1st Avenue

Surprisingly enjoyable... for a YA dystopian book. It surpassed what I expected for books in this meager genre, which isn't saying much.

Pros:

- concept of unwinding

- interesting plot

- believable society/world

- characters with actual problems

- existentialist crises

More pros:

- no awkward nonsensical "dystopian" society

- no awkward angsty pseudo-love triangle

- no awkward evil Big Brother with plans of vengeance either

- no awkwardness

A thoroughly enjoyable departure from all the usual flimsy YA "dystopian" series indeed.

Although this is a refreshing departure from YA fiction, it's still YA fiction in the sense that many interesting aspects of the concept of unwinding were simplified, and as a reader, I'm left hanging onto oversimplified explanations. I would have liked to know more about the science of unwinding and the medical procedures that were developed to make organ transplant so easy. (brain transplant? O_o) And then there's this other problem: an unwind is neither dead nor alive... so how does the science of unwinding make that possible? I also would've liked to read about how and why laws and policies of unwinding were passed. What government would pass these laws / put these policies into effect? (Wouldn't they just filibuster until someone can't hold it in anymore and has to pee?) Is unwinding available just in the US or is it worldwide?

All of these questions and unexplained concepts leave me with the conclusion that perhaps Unwind would have been better had it been written as contemporary science fiction, instead of YA.