Undivided by Neal Shusterman Review

This book was a roller coaster of emotions…

Teens control the fate of America in the fourth and final book in the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology by Neal Shusterman.

Proactive Citizenry, the company that created Cam from the parts of unwound teens, has a plan: to mass produce rewound teens like Cam for military purposes. And below the surface of that horror lies another shocking level of intrigue: Proactive Citizenry has been suppressing technology that could make unwinding completely unnecessary. As Conner, Risa, and Lev uncover these startling secrets, enraged teens begin to march on Washington to demand justice and a better future.

But more trouble is brewing. Starkey’s group of storked teens is growing more powerful and militant with each new recruit. And if they have their way, they’ll burn the harvest camps to the ground and put every adult in them before a firing squad—which could destroy any chance America has for a peaceful future. –goodreads.com summary

“Every seven years, everyone is literally a new person. For Connor, he couldn’t be more different after two years. It’s as if he’s been unwound and put back together again.”

“In a population of hundreds of millions, such a small number of people is a mere drop in the bucket… but enough drops can make any bucket overflow.”

Many of you may not know this but I have always been a HUGE fan of the Unwind series. I read the first three novels a while ago, but for some reason never got around to picking up the fourth. BUT, this year I was walking around my school library and I saw Undivided, so of course I had to pick it up! Did it live up to my expectations…? HECK YEAH!

I’ve always said that Neal Shusterman was one of my favorite authors and I still stand by that statement. His writing style is accessible yet surreal at times. He is great at personifying ideas or places to give life to a scene through the narration and it is GREAT! His tendency to also switch POV to unnamed character as well as named ones is one of my FAVORITE things about his writing. It makes the novel stand out and gives the reader a new perspective on the situation at hand. Which is really good for a dystopian novel that can often fall into an us against them mentality, but by telling the POV of a guy on the street, you understand that not everyone is bad in this world.

With Shusterman’s great writing style comes fleshed out characters. Whether it be Connor, Risa, or Lev— characters we have been following for four books now— or Una, Starkey, or Grace— characters introduces later in the series— you feel equally for these characters and want all of them to make it out. I loved getting to see more of Una and have her and Wil’s story completed. I personally LOVED Wil and Una when I read Unstrung so I loved every scene with Una in Undivided. I also loved seeing how Connor had changed over the course of the series and having him return to Ohio was a brilliant idea. And let me say, that ending… perfect! Probably most of all, I loved seeing Cam go from this weakling and frankly annoying character, to a truly strong and proactive person. He was not afraid to take initiative and try to fix things himself.

Overall, Undivided was everything I wanted from the finale of the Unwind series. Neal Shusterman has pulled through again with great characters, unique writing, and an intriguing plot. I can’t wait to give some of his newer books a shot. I recommend Undivided and the entire Unwind series for EVERYONE but especially for fans of dystopian or anyone who just wants something different.

Have you read Undivided or any of the Unwind books? Are you a fan of Neal Shusterman?

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Elise!