Review: Extras by Scott Westerfeld

Extras

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Publication Date: October 2nd, 2007

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Genre: YA/Dystopia/Romance

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Synopsis:

It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is in a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of "American Idol." Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules. As if being fifteen doesn't suck enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451,369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. But Aya doesn't care; she just wants to lie low with her drone, Moggle. And maybe kick a good story for herself. Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secretive of it. Aya wants desperately to kick their story, to show everyone how intensely cool the Sly Girls are. But doing so would propel her out of extra-land and into the world of fame, celebrity...and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for.

My Thoughts: So here I am with the fourth book in the Uglies series and I unfortunately have to say that I didn't like this one nearly as much as the others and found it to be a little disappointing. It wasn't a bad read, I did like it but it didn't have that same drive and fight that the other ones had. It was missing the umph I have come to expect from this series.

First of all it wasn't told from Tally's point of view this time. And while that's an understandably OK thing to do in a series, change the POV,  was upset about it. I have my reasons, one of them being that Tally was getting so kick ass and awesome and I was not ready to let her go yet. Not only did we have to leave Tally behind just as she was finally discovering her real self but we got a very mediocre replacement. Aya fuse was a lying, manipulative, petty girl. She would admit to herself that she would say what needed to be said so she could get what she wanted. Not the kind of hero I had grown accustomed to and definitely not making me feel better about losing out on Tally.

We didn't completely lose out on Tally, we do get to see her. But when we do everything about her and the old characters we had grown so attached to everything is so cryptic and a lot is left unknown about their present situations and what they've been up to. And that might be OK as well if I knew there was going to be a sequel for us to catch up with them later. But considering this book was released in 2007 I don't think that is going to  happen.

Which brings me to the next thing that bothered me. If this book is supposed to be the last in the series as it would seem to be, I'm really not positive, it didn't really have a nice final ending. We didn't get any closer or finality that we need to move on to a new series. It's like all those characters are just sitting there waiting behind the curtain for the next show to start and we're all waiting out here in our seats but nothing is happening.

I didn't overly enjoy the new city this story takes place in. A place where the main goal is to be as popular as you can no matter what you gotta do to get there. Not my cup of tea. Although it does give a kind of taste of what our own social media is coming to, I get enough of that in my real world, I don't need to re-experience it in a book.

All I seem to have done here is talk about why I didn't like this book. But it wasn't all bad, I did have an alright time reading it, I just felt it to be a poor addition to the series and not the best book for the ending of a series either. But it wasn't slow or boring, it had good surprising plot twists, and some decent suspense. But I guess this one just wasn't for me. I wish the series could have stopped off on a better note.

Review: Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Specials

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Publication Date: May 3rd, 2011

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Genre: YA/Dystopia

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Synopsis:

"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.

My Thoughts: The ending to the previous book, Pretties, left us with a mega cliff hanger. You can find my review for it here. Luckily, Specials picks up very shortly after where Pretties left off!

As per usual, Tally's world is in a spin of madness and constant change. She presently finds herself exactly where she has never wanted to be. She is now a member of the Specials. Which are like the rest of the pretties, only cruel and hard, and made to be used as weapons. Her and her, now friend again, Shay are members of a special division and are made as a pet project by the ever evil and maniacal Dr. Cable.

So once again, Tally is brainwashed into believing that this is exactly where she wants to be. But she is fortunate enough to have people who are willing to fight to get the real Tally back. Although this time it definitely proves to be the biggest and hardest fight yet. There was a lot of loss and sadness and violence in this book compared to the others. I found it to be darker and more matured and even more harsh than the previous two.

Not much time is spent in Tally's city this time. We spend most of in outside and far away from the borders. Everything is changing, and rapidly thanks to a city that chooses not to uphold the same laws of division and beauty as Tally's. As a member of the specials it is Tally's duty to take out this new threat. And she sets out to do just that, but everything changes once you are out in the wild. Tally encounters many people and events that change her outlook and have her questioning her orders and her choices. But even with these developments it is increasingly hard to get by what she has been programmed to believe.

