths in a society that seeks to control and commodify them.

Overall, “Unwind” is a compelling and timely novel that raises important questions about the role of science and technology in society, the ethics of medical procedures, and the value of human life. In the following sections, we will delve deeper into the book’s themes and messages, analyzing how the author explores these ideas and what insights they offer us about our own world and ourselves.

Summary of “Unwind”

Analyzing the themes and messages of “unwind”, critique of “unwind”.

“Unwind” by Neal Shusterman is set in a future society where parents are allowed to have their children “unwound” between the ages of 13 and 18, meaning their organs and tissues are harvested for transplants. The novel follows the stories of three teenagers: Connor, Risa, and Lev, who are all scheduled to be unwound.

Connor is a troublemaker who is sent to a state home, where he meets Risa, a ward of the state. They become allies as they try to escape being unwound. Lev, on the other hand, is a tithe, a child born and raised to be unwound as a religious sacrifice. When Lev discovers the truth about his fate, he also joins Connor and Risa in their fight for survival.

Throughout the book, the three teenagers encounter various challenges and obstacles as they try to evade the authorities and stay alive. They are aided by sympathetic adults, including a former unwind who helps them navigate the world of runaway unwinds.

As they journey through a society that sees them as disposable, the three main characters grapple with their own identities and what it means to be alive. They also become part of a larger movement of resistance against the practice of unwinding, as they work to raise awareness about the injustice of the system and fight for their right to live.

Some important points to consider when summarizing “Unwind” could include:

The basic premise of the story, including the practice of unwinding and how it affects the main characters.
The personalities and motivations of the three main characters.
The challenges and obstacles the characters face as they try to avoid being unwound.
The role of sympathetic adults in helping the characters.
The larger themes and messages of the book, such as the value of human life and the power of resistance.

One of the ways in which “Unwind” explores these themes is through its portrayal of the practice of unwinding itself. By presenting this dystopian practice, the book raises important questions about the ethics of medical procedures and the role of science and technology in society. It also offers a powerful critique of a society that values efficiency and convenience over human life, as seen in the widespread acceptance of unwinding as a solution to the problem of unwanted children.

Beyond its commentary on the practice of unwinding, “Unwind” also explores themes of identity and individuality. The three main characters each grapple with their own sense of self and what it means to be alive in a society that seeks to control and commodify them. Their struggles highlight the importance of self-determination and the power of choice, as they fight to define themselves and create their own paths in life.

Finally, “Unwind” offers a powerful message about the importance of resistance and the value of standing up for what is right. The three main characters become part of a larger movement of runaway unwinds, who work together to raise awareness about the injustice of the system and fight for their right to live. Their efforts demonstrate the power of collective action and the importance of speaking out against injustice.

Overall, “Unwind” is a thought-provoking and deeply impactful novel that raises important questions about our world and ourselves. Its exploration of themes such as the value of human life, individual autonomy, and resistance offer insights that are highly relevant to our own time, and its powerful storytelling and well-crafted characters make it a compelling and engaging read.

While “Unwind” is a highly acclaimed and popular novel, it is not without its strengths and weaknesses. Here are some of the key points to consider when critiquing the book:

Discussion of the book’s strengths and weaknesses:

A unique and engaging premise that is both thought-provoking and suspenseful
Well-crafted and multi-dimensional characters that are relatable and engaging
A strong and compelling message about the value of human life and the power of resistance
A plot that is fast-paced and full of twists and turns, keeping readers engaged from start to finish
Some readers may find the premise of unwinding to be too unsettling or disturbing
The ending may be unsatisfying for some readers, as it leaves some questions unanswered
Some readers may find the romantic subplot to be underdeveloped or unnecessary

Evaluation of the book’s writing style and pacing:

Shusterman’s writing is clear, concise, and engaging, making the novel easy to read and follow
The use of multiple perspectives and flashbacks adds depth and complexity to the story
The dialogue is realistic and authentic, helping to bring the characters to life
The pacing of the novel is generally strong, with a good balance of action, suspense, and character development
There are some slow parts in the middle of the novel that may drag for some readers
The climactic scenes towards the end of the novel are well-paced and thrilling, delivering a satisfying conclusion to the story

