Where Popularity Rules the World, Being Extra is a Death Sentence

Extras by Scott Westerfeld

The final book in the Uglies stories.  Aya Fuse is an extra, extra meaning she is purely in the background.  Where you get everything in your life through merits and earning credits from cleaning your room and going to school for an ugly under the age of fifteen, to being popular and the more popular you are the more merits your receive.  As her face rank doesn’t seem to move, Aya is always looking for a way to move up in the ranks.  She primarily tries this by kicking stories, as she falls into the story of a lifetime, Aya has probably bitten off more than she can chew with not only sudden popularity, but also a deadly adventure that will take her, her brother Hiro, his best friend Ren, and her crush Frizz out into the wild and hopefully they can return to kick the story of a several lifetime.

Who is Aya and what have you done with Tally Youngblood?!?  That was my first question when I picked this book up.  I loved reading Uglies, Pretties, and Specials.  Tally was an excellent main character that I enjoyed reading her perspective and loved how the changes she went through grew her and changed her life.  Then I pick up the fourth book and boom, new character, new city, new circumstances, ahhhh!  Well I charged on and read through it.  I was happy when I got near the middle of the book.  Even though this book continued suit I found the action boring and I was tired of the book by the end.

Throughout the entire first half of the book I did not realize that the characters were speaking Japanese to each other, until outsiders came into the picture and said, “In English please.” Then I understood and from then on the author had to inform the audience in what language the characters were speaking.  Looking back I do remember Aya bragging to her brother that she spoke better English than he, but I just thought I didn’t understand the comment.    

There is no way I would have been able to not read this book after I loved the first three so much, and so therefore I am glad I read it, but in other ways, I wish there was a disclaimer that came with Extras that stated: “Warning: not as good as the first three!”  Oh well, on to the next book, Keep reading my friends!