There are nearly 5,000 reviews of this book on GR, and the official synopsis explains clearly what is meant by the term 'Unwind'. So, I am going to assume that those who read this are familiar with the basic premise. If not, that's okay - some of the context will be evident here. But it is much easier to review this without major spoilers if I don't try to tap-dance around the basics. 
 This book certainly deserves its legion of fans, and could become a phenomenal movie. I strongly recommend it for those who can handle the grim central themes. It plays on your deepest emotions, and gives your logic analyzer a good workout at the same time. 
 There is a group of big ideas that I will discuss in the second half of this review. And one gut-wrenching core concept - that some unspeakably awful things are in store for a lot of teenage kids. Basic human values are redefined, including the 'sanctity' of human life and the responsibilities of parents to their kids. The historic origin for all this is the intransigence of human attitudes on both sides of a tough issue. The outcome is a tide of events that sweeps young humans into institutional crimes, and these are cynically accepted - and mostly ignored - by adults. 
 These are all big, in-your-face polarizing topics. They demand a firm grasp on one's own values, and value judgments of events in the story. But Shusterman never preaches here, and never pushes any final judgments except one - that the 'solution' in this fight over reproductive rights was at least as heinous as any of the original crimes. 
 I liked the story and concept a lot. With that said, it seemed obviously farfetched at first, and I was expecting a more thorough world-building treatment than the one that I got early on. I struggled with that, and it was somewhat distracting. 
 Fortunately, the narrative and the three main characters were highly engaging for me from the beginning. I was especially impressed by Risa, the excellent female lead - strong, tough, smart and adaptable, just what I want to see in this era of clueless insta-love. Any author would be proud of her, in my opinion. In addition, most of my background issues were covered by the midway point, and the narrative really rocked from that point on. 
 Overview and comments 
 This section will be relatively spoiler-free, I think. 
 The author does provide a brief intro/history of the events that led to the central scenario here. It is enough to get you grounded and provide some context for the opening scenes. But for me, there was still a feeling that the author jumped into the story very quickly, with introductions to three teenagers who are facing critical moments in their lives. At that point, I still didn't understand the rationale at any deep level, and the experience was a little disorienting. 
 Gradually, however, there were enough details filtering into the narrative that I was able to focus increasingly on the characters and events. For me, both the characters and story were very effective from the beginning, and their momentum continued to build as the events took center stage. 
 I was sympathetic with all three of the major characters, but especially with Risa - the orphaned ward of the state. As I have said in other reviews, we don't see enough of her strength, savvy, and intelligent action (my opinion) in recent top-selling fiction. I really liked Risa, and my admiration for her grew through the course of the book. 
 Connor was a frustrating protagonist for me, but I can understand the author's purpose in writing him that way. Deeply compassionate - but temperamental and prone to impulses of very poor judgment - he had to grow in all sorts of ways as the story moved along, and he did. I wanted to slap him around a few times, and my view was shared by others in the story. But I was impressed by the author's development of this character in latter stages. 
 Lev was perhaps the most interesting character, in his striking transformation from one set of bedrock principles - as his earliest memories - to a radically different manifesto by the end. Lev gives you a lot to think about, and so do Risa and Connor. Their life journey really carries the book, and I thought the author was extremely effective in his use of them as the main vehicle. 
 So, characters and events are the main thrust of the page-turning narrative, and it reached a point for me that I really couldn't put it down toward the end. I even forgot to highlight passages on my Kindle for later review, and I swear it was not encroaching senility that made me forget! The book had a major grip on me - a really suspenseful, grab-and-don't-let-go read. 
 Thoughts on the Big Questions 
 This section will implicitly involve spoilers, but I have tried to minimize plot reveals. 
 I want to focus here on the big questions that are always looming in the subtext. In particular, I want to take this scenario of a possible future and trace it back a bit to where we are now. 
 How precious is human life? When does it become precious? What restrictions should the state place on the "Right to Life", especially among the unborn? The turmoil surrounding these questions is a daily debate in current society (and I am thinking especially of the USA in this regard, where the story occurs). 