Comparison with other works in the genre:

“Unwind” stands out in the dystopian genre for its unique premise and powerful message about the value of human life
The novel shares some similarities with other young adult dystopian novels, such as “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent,” but also sets itself apart with its focus on organ harvesting and its exploration of themes such as identity and autonomy
While “Unwind” may not have achieved the same level of mainstream popularity as some other works in the genre, it has garnered a dedicated fan base and critical acclaim for its originality and impact.

“Unwind” is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that offers a unique and unsettling vision of a dystopian future. Its exploration of themes such as the value of human life, individual autonomy, and resistance make it a highly relevant and impactful read that will stay with readers long after they finish the book.

The novel’s strengths include its well-crafted characters, engaging premise, and compelling message about the importance of standing up for what is right. At the same time, its weaknesses, such as the disturbing premise of unwinding and an unsatisfying ending, should also be considered.

In terms of its writing style and pacing, “Unwind” stands out for its clear and concise prose, effective use of multiple perspectives and flashbacks, and a well-paced plot that keeps readers engaged. And while it shares some similarities with other young adult dystopian novels, it also sets itself apart with its focus on organ harvesting and its exploration of themes of identity and autonomy.

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Unwind: A gripping story if you can get past the premise

Unwind by Neal Shusterman science fiction book reviews

In the near future, after a long bloody war between pro-life and pro-choice armies, the United States amended the constitution to ban abortion but allow parents to “retroactively abort” a child between 13 and 18 years old as long as the child was “unwound” in a process that allows the child’s parts to be given to others, like organ donations. In this way, the child isn’t actually killed, but lives on, a technicality that appeases both sides.

You’d think that few parents would opt to unwind their child, but when it’s legal, and even sometimes perceived to be moral, many do. Mostly unwinding is used to rid society of troublesome, unhealthy, or otherwise unwanted or “abnormal” teens, but some parents choose to sacrifice a child as a religious “tithe” that’s considered sacred.

Connor, Risa, and Lev are three such teens who we meet in Unwind (2007), the first in Neal Shusterman’s UNWIND “Dystology.” Connor is a troublemaker whose parents have given up on him and (unexpectedly for Connor) turned him over to the authorities for unwinding. Risa is a ward of the state who was never adopted and is being sent for unwinding so the government can give her spot to a younger orphan. Lev is a tithe who doesn’t exactly look forward to his fate, but has been raised to believe it’s noble.

When the three teens meet each other on the way to their unwindings, Connor and Risa decide to run and resist. They just need to hide until their 18 th birthdays and then they can be free. That sounds easier than it is, though, because the juvenile authorities are always hunting for escaped “unwinds” and very few citizens are willing to help an unwind escape. Lev, who has accidentally thrown in his lot with Connor and Risa, isn’t ready to seek freedom, but doesn’t want to turn in his new friends, either.

Neal Shusterman

If you can get past the extremely implausible premise, Unwind is a gripping story. The plot is fast-paced and exciting with lots of twists and turns. The three protagonists (and many other soon-to-be-unwound kids we meet along the way) are likeable and relatable (and some are not). My YA daughter and I listened to the audiobook together and we both felt invested in their lives and concerned for their futures.

I mentioned the implausible premise but at the moment that I’m writing this review, I’ve actually read through the third UNWIND book and can report that as the story progresses and more of this society’s history gets filled in, it becomes easier to believe in unwinding.

Shusterman uses the unwinding laws and procedure to implore us to think about topics such as abortion, adoption, parents’ and children’s rights, and also more abstract topics such as personality, temperament, and self-identity.

The audiobook, produced by Brilliance Audio, is narrated by Luke Daniels. Daniels is one of my favorite readers and he mostly does a great job here, but I have to say that some of his voices were a little annoying in this story. But I still recommend the audio version.

