Unwind by Neal Shusterman is a dystopian novel that continues into the future. A civil war had broken out in North America, and they called this the Heartland War. The Heartland War was the cause of essentially the issue of abortion. Two sides were pro-life and pro-choice, and the Heartland War concluded based on a compromise: the Bill of Life. This Bill of Life states that a pregnant woman must bring this pregnancy to term. She would have to have this baby. This child cannot be touched until 13, between 13 and 18.
The Guardian or the parent may choose to unwind this child. Unwind means all their body parts, organs, skin, and bones. A hundred percent of that child would be harvested and used by someone who would need it, and this Bill of Life Act is widely accepted.
The whole plot is based on this Bill of Life. It follows three main characters, Connor, Risa, and Lev, and these three kids have been chosen to be unwound. It’s the adventure and the circumstances they get put into. These kids are fighting for survival, waiting to be unwound, and trying to beat the system. The novel’s strength lies in its ability to spark discussions and raise important questions about ethics, autonomy, and the consequences of societal choices.
Reading books like “Unwind” allows you to continue engaging with thought-provoking themes, explore new perspectives, and experience compelling storytelling. They offer fresh perspectives on familiar themes and challenge conventional thinking.
5 Books Like Unwind (Science Fiction)
Unwind covers fantastic action adventures and a lot of great twists and surprises. This book is much more than what it seems. The book is divided into chapters. Each chapter is from the characters’ point of view, like what they saw and felt. It was written in a third-person style, but they knew their thoughts.
They’re normal kids who are facing unfortunate circumstances. Even though the setting takes place way into the future, their problems are the same as what you would have in the present day. Are you waiting to read more about Dystopia? I am going to talk about five books similar to Unwind. Let’s go!
1. Legend (Trilogy)
In this trilogy, the first is Legend, and the second is Prodigy. Then the third and final one is the Champion. This trilogy is dystopian, where you have the Republic, which is the West Coast, and then the colonies, which is everything else. June is a genius girl. She is a well-trained soldier, and she’s living with her brother.
She’s living with her brother and pretty happy with her life. But then something ruins that, making her cross paths with Day, the most wanted criminal in the Republic. He is on the run, living this crazy life where he’s poor and the opposite of June.
The juxtaposition of those two worlds being brought together made this story fantastic. We don’t know what’s going on as it usually is with dystopian. But the juxtaposition of Day and June and their relationship made the story different. It’s told from a dual perspective from June’s and Day’s perspectives.
Day knows that the government is corrupt and this is not how the world should be, and he’s living on the poor side. On the other hand, June is from the world’s elite and is so happy in her life. Then she has this earth-shattering event that makes her come out of her shell. If you like Unwind, you will love it also.
Author: Marie Lu
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Mystery & Thriller Action & Adventure, Dystopian Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
2. Uglies
Uglies is a young adult dystopian novel published in 2005. It is a story set in the far future of America. The main character is 15-year-old Tally Youngblood, who lives in a world of peace and happiness. Everyone’s healthy and wealthy. If you’ve ever read a dystopian novel, you can see where this goes. So, this is a world where everyone is pretty beautiful because, at age 16, you go through the ritual of having complete plastic surgery that makes you attractive.
If everyone is beautiful, the idea is that they get rid of some of the inequalities in society. Tallay can’t wait to get her surgery on her 16th birthday and everyone having this ritualistic plastic surgery. This world is also very much divided. Society is very much divided by age. So you have all the children up to ages of and living together. You have all the young people fresh out of their surgery, living together in a party metropolis at the center of this community.
They move to a separate part of this city when they settle down. So everything is very segregated, organized, and orderly, similar to Unwind. Talley is pleased to be part of that organized society. Then she needs a friend, another 15-year-old girl named Shay, who’s a bit of a rebel and doesn’t want to become pretty. She doesn’t trust this society and gets drawn into this adventure that takes her to the depths of her society and out into the wilderness. Talley has to go on a literal journey through the countryside that is not orderly and beautiful. So she has to go out and survive.
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Dystopian Fiction, Post Apocalyptic
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
3. The 5th Wave
The 5th Wave is about an alien invasion, and they’re trying to wipe out the human race. Also, they’re trying to preserve the planet. So we don’t know what’s going on. Why are they here? Why do they want to kill the humans? You’ve got all these questions and like how they’re slowly taking out the humans and driving them to the brink. It’s so fascinating, and I love seeing it through our main character, Cassie’s eyes. What’s interesting is that you see it juxtaposed with another perspective from Zombie’s perspective.
The author was great at writing Cassie’s character when she was alone, and the second the romance got introduced. There’s another female character that we have in this book. We don’t meet her until much later, and she is pretty great. You will like when it comes to Cassie and how she’s treated in the back end of this book. Like Unwind, all of the stuff we get with Zombie is cool.
Author: Rick Yancey
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Science Fiction Romance, Dystopian & Alien Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
4. Gone
Gone is a modern retelling of Lord of the Flies, where all kids are stranded on an island. There are no adults, and it sees what becomes of that. So the bullies take over, kids have to step up, and ranks are happening. What do they do when they’re allowed to have free reign? So in Gone, it takes that, but it gives it a twist like a supernatural horror type of twist as Unwind.
Some of the kids also discover they have the power to shoot beams out of their hands or teleport. Some of them, as we know from X-Men, are never good when you’re automatically creating that power imbalance there. But it gets even weirder because some animals are weird, too, like coyotes can talk, and snakes have wings. What the heck is going on here around this town of Perdido Beach is encased in this dome, so they can’t get out. They have no interaction with the outside world.
All of the adults are gone. Everybody over the age of 14 vanished. They went poof immediately, and now they’re entirely gone. What’s even weirder is that once you turn 15, you’re gone too. This book is told from many different perspectives. So you’re seeing every angle of the situation and figuring out what’s happening here. There are a lot of characters. They’re all very young.
One guy narrates this book, and his voices are pretty limited. You’re so invested, and you want to know, how exactly did this happen? At the end of this book, you don’t find anything, except you learn that there’s something bigger going on.
Author: Michael Grant
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Action & Adventure Sci-Fi, Horror Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
5. The Testing
The Testing is a dystopian young adult novel about world wars that decimated everything. There are mutated animals and radioactive plants, and most of the population is dead. So there’s a new government called the United Commonwealth.
They’re trying to find new people to help lead and revitalize the Earth and find suitable enough people to lead the world. They develop this testing program and select the most intelligent people with good abilities. When they graduate high school, they choose and put them through the testing.
If you pass the testing, then you can move on to university. Those who graduate from university are the most esteemed in society. You can become a political leader, the best scientist, a doctor, etc. So it’s considered a great honor to be chosen and pass the testing on the back of the book. However, there are some questions for the United Commonwealth.
Is the testing safe? Has anyone died while participating in the testing? So there’s an air of danger and mystery, and not everything is as it seems. The protagonist is Sia. She graduated and was chosen for the testing, which she wanted her whole life. This book is often compared to The Hunger Games and Unwind.
Author: Joelle Charbonneau
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Dystopian Fiction, Action & Adventure Fantasy
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
These books, like “Unwind,” show complex ethical dilemmas and moral questions. They challenge readers to think critically about personal autonomy, societal control, the value of life, and the consequences of technological advancements. They offer social commentary and raise awareness about various aspects of our world, such as politics, human rights, technology, and environmental issues.
More Sci-fi Thriller Books:
Science Fiction Books Like Outland
Dystopian Romance Books Like Uglies
Classic Dystopian Books Like Brave New World
Dystopian Books Like Tender Is The Flesh
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