Title: Specials
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Ideal Age Range: Young Adult
Mass Market Paperback: 372 Pages
Copyright Date: 2006
Blurb: 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.
My Rating:(★★★) Specials is Scott Westerfeld’s third book in the Uglies series that stars the 16-year-old Tally Youngblood as the main protagonist. She is now a part of the elite group called Special Circumstances, a force that is meant to scare and keep the younger Uglies and Pretties in line.
This story starts off slow, which is how I remember the first two books beginning as well, so it was no surprise for Specials. I knew that was how I felt about the previous books so it didn’t really bother me very much at all, I knew it would get better, and so it did. It kind of amazes me that not much can happen within the first 70 or so pages, and then the story ramps up and gets exciting. This could be considered a negative of Mr. Westerfeld’s Uglies novels, but I think it’s only a minor flaw, and certainly one that I am willing to live with.
There are more instances of action and plot points, the whole “cutting” thing made me slightly uncomfortable, but I know it actually pertains to real life issues that some teens face too, so I got over it pretty quickly. It’s actually kind of interesting how Mr. Westerfeld talks about cutting, and other teen issues like bulimia and anorexia, his books aren’t making a point about them, but is stating them as a fact, that they happen or happened in the world of his creating. It makes the characters a little bit more realistic or at least relatable to me.
The only thing that I wasn’t much of a fan of, and I don’t know if I mentioned this about the other books, and maybe it was even a positive in the other books, but this time, I found it almost distracting, was the overuse of the “interesting” vocabulary of the Specials like “icy” and when he uses “nervous-making” or similar phrases. I know that the other books did the same thing with “bubbly” and “pretty-making”.
The next book isn’t starring Tally, and I don’t know how I feel about that. I will read it, but it’s probably not up on the docket next. Overall though, Specials was a good read!
Happy reading, Peoples!
Quotes: “-be careful with the world, or the next time we meet, it might get ugly.” - Tally Youngblood, Specials.
Similar Titles: Uglies, Pretties, and Extras by Scott Westerfeld.
What I’m Reading Next: How to Beguile a Beauty by Kasey Michaels
☆«·´`·.¸★☆★¸.·´`·»☆
My Rating System:
★ = didn’t like it
★★ = it was ok
★★★ = liked it
★★★★ = really liked it
★★★★★ = it was amazing
© demureconnoisseur/ Stacy Grey
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