KAT HOOPER, who started this site in June 2007, earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology at Indiana University (Bloomington) and now teaches and conducts brain research at the University of North Florida. When she reads fiction, she wants to encounter new ideas and lots of imagination. She wants to view the world in a different way. She wants to have her mind blown. She loves beautiful language and has no patience for dull prose, vapid romance, or cheesy dialogue. She prefers complex characterization, intriguing plots, and plenty of action. Favorite authors are Jack Vance , Robin Hobb , Kage Baker , William Gibson , Gene Wolfe , Richard Matheson , and C.S. Lewis .

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I read that, and had trouble getting past the premise! My daughter loved it, though.

My daughter also loved it. We finished listening to the last book last night. We were satisfied with the ending but, again, a significant amount of suspension of disbelief was required.

The premise sounds like it was dreamt up by a parent having a really bad day!

I’m glad he makes it work, and I do think teens would grasp this concept more easily because it fits with their world view that adults don’t value/understand them. I mean, I’m oversimplifying…

That’s funny, Marion! I agree with your assessment about teens. I had the same thought. The book is aimed at them and I’m sure they’ll have an easier time believing in it than adults will.

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"Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Kage Harper" Freudian slip there. ;)

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I'm going to have to find these and read them.

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Great review. Thanks!

Author Interviews

Doris kearns goodwin newest book is about her late husband's work in the 1960s.

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin about her late husband Dick Goodwin and her new book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s .

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

When Doris Kearns Goodwin got married, her husband brought along some baggage.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN: All of our married life, Dick had dragged 300 boxes with us, and they were kind of rundown boxes. I saw them, I looked in them a little bit at a time, and I knew that they were an extraordinary time capsule of the '60s, but he would not open them.

INSKEEP: Dick was Richard Goodwin. He was older and had a life before Doris met him in the 1970s. In the '60s, he'd been a presidential aide and speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, then for Lyndon Johnson and then for presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy. The boxes included artifacts from that time.

KEARNS GOODWIN: So they were in barns. They were in storage. They were in basements - until finally, he came down the stairs once when he was 80 years old, saying, OK, it's now or never. If I've any wisdom to dispense, let's start dispensing now. So...

INSKEEP: They hadn't, like, gotten wet in the barns...

KEARNS GOODWIN: No, they had. Oh, no.

INSKEEP: ...Or decayed or whatever?

KEARNS GOODWIN: No, no. In fact, there were mice in them at the beginning or droppings of mice.

INSKEEP: (Laughter).

KEARNS GOODWIN: We had to vacuum them out. We had to move them from these small boxes into bigger boxes.

INSKEEP: The documents became material for a book about the 1960s, which Goodwin began while her husband lived and finished after he died. It's called "An Unfinished Love Story." As the Goodwins went into the boxes, they began to relive moments in history, like the 1960 presidential debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

KEARNS GOODWIN: What Dick decided is we would have a debate date night, and we'd get a bottle of wine, and we would watch it on YouTube.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN F KENNEDY: I know that there are those who say that we want to turn everything over to the government. I don't at all. I want the individuals to meet their responsibilities, and I want the states to meet their responsibilities. But I think there is also a national responsibility.

KEARNS GOODWIN: And then he would describe to me how he was preparing Kennedy for that. We go backward and forward. So it was really fun. You know, I remember he said to me at the beginning, are you nervous? Do you wonder who's going to win?

KEARNS GOODWIN: And you have to imagine you don't know what's going to happen in order to make it suspenseful. But then he would describe the whole experience of the day before the debate and the day of the debate. John Kennedy was sitting on the bed with all of his notecards spread out on the bed with the question and the answer, the one-sentence or two-sentence answer.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

KEARNS GOODWIN: And once he had memorized them, then he threw them on the floor like cards and just seemed eerily relaxed.

INSKEEP: Richard Goodwin advised Kennedy in the White House and, after Kennedy's assassination, stayed on with President Johnson.

LYNDON B JOHNSON: This time, on this issue, there must be no delay or no hesitation or no compromise with our purpose.

