The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

Current MiTunes - "The Wardrobe" from Harry Gregson Williams' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
Genre: Middle grade/ Fantasy
Release Date: August 30th, 2011
Publisher: Aladdin
Pages: 400

Every year in Quill, thirteen-year-olds are sorted into categories: the strong, intelligent Wanteds go to university, and the artistic Unwanteds are sent to their deaths.

Thirteen-year-old Alex tries his hardest to be stoic when his fate is announced as Unwanted, even while leaving behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted. Upon arrival at the destination where he expected to be eliminated, however, Alex discovers a stunning secret--behind the mirage of the "death farm" there is instead a place called Artime.


In Artime, each child is taught to cultivate their creative abilities and learn how to use them magically, weaving spells through paintbrushes and musical instruments. Everything Alex has ever known changes before his eyes, and it's a wondrous transformation.


I have to be honest, I didn't really enjoy this book. In fact I almost didn't finish it at all. Still, I felt I should plow through to the end  because I have read many of its good reviews.

The Unwanteds begins quickly, following Alex during the purge, which of course reminded me of Katniss awaiting her fate during the reaping. Within the first chapter you learn that he is destined to be marked Unwanted and killed in a lake of boiling oil. Alex and the fellow Unwanteds are seemingly awaiting their deaths when a peculiar older man presents himself as Mr. Today the Mage (or magician) of Artime'. I was immediately reminded of Albus Dumbledore, especially since he stood before the new students and gave them an introduction to Artime' and the rules of this new world.

Here in lies one of the biggest reasons I didn't like the book. The cover has a quote comparing The Unwanteds to two highly successful and separately creative novels. Opening the pages I couldn't get the worlds of those two books out of my head. Instead of fully enveloping in the world created by McMann, I kept wanting Artime' to be Hogwarts and equally imagined Quill as the desolate Seam in which Katniss calls home.

The characters were also very difficult to connect to. The story followed both twins, Alex and Aaron, however it seemed that the narrative only switched to Aaron when it was necessary to tell aspects of the story that Alex would never have been able to experience or see himself. The narrative also switches periodically to other characters as well, including other students and professors at the school. I wondered what reading this book would have been like if I was younger, I have a feeling it would have been one of those condemned to the shelf of dust.

The story is slow, but I can't tell if that is due to the multiple viewpoints or if it was the actual plot. The  last fifth of the book had some twists and turns but not enough to really keep me wanting more. The concept of magic being contained in the world of art was neat and I found McMann's initial inspiration for the story very compelling. (The world of Artime' was inspired from McMann's children losing art programs at their school, which is represented in the novel as Quill.) However, I think that is more interesting than the actual book.

I have read many positive reviews for this novel as well as many of McMann's other works, but this one just wasn't for me. I'll have to check out some of McMann's other work, which seem to have more promise.