Things seem to be heading in the direction I was ultimately cheering for, but I am sad about what had to happen for it to go that way. I was surprised by so many things throughout the course of the story. And I have to say that that is one thing I do really love about this series. Is you can never ever predict what is going to happen next. There are so many twists and turns and surprise developments, it keeps you on your toes and keeps the pages turning.

I would recommend this series for sure. Especially to any Dystopia fans, I think you would definitely enjoy it!

Review: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Pretties

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Publication Date: May 3rd, 2011

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Genre: YA/Dystopia

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Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts: I know I'm writing a review here for the second book in the series, without having written one for the first. I am honestly not even sure how that happened. But I forgot to write up a review for it so it didn't get put into my schedule and now it seems like too late to go back. I like the book to be pretty fresh in my mind when I write up my reviews. So anyway, I'm going to start here on book #2 in the Uglies Series.

I definitely enjoyed this book. I liked it even more than the one before it. And that is something that I love in a series, and doesn't come along too often. When each installment exceeds it's previous one. This is a very good thing! It is a little bit odd though, because this book didn't really have as much action, or the same fast pace. It wasn't as active or emotional either. But I did feel that we got to learn a lot more about Tally. And that is another thing I adore in a series or any book. Character growth and progression. I love to watch characters change, grow and adapt. And Tally is definitely doing a lot of all three of those things.

So Tally is right where she originally always wanted to be. All everything seems just ducky and perfect until a very surprising visit from an old friend. That's when memories start to return to Tally, and she is fighting her hardest to find out what she really wants. To fight against what she has been conditioned to want and how she's essentially been brainwashed to behave. And that is even harder than it sounds!

We are introduced to a brand new love interest for Tally. And I still find myself quite conflicted with this new development. I really loved David, and he seemed like such a fantastic match for Tally. He was the one who changed everything for her, who opened her eyes and mind to the world around her. But once she was taken away from The Smoke and made into a pretty, she lost her memories of David and she found Zane. She definitely has good reasons for liking Zane as well and they did go through a lot together. Not that anything seems set in stone, I will keep cheering for David ;).

And that's the way it is with this book. Nothing is for certain. Things are constantly changing. Environments, people, lifestyles, and most definitely thought processes. It makes for a pretty great read. It's fun to keep up with and keeps the reader very well engaged.  I would definitely recommend this series, and I am already looking forward to reading #3.  The ending left me in a very shocked and scared place so I definitely need to find out what comes next for Tally. The plot never stops surprising me.

Hopefully I will remember to write my review for #3,  and please forgive me for jumping ahead in the series haha ;).

Teaser Tuesday (60)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by  MizB at Should Be Reading

To Participate you:

-Grab your current read

-Open to a random page

-Share two 'teaser' sentences from somewhere on that page

-BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS

This week's teaser comes from:

Pretties

Author: Scott Westerfeld

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Teaser:

With Peris in her arms, it didn't feel like the party was going to suck, or that anyone was going to vote against her. His big brown eyes beamed down inro hers, and he lifted her up and squeezed her hard.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Uglies. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next now that Tally is a pretty!

Teaser Tuesday (58)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by  MizB at Should Be Reading

To Participate you:

-Grab your current read

-Open to a random page

-Share two 'teaser' sentences from somewhere on that page

-BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS

This week's teaser comes from:

Uglies

Author: Scott Westerfeld

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Teaser:

Tally had lived her whole life within sight of the river. Slow-moving and dignified, it defined the city, marking the boundary between worlds. But she'd never realized that a few kilometers upstream from the dam, the stately band of silver became a snarling monster.

My Thoughts: This story has an interesting concept about dividing people until they are old enough and then making them all eye-pleasing. They say it's about stopping prejudice and creating equality to end fights and people being put down. But you have to wonder if there is some other motive behind the curtain.