INSKEEP: In 1965, Johnson addressed Congress and decided on short notice to support passage of the Voting Rights Act.

KEARNS GOODWIN: So my husband had only that day to work on that speech. It was a brilliant maneuver to be able to get those words together. They came out little by little from the typewriter, Johnson screaming at the other end, where are they? They're not even here in time. But he never bothered Dick until the very end.

INSKEEP: The key line - you called it the We Shall Overcome speech. This is a line from a spiritual that people sang as they were demonstrating for civil rights. Johnson just says it. What did it mean that Johnson just said that?

KEARNS GOODWIN: I mean, what it really meant was that's a moment when the person in the highest level of power is connecting to an outside group, the civil rights movement, who are pressuring the government to act. And that's when change takes place in our country.

(SOUNDBITE OF ACHIVED RECORDING)

JOHNSON: And we shall overcome.

INSKEEP: How do you think Richard was able to win the favor of and the trust of powerful men without losing himself, as some staffers do?

KEARNS GOODWIN: It wasn't always easy. I think the fact that he had been with John Kennedy before Lyndon Johnson meant there was always a layer in Lyndon Johnson of not fully trusting him because he thought he was a Kennedy.

KEARNS GOODWIN: You know, that was that fault line. You were either a Kennedy, or you were a Johnson. Even the first time when he calls Bill Moyers on the phone and there's this great tape where he's saying, I need someone to be my speechwriter. This was only months after John Kennedy had died.

KEARNS GOODWIN: And he says to Moyers, I need someone who can put sex in my speech, who can put rhythm in my speech, Churchillian phrases. Who could that be? And Moyers says, well, there's Dick Goodwin, but he's not one of us. And he knew then that that would always mean that he would always have a layer of not full trust.

INSKEEP: I feel that that relationship in microcosm is something that goes all the way through American life because this is a class difference along with everything else, right? Guy from Harvard versus the guy from a teacher's college in Texas.

KEARNS GOODWIN: So true. I mean, one of the things Johnson used to say a lot was that his father always told him that if you brush up against the grindstone of life, you'll get more polished than anyone who went to Harvard or Yale ever did. But then he would add, but I never believed that.

KEARNS GOODWIN: I mean, there was always - and he was so much more brilliant than many people who go to Harvard or Yale. I mean, he used to call me Harvard half the time. You know, Harvard, come on over here.

INSKEEP: Doris Goodwin herself had been a young aide to Lyndon Johnson. In later years, she became one of the nation's most acclaimed historians. Her husband began to wonder if anyone would remember him, which is why he at last agreed to the book on his earlier life.

When you met your husband, your future husband, in the early '70s, he's still a relatively young man but had had his greatest accomplishments. Would you say that that's true?

KEARNS GOODWIN: I think that was the thing that was hard for him the rest of his life. I mean, he did do work after that. He wrote a play that was put on in London. He wrote columns. He wrote manifestos about America's revolution, the need for a new revolution. He got more radical as time went on. And he did work on Al Gore's concession speech. I think there was a...

INSKEEP: That's a gracious speech, Al Gore's concession...

KEARNS GOODWIN: It was a...

INSKEEP: ...Speech in the 2000 election.

KEARNS GOODWIN: ...Lovely speech. And Al Gore had called him and said that he wanted a victory speech or a concession speech. But Dick knew that the concession speech would be more important. And what a great, important memory is that right now that in that year 2000, he was able to say, the law of the land is this. I don't agree with the decision, but I cherish this tradition and congratulate President Bush. We need that so badly right now.

INSKEEP: I'm struck by the idea that he thought people would not remember.

KEARNS GOODWIN: I'm not sure what it was, but yeah, he did feel that need. It wasn't so much even for his work but for the work that he did together with these presidents because he wanted people to remember that the '60s was a time when young people in particular were powered by the conviction that they could make a difference. And tens of thousands of people joined the Peace Corps, were marching against segregation, against denial of the right to vote, were anti-war marching - and the beginning of the women's movement, the gay rights movement. It was a great time to be alive and a great time to be young. And I think he was hoping that the book might be able to power people to remember that. It's so necessary today.

