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adastrame's reviews
263 reviews
UnBound by Neal Shusterman
informative
4.0
I didn't read all the short stories, just the ones that interested me. Some of these give nice closure to the main book series, or add background information that seemed to be missing. For that, it's a pretty nice collection, but IMHO you can read the series without reading this as well.
UnDivided by Neal Shusterman
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This is the final book in the Unwind Dystology , so I'll talk about all 4 books here (not including the short story collection).
It's an incredibly weird experience to read these books. The whole concept of Unwinding (basically murdering teenagers to use as organ donors) is so disturbing and outlandish, but what makes it more tangible is the fact that especially in books 3 and 4, the author provides a lot of real world excerpts that show real world parallel, or rather, I assume the things where he got his ideas from. And some of those real world quotes are possibly even more disturbing than what's happening in the books.
Altogether, the books tell the story of a bunch of characters, most notably Connor, Risa and Lev, who are significant in all of them, and tie all the plots together. Throughout the books we also encounter a whole lot of other characters around them. Altogether, this makes the books really captivating to read, especially since the POV is switched up every now and then. Some are less fun to read (wow I hate Starkey so much), but altogether it's very well-written.
Character development is excellent, and some of these characters are literally unrecognizable by the end and after all they've been through.
The books also put a lot of very philosophical questions into the open, and gives you a lot of food for thought on life, death and identity.
I like to read books that trigger emotional responses and that make me think, and these books are definitely some that I'll be thinking about for a long, long time.
It's an incredibly weird experience to read these books. The whole concept of Unwinding (basically murdering teenagers to use as organ donors) is so disturbing and outlandish, but what makes it more tangible is the fact that especially in books 3 and 4, the author provides a lot of real world excerpts that show real world parallel, or rather, I assume the things where he got his ideas from. And some of those real world quotes are possibly even more disturbing than what's happening in the books.
Altogether, the books tell the story of a bunch of characters, most notably Connor, Risa and Lev, who are significant in all of them, and tie all the plots together. Throughout the books we also encounter a whole lot of other characters around them. Altogether, this makes the books really captivating to read, especially since the POV is switched up every now and then. Some are less fun to read (wow I hate Starkey so much), but altogether it's very well-written.
Character development is excellent, and some of these characters are literally unrecognizable by the end and after all they've been through.
The books also put a lot of very philosophical questions into the open, and gives you a lot of food for thought on life, death and identity.
I like to read books that trigger emotional responses and that make me think, and these books are definitely some that I'll be thinking about for a long, long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
The hunt is on. On to the conclusion in book 4...
UnWholly by Neal Shusterman
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Once you've reached this book, you're in deep. This was very compelling, I couldn't put the book down. My only criticism are some of the characters (Starkey, Dylan ), because they seem a bit one-dimensional and I couldn't really understand their motivations.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
WHAT THE FUCK is what I've been thinking the entire time I was reading this book. This world is extremely bizarre and weird. I would even consider it body horror. Even though the book is not very graphic about it, just the thought of what's happening is making me incredibly uncomfortable.
It was a very captivating read, but also a very uncomfortable one.
One of my issues with the setting is that I find it really hard to believe that parents would willingly have their teenage kids sent off to be harvested. But then again, in such an overpopulated world, I guess people are more inclined to do such horrible things.
It was a very captivating read, but also a very uncomfortable one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.5
Cool premise, but ultimately a bit too much of a kids / middle school plot for me. It wasn't really engaging as the plot was really predictable, and I struggled a lot to finish it. Probably won't read the sequels.
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.
It just didn't grab my attention. Too many uninteresting characters that never seem to come together.
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Similar to my experience reading Book 2, reading this book was not quite what I expected. The first half, or perhaps even the first two thirds of the book were bordering on boring for me. Lots and lots of political machinations, the point of which I still don't quite see regarding the main theme and ultimate resolution of the plot. I also found in very odd that a lot of mysteries are just freely given away in the epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter, seemed a bit clumsy to me.
Altogether, the Mistborn series didn't quite live up to my expectations, which might be because I had REALLY high expectations considering how Sanderson fans go crazy for this series. It was interesting, had some pretty unique concepts, and lots of great characters. But I would argue that it also has some flaws in its logic, and my suspension of disbelief suffered mildly. I guess part of that has to do with the series' theme ofreligion. I've never been a particularly religious person, and have a bit of an aversion to most organized world religions and the crimes they've committed throughout world history. The parallels were a bit too on the nose for me sometimes, but what else could I have expected from a Mormon author?
IMHO, Book 1 was a great book, great setting, intriguing mysteries, high stakes dystopia, really awesome ending. Book 2 was a drag. Book 3 was a mixture of both. But ultimately I'm a bit let down by the issues mentioned above, as well as the plot-twist-for-the-sake-of-having-a-plot-twist. Not mind-blowing, but not bad either.
Altogether, the Mistborn series didn't quite live up to my expectations, which might be because I had REALLY high expectations considering how Sanderson fans go crazy for this series. It was interesting, had some pretty unique concepts, and lots of great characters. But I would argue that it also has some flaws in its logic, and my suspension of disbelief suffered mildly. I guess part of that has to do with the series' theme of
IMHO, Book 1 was a great book, great setting, intriguing mysteries, high stakes dystopia, really awesome ending. Book 2 was a drag. Book 3 was a mixture of both. But ultimately I'm a bit let down by the issues mentioned above, as well as the plot-twist-for-the-sake-of-having-a-plot-twist. Not mind-blowing, but not bad either.
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book was really not what I expected. I feel like it's very much mistitled. It should be called The Siege of Luthadel or something like that, because 90% of the book is just politics, and IMHO a bit of a drag. Here and there were some interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout that, but allover, I expected this book to be some kind of grand journey, and definitely not 600 pages of cooped out anxiety about being attacked by three armies . Well, I hope the last book will answer all the questions that I kinda expected this book to answer...
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75