Specials (Uglies #3) by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Specials
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies #3
Published: April 15, 2006 by Simon Pulse
(372 pages, paperback)
Summary: "Special Circumstances":

The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor — frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary.

And now she's been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.

The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.

Still, it's easy to tune that out — until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.

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My thoughts: The conclusion to the Uglies trilogy (Extras is really unrelated to the original story arc) is the most action-packed, fast-paced, making-your-heart-beat-faster book of the series. Tally has undergone yet another operation and is now a 'Special'. Along with now having super-advanced abilities, reflexes, and looks, comes a whole new vocabulary. I loved the words and phrases that Specials use ('staying icy' was my favorite) and I think Westerfeld has been outstandingly creative with his new vocabularies and expressions. The Specials are freakishly unfeeling and amazingly powerful (in more ways than one) and I loved the changes. Even though I liked Tally best as an unaffected Ugly, Specials provided a whole new look on the futuristic world set in the series.

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Shay's been on my bad side since she turned into a Pretty; however, I love how Westerfeld has changed her with every book, morphing her from the free-thinking, independent Ugly she once was to a vice for the government. The character development is kind of breathtaking when you look at how these characters started and how they are by the end. I liked the re-introduction to the characters from the Smoke, and even though I thought it was a little forced that there would be a 'New Smoke,' the story line was still original and dangerous in a whole new way. Okay, so, spoiler alert for the rest of this paragraph: I love, love, loved Zane, from the first page he was introduced on. I'm not gonna lie; I cried a lot when he died; I have to admit to having hated Tally for her cold response to him early in the book. Westerfeld, though, did a fine job of showing Tally's remorse at her superficiality and her cold behavior around him. I think the fact that he died made it more thought-provoking to show how their society has caused so much destruction.

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The writing wasn't particularly great, but it served its purpose; I liked the way Tally's narrative changes with her physical changes. It made it more realistic, and it made the changes in her more apparent. Also, its great how her feelings and emotions weren't totally buried under her new personality; her old emotions still showed through in certain parts of the writing. Also, it was written in a fast-paced way that made it quicker reading and cut straight to the chase throughout.

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Tally was still a great protagonist; even when you think she's going to give up, go home, forget all of her rebellions and just let her society get the best of her, she gets back up and rebells some more. The story line was little bit jumbled by the point in the series, but Westerfeld did an alright job of tying up to loose ends from both Uglies and Pretties. Despite the craziness going on and the complicated side stories, the series ended on a manageable, almost hopeful note. Specials wasn't my favorite of the series, but it wasn't a bad novel by any means, and it was still a thought-provoking, frightening look on what society could one day become. It was an action book with a little bit of romance and deepness sprinkled in.

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Covering the Cover: This cover was my favorite of the series. It's simple and breathtaking and displays the Specials perfectly.

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 4.5/5

Writing: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 4 stars

Pretties (Uglies #2) by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Pretties (Goodreads)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies #2
Published: November 1, 2005 by Simon Pulse
(370 pages, paperback)
Summary: Gorgeous. Popular. Perfect. Perfectly wrong. 
Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.
But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.
Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.

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My thoughts: I was utterly captivated and hooked by this series during Uglies. And Pretties did not disappoint. Tally, a newfound Pretty and living the life she used to dream of having, has simultaneously forgotten her original mission of saving Shay. While she's busy partying and forgetting all of her worries, she meets Zane. And Zane is way more than he seems at the surface; he's actually a bit of a rebel, besides being gorgeous and programmed to fall in love with the new, gorgeous Tally. I have to admit, I fell in complete and total love with Zane. He was such a dare devil, and he really loved Tally from the start. Anyways, as Tally becomes more and more rebellious with Zane, she makes a dangerous decision that will possibly cost people their lives, and change all of the characters' lives--Uglies and Pretties alike--for good--again.

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I've heard people say that this series went downhill from Uglies. I cannot disagree more; even though Uglies remains my favorite in the series, Pretties was interesting, dangerous, and edgy in a completely different way. The world Westereld has written is fascinating and eerie in its so-called 'perfection.' While Tally is being submitted to the all-encompassing society that doesn't want her to remember anything about her past life, she faces all new challenges to not only save her friends, Peris and Shay, but to regain her old spirit and memories. Even though I was all for David and Tally in the first book, I couldn't help but want her to be with Zane; he was different and related better to Tally; he was in her situation, and he wasn't afraid to face the challenges set before them. Pretties was different in a lot of ways from the first book, and I loved the changes in scenery and characters.

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The society Tally lives in wants her to forget; when we start Pretties, she already has. But with the help of Zane (and, unknowingly, David) she gets a grip on the reality that she is no longer her own self; she is being controlled (again) by the Specials and by the society that wants her to be just like everyone else. Maybe my favorite part of this book was Zane, and probably because even though he had no help from outsiders or Uglies or from anyone, really, he managed to find himself again, and think his own thoughts. While Tally grows weaker in mind and spirit in this book, her friends grow stronger. I loved seeing more of Peris, too, even if he wasn't the boy Tally used to love like a brother. I missed the friendship Tally and Shay had, and I'll admit it seemed really kind of strained throughout the book, it added an extra element that was great.

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In the end, Pretties added a lot of dimension to the story, and while the end made me cry a lot, I was still captured by how dynamic and amazing Westerfeld's world is. This book drew out more questions without answers and problems without solutions, and when I was done with it, I just wanted really badly to read the next one. I really connected with these strange, futuristic characters, and their complicated world is so interesting that I could read about pretty much anything from their society and be interested in it. The writing isn't always great; a bit simplistic, but because of the powerful story line and intriguing, deep characters, I found that I cared less and less about the format of the book, and more and more about what was happening and going to happen. Definitely recommended to any fans of the series and to YA readers in general; make sure to read this series if you haven't yet. It might not be too deep, but it is extremely diverse and different from any other fiction series out there, at least that I've come upon.

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Cover: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Writing: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars

Uglies (Uglies #1) by Scott Westerfield

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

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Since I just re-read The Mortal Instruments series and I'm currently a new book away from starvation, I've decided to re-read another of my favorite series. Uglies is a dystopian novel (there seems to be a lot of these in YA lit recently...) about a society where everyone is considered ugly, until they turn 16, when they have the pretty operation, their only jobs being to party and continue the human race. Enter Tally, an average 15-year-old, anxiously awaiting her birthday, where she will join her best friend Peris in New Pretty Town, where he's already a 'pretty'. Enter Shay, another 15-year-old who isn't quite sure she wants to join the pretties on the other side of the river. As their friendship grows, Tally discovers Shay doesn't intend to ever have the pretty operation and when she runs away, Tally is accused of aiding Shay in her escape. The 'specials' that take Tally tell her she must find Shay and betray her in order to have her operation. Well, the premise is confusing, and one of my complaints was the lack of explanations until quite late in the story. But I absolutely loved the story line. And Westerfeld has a real knack for descriptions. So much is happening in this book that you almost miss all of the in-depth descriptions of the scenery. My favorite part of the book was the riddled poem Shay leaves Tally to find her, and in my opinion, the first half of the book was the best, as Tally travels across  beautiful landscapes that humans have long-since abandoned. This series takes place several centuries in the future, and i appreciated the history given, since so many futuristic books skim over the details of how/why society has changed so. The second half, once Tally has found the rebels' encampment, was great, and I was most definitely in love with David. The whole book was great in general. The only other big complaint I had was that there was a startling lack of adults in the futuristic world; I get that they were separated, but it still seemed odd that there were practically none in New Pretty Town or Uglyville.

4 stars and a recommendation to fans of dystopian societies and futuristic science-fiction.