INSKEEP: Doris Kearns Goodwin is the author of "An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History Of The 1960s." It's a pleasure to see you. Thanks for coming by.

KEARNS GOODWIN: Oh, thank you so much for having me. We could go on for a long time. I could talk to you forever.

INSKEEP: (Laughter). I would like that.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Chris Bohjalian’s ‘The Princess of Las Vegas’ finds drama on the Strip

A princess diana impersonator’s cabaret show is at the center of this mix of thriller and black comedy.

The curse of writing about Las Vegas is that it’s hard to avoid clichés about luck or chance or the roll of the dice. And the fact is, that’s the provenance of tourists anyway; locals don’t care much about such things. They know they live in a city built by mobsters to rip off rubes. If residents want to gamble — and most don’t — they hit up the casinos off the Strip, where at least you don’t have to pay to park. Those joints are the kinds of places you used to read about in noir novels, back when the edge of town was the open desert and those casinos were your last stop before the proverbial dark ride. These days, the edge of town means greenbelts and master-planned communities, places that even sound pleasant: Summerlin, Centennial Hills, Green Valley. It’s hard to fear you’re going to get whacked in view of a Pottery Barn.

But there’s still a lingering touch of something insidious about the place, and Chris Bohjalian has a track record of making places come to full life in his novels. So when his latest, “The Princess of Las Vegas,” starts with the co-owner of a fictional casino (the British-themed Buckingham Palace) catching one in the temple out in what used to be the middle of nowhere — Red Rock Canyon — but which is now just an Instagram post away, it’s a bang-up way to get things going. That it’s staged to look like a suicide is even more compelling. Surely this won’t be a Las Vegas novel where everything hinges on antiquated notions about mystical odds, not with this kind of blackness.

But the next chapter begins with a single word: “Luck.”

The word is our introduction to Crissy Dowling, a 35-year-old Princess Diana impersonator who performs a twice-nightly cabaret show based on Diana’s life at Buckingham Palace. The show is replete with songs by Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield and Bonnie Tyler, but the overall effect is more like when “Hal Holbrook did Mark Twain.” The show is called “Diana, Candle in the Darkness,” which is both amusing and sad; if this is luck, good or bad, the whole notion needs to be reevaluated.

Crissy lives in a suite at Buckingham Palace, has her own cabana and has been sleeping with a powerful senator, but she’s also bulimic and pops pills like Skittles, and now her bosses at the Palace keep dying. First it was Richie Morley in the fake suicide and then, days later, his brother Artie, by a questionable hanging. Problem is, the last person Artie talked to was Crissy. And he didn’t seem like he was preparing to fold, or hang. Far from it. He was worried about a hostile business takeover. “They sent me a message when they killed Richie,” he tells her, “but I’m not surrendering.”

If that’s not enough, Crissy’s estranged doppelgänger sister, Betsy, has just moved to Las Vegas, along with Betsy’s newly adopted 13-year-old hacker daughter, Marisa. They’re joining Betsy’s new boyfriend, Frankie, an executive at an obviously dubious crypto outfit called Futurium, which is positioned to buy Buckingham Palace. Convenient.

If this sounds borderline zany, it is. But Bohjalian has long been able to elevate these kinds of tales by writing about inward madness as well as outward. He draws characters with whom we immediately empathize, like Cassandra Bowden in “The Flight Attendant,” whose addictions and every-woman approach to an international conspiracy make us trust her even when we shouldn’t. He also tends to employ a deep entrenchment in setting — Tanzania in “The Lioness,” for instance, or Colonial Boston in “Hour of the Witch” — to beget fast-moving action. The heat burns, the wind chafes, the witches get rounded up, verisimilitude becomes narrative, and you buy the world.

