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!

Tally has Always been a Special Circumstance

Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Special Circumstances is a rumor of a sect of humans that are placed to keep Pretties bubbleheads and absolve any problems with Uglies that don’t stay in line.  They are chosen, trained, and enhanced to be the strongest, humans alive.  Most pretties don’t ever see a Special during the course of their mediocre life, Tally  Youngblood has known about them since she was fifteen when she became a Special Circumstance and has many run ins with Dr. Cable.  With their bizarre looks, Tally has always been frightened of Specials, now she has become one.  As a Special she is engineered to find the New Smoke and destroy it and everyone who lives there.  During her journey as a Special all she really wants to do is have Zane join her new clique the Cutters so they can be together.  There’s only one problem, there is a part of her that remembers all of the times in the wild, times with David and Zane, she remembers and it triggers emotions that should have been removed from her with her Special surgery. 

Specials continues right where Pretties ends.  The audience has followed Tally through being an ugly longer than she bargained for, turned pretty, and now she is special.  Part of Special Circumstances, she acts just the way they want her to act.  She is a hunting, killing machine.  Special Circumstances just doesn’t think through her being herself.  She is trouble, it doesn’t matter if she is the ring leader or not, trouble will find Tally. 

I enjoyed how her inner-voice changed again.  While she was Pretty, she was Pretty headed and now that she’s Special, she has changed her tone again.  I also like how she changes throughout the story back to herself somewhat gradually.  Tally is a very interesting character.  I can’t wait to enjoy Extra’s, the last book of the series, thus far.

My mind has still not changed when it comes to the love triangle.  I love Zane and no matter what comes, I know that he was best for her.  I hope that things work out for her, and I truly wish that she could get her teeth fixed, I can’t imagine David looking at her every day with those gross sharp teeth.  You know what I’m saying, it’s gross to think about someone with razor sharp teeth filed into points.  I can get over the flashing tattoos that move with her heart beat, the scars that she cut on herself, but the sharp teeth and finger nails have got to go. 

Have you read this series?  What do you think?  My favorite book was Pretties, which one did you like best?  Keep reading my friends!

being Pretty is not all that it's cracked up to be

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Tally Youngblood has now received the surgery.  Growing up as a Littlie all she ever wanted was to become Pretty, to go to the Pretty parties and live her life according to plan.  She did some tricks as an Ugly, but she never wanted to go to The Smoke to rescue her friend Shay, she never wanted to fall for David, an Ugly that didn’t grow up in the city, but whom grew up in The Smoke.  But for some reason, being Pretty minded was not all that she had bargained for and as she receives a letter from herself explaining exactly what the Pretty surgery had done to her, she has to face a choice that will change her life forever.  As this story unfolds, the Specials seem to be one step ahead of The Smokies and Tally as a Pretty.  She has to continue her journey and take chances that she never wanted.  She also falls for Zane, something she never thought would happen especially while she was in the Smoke with David. 

I enjoyed this book very much.  The first book in the series was action packed from the beginning to the end, where Pretties started fairly slowly.  It took me the entire first section to get used to the change in Tally Youngblood’s inner voice.  The audience knows from the end of Uglies that she changes to a Pretty to be the guinea pig of the cure.  

The ending took a turn that I should have expected but didn’t.  She has a confrontation with David in front of Zane and it brought up some very interesting feelings within me.  I couldn’t believe how wrapped up I was in this girl’s love life.  She had to make a decision and I was horrified and relieved in how she reacted to the situation that was before her.

I’m about to start Specials.  I wonder how Shay is going to be a player in this next book of the series.  I wonder if they will change Tally to a creepy Special and how this storyline will play out with the Zane and David love triangle.  There’s only one way to find out… Keep Reading my Friends!

Anyone Normal is Ugly

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

I loved this book.  From the very beginning to the very end I enjoyed the journey that we went on with Tally.  I loved how she introduced us to the uglies and the pretties.  Uglies starts with Tally completing a “trick” that no Ugly has ever completed before.  She went to a Pretties party.  She really went to find her long lost best friend Peris who not so long ago was ugly too.  Since he moved to New Pretty Town and became pretty himself, she has been lonely and just wanted to see him.   During this trick she meets Shay.  Shay isn’t satisfied with the status quo and is not excited about surgically becoming pretty like society has deemed necessary.  This starts the domino of Tally’s life when all she ever wanted was to become pretty and live her life the way she is supposed to.  The question becomes, what are they changing when their patients are under the knife?     

Ok, so now I’ve lost all of my readers in my intro paragraph.  Here’s the deal.  The book was very good.  As my readers know, I love young adult fiction and this was sci-fi –ish, which I love as well.  Therefore, with all of the times I saw other bloggers praising this book, I decided to read it and I’m glad I did.  Of course I got it from the library, but the next book in the series was unavailable and I bought Pretties, the second book in the series at Half Price Books (love that store!).  I plan on getting the rest of the series from the library and of course I will keep you posted on how they are going. 

My favorite character in the book is Tally.  I loved how she was such an incredible character that has all of these great attributes and she cannot see them for herself.  David comes into her life and shows her all of these great abilities that she has and how she can use them for the greater good and she can hardly believe it herself.  I enjoyed the relationship that developed between David and Tally.  He was sweet to her and got to know her even though she couldn’t understand why he would even care with her still being ugly.  Of course disarray takes place and they are separated from family and friends and their relationship grows stronger during this time.  When the crap hits the fan, will he want to stay with her?  I guess we won’t know until the next book.  Keep Reading my Friends!