 Shusterman presents a series of documentary examples: news releases, tales of despicable acts, extreme positions on all sides of these questions. He very pointedly avoids telling the reader what to think. Instead, he lets the characters think and talk about the issues. 
 "Unborn babies... they suck their thumbs sometimes, right? And they kick. Maybe before that they're just like a bunch of cells or something, but once they kick and suck their thumbs-- that's when they've got a soul." 
 "Maybe it's the best answer of all. If more people could admit they really don't know, maybe there never would have been a Heartland War." 
 In Shusterman's telling, the conflict develops along naturally incendiary lines. It reaches a point where the belief in "sanctity of human life" is a mockery in relation to the war that grows out of the dispute. 
 What happens in that case? Well, Shusterman presents a truly bizarre outcome that is the core premise of the book - an agreement that would never occur under normal, peacetime conditions. In a one-page dialogue, he reveals how this agreement came to pass. If you have read the book, you will remember the dialogue. At some point, you most likely took a position on both the outcome and the rationale, and your impression of the book was driven in large part by the position you took. That was certainly true for me. 
 On first reading, the dialogue seemed inadequate to me as an explanation for the agreement. But it started to make a lot of sense on second and third reading, and by that point I found it plausible, no matter how cynical and sickening the implications were. My reading of history is that many critical turning-point events seem impossible until they happen, but seem inevitable after that. But some highly respected friends had a very different take in this case, and I can certainly understand their reactions. It is good to be aware of this going in. 
 In any case, one implication of the agreement came through very clearly. There was a lot of money to be made from it, and powerful forces took that idea and ran all the way to the bank. 
 "People wanted parts." "Demanded is more like it... And all those new parts had to come from somewhere." 
 "It didn't take long for ethics to be crushed by greed. Unwinding became big business, and people let it happen." 
 Can Transplants Think? 
 Whether or not souls exist Connor doesn't know. But consciousness does exist-- that's something he knows for sure. If every part of an Unwind is still alive, then that consciousness has to go somewhere, doesn't it? 
 My take on these issues (in the book) is that teens are left to work the answers out for themselves, while adults look the other way. 
 "The unborn have souls. They have souls from the moment they get made-- the law says." 
 "maybe an Unwind's spirit stretches out, kind of like a giant balloon between all those parts of us in other places. Very poetic." 
 Context and point of view are critical here. The conversations are among teenagers on the 'firing line'. These are not adults, making rules based on hardened ideologies. They are kids who deal with the consequences. 
 He tries to imagine himself stretched so thin and so wide that he can reach around the world. He imagines his spirit like a web strung between the thousand recipients of his hands, his eyes, the fragments of his brain-- none of it under his control anymore, all absorbed by the bodies and wills of others. Could consciousness exist like that? 
 He thinks about the trucker who performed a card trick for him with an Unwind's hand. Did the boy who once owned that hand still feel the satisfaction of performing the trick? 
 As an adult, I read these passages and think, "Nah. It wouldn't be like that at all." From my neuroscientist perspective, I wouldn't expect any vestige of consciousness in any 'harvested' organ that is not a brain. 
 But my adult perspective is not the issue here. These are teenagers who are trapped in a system that was born in warfare, hardened by greed, and then marginalized in the collective adult consciousness. Their bitter reality is carefully ignored on the radar of the average adult in this society. They are the living victims, and no adult is taking responsibility for explaining whether and in what sense they will remain alive. 
 Conclusions 
 This book has a lot of power, and has forced many adult readers (me included) to think more carefully about the consequences of ideology run amok. The story won't work for everybody. But I will be extremely interested in the sequel that is coming soon, and one thing I want to see is whether adults can 'grow up' in this world. 
 Actions have consequences, and responsibility doesn't end when you don't want to deal with it any more. Can we do better? I believe that is a good thought for any day. 
 Highly Recommended 
 Thanks very much to Erika and many other GR friends who recommended this book to me. I depend so much on their judgments in choosing the books that I read, and I am deeply grateful to have them on my side. 
 There are so many excellent and moving reviews of this book on GR, from my friends and many others. Too many to list here. My advice - look at what your friends had to say about it, or just start at the top and go from there.