Unwind by Neal Shusterman

In this gripping, chilling thriller, Neal Shusterman takes organ donation and harvesting to the next level. Sometime in America's near future, parents can send their children away to be unwound...a process no ordinary citizen is entirely sure of, but one that separates a human's body parts and redistributes them to people who are in need of appendages and organs. This government-sanctioned operation (or separation, rather) promises that no one is being killed or dies - just shared with those who can afford better body parts. All parts of the Unwind's body are still functioning, only not in one piece.

Connor, Risa, and Lev are all Unwinds and come from various backgrounds, but their stories all intertwine one fateful day. As Connor and Risa attempt to escape their fates, Lev welcomes it, as he has been designated as a Tithe since he was born. A Tithe is a sacrificial Unwind and one of the highest honors bestowed upon a child, or so Lev thinks. After betrayed by Lev, Connor and Risa manage to escape to a fugitive Unwind camp, called the Graveyard, and things are going well for them. But after a riot at the Graveyard, Connor and Risa are taken to a harvest camp for unwinding. Lev, meanwhile, has become a clapper. Clappers are terrorists/suicide bombers who ingest explosive substances so that, when the time is right, they can clap their hands hard enough and detonate. The novel peaks as Connor is about to be unwound in the same building where Risa is and where Lev and two others are about to fatally clap to blow up the building. In a race against time, it will take all the three have to stay alive and keep from being unwound.

Unwind was a fantastic, thought-provoking novel. It is the first installment in the Unwind Trilogy (the second is UnWholly), and it posed a frightening question of if your parents could choose to get rid of you, would they? Or if they believed unwinding you was for the greater good, would they sign away your body? Connor's parents' motives were because Connor was a problem child, and there was nothing more they could do to try to get him to behave. Risa was an orphan, and the state ward where she lived simply didn't have the money to keep her anymore. And Lev, as previously mentioned, was a Tithe.

I would definitely recommend this book to readers of at least 15 - some of the thematic elements were strong and somewhat disturbing/frightening. Various curses were present in the book, but nothing too awful. 

This is a superb read along with its sequel, and the third in the trilogy, UnSoulled, is supposed to be released this October. 

Happy readings!