Here, however, Bohjalian lacks his trademark acuity. His Las Vegas is both geographically and tangibly hard to recognize, the aesthetic of the Strip more like it was 30 years ago, when meals were cheap and mediocre, not exorbitant and Michelin-starred; sold-out showrooms were filled with Liberace and Sinatra impersonators, not U2 and Adele; when organized crime syndicates could still plausibly buy into casinos and, more saliently, when the city wasn’t one of the most surveilled in the world. That Bohjalian plays loose with all of these facts doesn’t ruin the story, but it does give one the sense that he parachuted into the backdrop. “Princess” could have taken place in Branson, Mo., and the story would have been the same. The core concern here is not place but tone: Crissy is living in a black comedy, and everyone else is in a thriller. That mismatch eventually saps drama and mystery.

Late in the novel, for instance, when Crissy is faced with a mounting death toll, including the cryptic loss of a lover, a friend offers her a gun and her response is:

“You ever read Chekhov?” I asked. “What about him?” “This is a paraphrase, but Chekhov said if you reveal a gun in the first act, it best go off by the third.”

It’s a playful reference, and surrounded by the violence other characters are experiencing and Crissy’s own deepening despair, it feels like a misstep. The novel also features some anachronistic ancillary plot points, including the blackmail of a politician over extramarital proclivities: That may have worked in “The Godfather,” but that was before a presidential candidate allegedly paid off a porn star and still swept the Bible Belt.

We see this story through alternating points of view — including Betsy’s and, in brief interludes, Marisa’s — but Crissy’s sections could be their own book. She’s a fascinating character, a woman subsumed by childhood trauma who has taken on the life of her famous look-alike, right down to mannerisms and speech patterns, smiling flirtatiously from beneath her bangs, Diana alive again. Bohjalian’s writing about the weirdness and pain of Crissy’s life is powerful, even at times audacious. If only the rest of the novel had been as daring.

Tod Goldberg is the author of 14 books of fiction, including, most recently, “Gangsters Don’t Die.” He is a professor of creative writing at the University of California at Riverside.

The Princess of Las Vegas

By Chris Bohjalian

Doubleday. 381 pp. $29

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Book Review: ‘Nothing But the Bones’ is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace

This image released by St. Martin’s Publishing Group shows “Nothing But the Bones” by Brian Panowich. (St. Martin’s Publishing Group via AP)

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Nelson “Nails” McKenna isn’t very bright, stumbles over his words and often says what he’s thinking without realizing it.

We first meet him as a boy reading a superhero comic on the banks of a river in his backcountry hometown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia. There, a bully picks on him and then does the same to a pretty girl Nails secretly fancies. Enraged, Nails, ignorant of his own strength, gives the bully a fatal beating.

Nails’ friend Clayton Burroughs, who watches it happen, doesn’t call the police. Instead, he calls his brutal father, Gareth, who runs the rackets on Bull Mountain, to cover it up.

So begins “Nothing But the Bones,” a prequel to the first three Southern noir novels in Brian Panowich’s critically acclaimed Bull Mountain series.

After the killing, the story skips forward nine years and finds history repeating itself. Nails, now working as an enforcer for Gareth, is drinking apple juice in a seedy bar when he sees a punk mistreating a young woman. Moments later, the punk lies dead on the barroom floor.

There are too many witnesses for Gareth to fix things this time. Instead, he hands Nails a bag of cash, orders him to head south, and gives him a phone number to call when he gets to Jacksonville, Florida. As Nails speeds away, he discovers the young woman, a fellow outcast who calls herself Dallas, hiding in the backseat. She persuades a reluctant Nails to take her with him, and as they drive on, an unlikely love story emerges. As readers learn Dallas’s backstory, it becomes clear that they need each other.

This book cover image released by Doubleday shows "The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook" by Hampton Sides. (Doubleday via AP)

When Clayton hears what’s happened, he’s knows that his father, who avoids legal entanglements at all costs, hasn’t sent Nails away for a new start. Nails is driving to his death. So, in defiance of his father, Clayton heads for Jacksonville to save his friend. Their friendship may remind readers of George Milton and Lennie Small in John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella, “Of Mice and Men” — although Nails isn’t as limited as Lennie.

