UnWholly

Lev, like Connor, is an important character in book one of the Unwind series and his reputation precedes him. When he briefly appears in Chapter 2, a rescued tithe refers to Lev as the “tithe who became a clapper” (44), and at the beginning of his first POV chapter in Part 4, Lev is known as the “clapper who didn’t clap” (169). This, and many other contrasts, causes Miracolina to describe Lev as “a paradox” (316). Because of the process of draining the explosive clapper chemicals from his bloodstream, 14-year-old Lev looks very young. He is consistently described with spiritual diction; his “Jesus-like” hair (170) is referenced in the middle and the end of the novel. One of the last moments of UnWholly is when Connor jokes that he will make Lev get a haircut when they get to Ohio.

Overall, Lev is the character who is willing to force other characters into making good decisions. From convincing Miracolina that her undivided life has meaning—that she can help people without being unwound—to shooting Connor with a tranq bullet in order to haul him out of the Graveyard, Lev saves lives.

Risa is the third character that played a major role in Book 1 of the Unwind series, and she undergoes a major transformation in UnWholly. At 17, Risa has aged out of being unwound but, as a result of Roberta’s blackmail scheme, she is forced to accept a spine from an unwound teen. Moving from use of a wheelchair to a guilty joy in walking independently, Risa’s physical body and mental outlook changes dramatically. This transformation also makes her “much more important than she ever dreamed she was. Important to both sides” (226).

While Risa inspires male characters to change, she is more than a “princess” (228) without agency or opinions. When Roberta’s blackmail scheme fails, Risa sets “the record straight” (361) and uses the national media stage that Roberta set up to argue against unwinding. Risa is initially “cruel” (225) to Cam, but she begins to see him as an “individual” (289) when they play music together. Within the narrative of UnWholly, Risa moves from poverty to wealth, and loses the latter when she goes back on the run. Despite the changes in her life, Risa maintains her love for Connor and her desire for Whollie liberation. 

Cam is one of three main characters that enter the Unwind series in UnWholly. He is the first rewound person, made by Proactive Citizenry from “the best of various unwound teens” (140). Risa describes his patchwork appearance as “looking at a Picasso” (280) and a “piecemeal Pinocchio” (293). Cam recalls man-made creatures from “Frankenstein” (59) books and movies, consisting of parts from 99 people. However, as Risa eventually realizes, “Cam, as much as all the kids who were unwound to make him, is a victim too” (272).

The mere existence of Cam, as a composite human created by an organization playing god, poses questions about morality, humanity, and the nature of the soul. Reporters, and initially Risa, consider Cam to be a thing, not a person; one reporter asks, “Is he even alive?” (143). Cam also asks Roberta about his soul: “What if I’m just flesh going through the motions, with nothing inside?” (162), but her roles in his life as a meta-linguistic interpreter and public relations agent do not qualify her to assist him with his existential crises. Cam also leaves the reader with unresolved questions about what makes a human human. Cam’s love for Risa, and his decision to bring down the very organization that made him, offers some definition about what it means to be human. These will be transformative factors for Cam going forward.

Shusterman also adds Starkey to the Unwind universe in UnWholly. While Cam was deliberately made of teens from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, Starkey is described as a “chameleon who could pass for any ethnicity” (16). Throughout the novel, Starkey is characterized as a magician, and his magic ranges from entertaining sleight-of-hand tricks to tricks that serve a pragmatic purpose. For instance, he dramatically escapes from handcuffs at the beginning of the novel when Juvey-cops try to collect him for unwinding. This is mirrored later in the novel, when he escapes handcuffs in the Graveyard during his mutiny. After stealing the Whollies’ escape jet for only storks and getting some of them to the Salton Sea alive, he declares that “there will be no end to the magic” (377).

Starkey’s ego clouds his thoughts about liberation for Whollies and storks. Unlike Connor and Lev, who search for suppressed modern history about all teens, “The only teen uprising [Starkey] has any interest in will involve the stork club” (259). Starkey “wants to raise his storks to glory, as long as they all know he’s the one who’s done it. Credit where credit is due, and honor to the trickster whose illusions finally become real” (259). He works to appear as if he cares about storks but is willing to sacrifice Ashley—a stork—to get out of the Graveyard. At both the beginning and the end of the novel, Starkey is self-serving, a static character.