Specials (The Uglies #3)Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Public Library
Challenges: For the Love of YA, Library Challenge
372 pages
"Tally thought they were a rumor, but now she's one of them. A Special. A super-amped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid. But maybe being perfectly programmed with strength and focus isn't better than anything she's ever known. Tally still has memories of something else. But it's easy for her to tune that out --- until she'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."
This was an excellent conclusion to The Uglies series! It wrapped up the whole story nicely but still allowed the readers mind to create imaginations about what may have happened. I hear there is a fourth book for this series called Extras... Not sure if I'll read it - it might mess up my good feelings and I hate to part with Tally's story.
Tally was alright in this book. So we all know the sequence of events right? First she is an ugly -> then a Pretty -> and yup you guessed it, a Special. It is a neat thing because we get to see our main character, Tally, in three completly different situations. And we see how she changes and how she acts. She didn't get on my nerves to often this time (yay!) and I am happy to say that she definitely made it to her goal and matured! Well at least, finding out who should should be. I still wanted to slap her sometimes though, just to try and make her see through the lesions (part of the operation when becoming a Special: it changes your attitude and mind.) Some characters certainly suprised me though! And I cryed when one event -will not mention who or what for spoiler reasons- took place. (Reviewers note: I must say though that Tally handled that pretty well, if I may say so). Oh and I am happy to announce that the love triangle does not stay a love triangle; yes, she does end up with one guy who I am very pleased with! Also, Shay - Tally's best friend, I found she changed in this book. In the beginning you kind of, well, don't like her or at least I didn't. But at the end she was a good friend. The characters really pulled it through and made it an entertaining read!
The plot was interesting to say the least. But you probably know (or experienced) frustration when the character is thinking about events and tells you all this stuff when you really just want to yell "Go back to the scene, I want to know what happens!!" Well, I experienced that a few times in this book. The events kept it interesting though. Expect gasps along the way! It moved along nicely and the ending wrapped up the loose ends. It wasn't a picture perfect ending which I liked. In real life that just doesn't happen so if makes it more realistic.
I would recommend this to people who have either started this series or who like futuristic, fast paced, romantic books. I really enjoyed this series and am happy to say that I read it!
Excerpt:
The six hoverboards slipped among the trees with the lightning grace of playing cards thrown flat and spinning. The riders ducked and weaved among ice-heavy branches, laughing, knees bent and arms outstretched. In their wake glowed a crystal rain, tiny icicles shaken from the pine needles to fall behind, aflame with moonlight.
Tally felt everything with an icy clarity: the brittle, freezing wind across her bare hands, the shifting gravities that pressed her feet against the hoverboard. She breated in the forest, tendrils of pin coating her throat and tongue, thick as syrup.
The cold air seemed to make sounds crisper: The loose tail of her dorm jacket cracked like a wind whipped flag, her grippy shoes squeaked against the hoverboard surface with every turn. Fausto was pumping dance music straight through her skintenna, but that was silent to the world outside. Over its frantic beat Tally heard every twitch of her new monofilament-sheathed muscles.