The compelling tale, its tone alternately brutal and tender, unfolds at a breakneck pace. The character development is superb, the settings are vivid, and the prose is as tight as a noose. The plot is full of twists. Among them is a startling revelation about Dallas’s identity, introducing a sensitive subject that Panowich handles with understanding and grace.

Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including “The Dread Line.”

AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews

IMAGES

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Unwind Book Review by Zoe Jensen
How to Write a Book Review: Your Easy Book Review Format
Unwind Book Review
UNWIND Novel Study
Top 10 Best Unwind Book Series 2023 Reviews

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COMMENTS

Unwind
The heartland became Jesusland. Neal Shusterman's novel "Unwind" explores the aftermath of just such a division. In an undated future, far enough away for iPods to be sold at antique stores ...
Unwind (Unwind, #1) by Neal Shusterman
9,564 reviews 81 followers. March 11, 2022. Unwind (Unwind #1), Neal Shusterman. Unwind is a 2007 science fiction novel by young adult literature author Neal Shusterman. The story centers around three teenagers who have been scheduled to be unwound: Connor Lassiter, Risa Ward, and Levi "Lev" Jedediah Calder.
Unwind Teen Book Review
Unwind Teen Book Review. Unwind is a dystopian thriller by Neal Shusterman that follows three teens on the run from a government that believes "unwinding," or body harvesting, is an alternate solution to abortions and unwanted teens. Unwinding is also a choice for extremely religious families who want to tithe one of their teens.
Unwind: Unwind Dystology, Book 1 Book Review
Read Common Sense Media's Unwind: Unwind Dystology, Book 1 review, age rating, and parents guide. Shocking sci-fi gives teens plenty to get wound up about. Read Common Sense Media's Unwind: Unwind Dystology, Book 1 review, age rating, and parents guide. ... Parents need to know that Unwind is the first book in four-part science-fiction saga set ...
Unwind (novel)
Unwind is a 2007 dystopian novel by young adult literature author Neal Shusterman.It takes place in the United States in the near future. After the Second Civil War, which was labeled "The Heartland War", was fought over abortion, a compromise was reached, allowing parents to sign an order for their children between the ages of 13 and 18 to be "unwound" — taken to "harvest camps" and ...
Unwind: A Book Review
Unwind by Neil Shusterman A 4⭐️ Book Review The first book in the Unwind Dystology by Neil Shusterman is a quick, but disturbing read. I can't say that I loved this book, but it was a good read, one that I'll be thinking for quite awhile. Unwinds are children. Some are marked for Unwinding from…
Unwind
Book Review This dystopian novel by Neal Shusterman is the first in the "Unwind Dystology" series and is published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Unwind is written for ages 12 and up.
UNWIND
Shusterman's Everlost (2006) dealt with death and children with a sense of innocence, redemption and even humor. None of that is present here. In a time not far distant, life is deemed to be sacrosanct from the instant of conception until the age of 13. From 13 to 18, however, parents and guardians have the opportunity to have children ...
BOOK REVIEW: Unwind (Unwind #1) by Neal Shusterman
This is a thought-provoking, well-paced read that will appeal widely. " School Library Journal, starred review. " [A] gripping, brilliantly imagined futuristic thriller...could hardly be more engrossing or better aimed to teens." Publishers Weekly, starred review. " [A] nail-biting, character-driven thriller."
Unwind Dystology Series by Neal Shusterman
Book 1-4. The Complete Unwind Dystology: Unwind / UnWholly / UnSouled / UnDivided. by Neal Shusterman. 4.70 · 703 Ratings · 53 Reviews · published 2014 · 3 editions. Don't miss a moment of the complete New York Times…. Want to Read.
Book Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Book Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Young Adult. Series: Unwind Dystology #1 Publisher: Simon and Schuster Publication Date: June 2009 Author Info: www.storyman.com. Wendy's Rating: 5 of 5 stars: Every time I thought I knew what was going on, Shusterman yanked the carpet out from under me so damn fast that it left my head spinning.
Unwind
Three teens fight for their lives and each other in this breathtakingly suspenseful first book in the twisted, New York Times bestselling Unwind Dystology series by Neal Shusterman.After America's Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement. According to their Bill of Life, human life may not be terminated from the moment of conception until the age of thirteen.
Underrated reads: Unwind by Neal Shusterman
There was so much more I wanted to say but kept it short so here is my full spoiler-free GR review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/489035791?book_show_...
BOOK REVIEW: Unwind by Neal Shusterman
BOOK REVIEW: Unwind by Neal Shusterman Simon and Schuster December 2012 Paperback, $17.99 Reviewed by Steph O'Connell 10/10 UnWind is book 1 in the UnWind series. BOOK REVIEW: UnWholly (Book 2) You remember what it was like when you and your parents used to spend time together, when you saw eye to eye, really understood […]
Book Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman
In Unwind, Boston Globe/Horn Book Award winner Neal Shusterman challenges readers' ideas about life -- not just where life begins, and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive. Review: I was totally blown away by this book. Simply blown away. It put me into the 'ugly cry,' something very few books are able to do.
Unwind Study Guide
In terms of Unwind 's exploration of bodily autonomy and abortion, it shares a number of thematic similarities with novels as varied as Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper, which deals with forced organ donation; Red Clocks by Leni Zumas, which explores what might happen if abortion became suddenly and entirely illegal; and The Host by Stephanie Meyer, which envisions a futuristic Earth ...
Amazon.com: Unwind (1) (Unwind Dystology): 9781416912057: Shusterman
Unwind (1) (Unwind Dystology) Paperback - June 2, 2009. Three teens fight for their lives and each other in this breathtakingly suspenseful first book in the twisted, New York Times bestselling Unwind Dystology series by Neal Shusterman. After America's Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement.
Amazon.com: Unwind (1) (Unwind Dystology): 9781416912040: Shusterman
Unwind (1) (Unwind Dystology) Hardcover - November 6, 2007. Three teens fight for their lives and each other in this breathtakingly suspenseful first book in the twisted, New York Times bestselling Unwind Dystology series by Neal Shusterman. After America's Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement.
Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Unwind (Unwind Dystology)
+ Unwind is extremely character driven, and this is really one of the only redeeming qualities the book has going for itself. Each character (there are 3 main characters) has just enough color, depth and personality and you cannot help but empathize with them as they develop and come to terms with their plights.
Parent reviews for Unwind: Unwind Dystology, Book 1
Read Unwind: Unwind Dystology, Book 1 reviews from parents on Common Sense Media. Become a member to write your own review. Read Unwind: Unwind Dystology, Book 1 reviews from parents on Common Sense Media. ... I am 17 and have read this book for a class. The review points out the negatives about the book but not the positive of the book. I do ...
"Unwind" Book Review: Summary, Analyzing the Themes, Meaning
Published by 15.05.2023. "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman is a young adult science fiction novel set in a dystopian future where parents are allowed to "unwind" their children between the ages of 13 and 18. Unwinding involves harvesting the child's organs and tissues for transplants, thereby allowing the child to live on in a "divided ...
UnWholly (Unwind, #2) by Neal Shusterman
UnWholly is a brilliant sequel to Unwind--and like it's predecessor, I love how haunting, thrilling, and morally complex it is. I still haven't read books three and four yet, but I'm excited to see what they have in store! Old review under the cut.-----Original Review (1/16/13):
Unwind: A gripping story if you can get past the premise
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BOOK REVIEW: Unwind (Unwind #1) by Neal Shusterman

In a perfect world everything would either be black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn’t a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is.

People aren’t all good, and people aren’t all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives.

The better to run. The better to hide. The better to lose himself now that darkness is his friend.

Unwinds didn’t go out with a bang-they didn’t even go out with a whimper. They went out with the silence of a candle flame pinched between two fingers.

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