A thrilling third book in the Uglies series. I will admit, I sometimes got frustrated with this version of Tally's single mindedness. I was glad to see a return of pre-Pretty Shay and the continued insistence of informed consent for the procedures. This would've been the perfect ending to the series, but I am excited to read Extras to see how different the world is in the years after the events of the Specials. ( )

Adolescence

Poor Zane he was definitely one of my favorites. The book ends like it’s the end of the series. ( )

There is somethig about clarity that can't be argued with. ( )

I was a bit less impressed with this one in comparison to the first two books of the series, as it felt really rushed and underdeveloped. More like a bridge from the earlier storyline to whatever is coming after. It was still entertaining, but I'm hoping the last of the series packs a little more punch and has a little more depth! ( )

Good ending of trilogy. ( )

This series just kept getting better. Tally has once again undergone another round of surgeries to make her Special. But not just any Special, she's Super Special - a Cutter, one of Shay's band of renegades withing Special Circumstances.

It seems that Tally never really got to choose who she was going to be throughout these books. In this one she finally comes into her own and uncovers a secret the world is hiding from the people of her hometown. Lots of shakeups and excitement in this book, as in the others, but Tally comes into her own and has to decide who she wants to be. The ending is brilliant.

Loved this series and highly recommend it! ( )

I enjoyed the first two novels more than this one. I didn't like Tally as much in the third novel. I also didn't care for the ending. The author should have just finished the series versus hinting to a future book. ( )

I do enjoy the story told in this series but I wasnt as fond of this book. I thought the treatment of what is essentially the only disabled character in the series to be appalling (intentional or not) and felt like the focus of what was important should have been more on the societal issues than the environmental ones.

Personal note, there is a lot of self harm happening in this book and I found it pretty triggering. ( )

Tally has finally become Pretty, but beneath all the fun is a nagging sense that something is wrong. Then a message from her ugly past arrives and she remembers what's wrong with Pretty life and the fun stops cold.

I love this series. I can't decide if this one or Uglies is my favorite. ( )

teen science fiction/dystopia. 3rd in the "Uglies" series, each installment functions as its own separate story (no need to read them all, or in order), set in the 2300s after the "Rusties" (a.k.a. 21st century culture, a.k.a. us) have apparently warred themselves and the environment to death. I found the world-building to be lacking, the limited vernacular to be overused to the point of banality, the characters not-so-compelling, and the whole set-up remniscent of the unkindest parts of high school. I think I much prefer the action/airship series "Leviathon," and probably would not even have finished this one had it not been a quick read that satisfies a requirement for our teen summer reading program (2 books down, three to go). ( )

DNF ( )

I would highly recommend this series (4 in all) to anyone who likes a little bit of sci-fi every once in awhile, especially the type that is a couple of hundred years in the future and shows how mankind could possibly turn out. All three books I have read so far are very thought provoking, exciting, and keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. I have read each one of these books in about a day. ( )

I wasn't sure how I felt about this whole series, but I'm pleased with this third book, and with the ending. It seems right. Looking forward to reading Extras. ( )

It was a bit tricky to get into in the beginning but towards the middle it began to pick up and by the end I was hooked. The ending was unexpected, but a great way to end an awesome series. Completely awesome book and a great read. Bummer about Zane though. ( )

I almost wanted to go back and re-evaluate the first 2 parts. I realized what it is that bugs me in these books. Tally really doesn't have much of agency. Things just kind of happen to her and all cute/smartest/coolest guys just fall for her for no reason. You never really learn anything interesting about the characters and basically the same story is told 3 times in the 3 books. I think what kept me reading was the style which kept things going, but I would say this was more of a plot driven (vs. character driven) book, but even for that there wasn't enough of a plot. Or maybe I think there really can't be a good plot, if the characters are not good. Also The whole David/Tally/Zane thing just seemed really forced and I didn't feel that there was any true feeling with either of the boys. And in the end, I just didn't like Tally very much. I would've loved to hear more about Shay, I thought she was much more interesting. ( )

Third book in the series. It is pretty much the same story as the first 2 books in yet another guise, but still fun for a vacation read. This time, our heroine has become an Extra, with superhuman strength, hyper-senses, and built-in connection with her troop of "ultimate warriors". With her boyfriend lost to her, she tries to focus on her job and new life, but new information rocks her world again, unlocking new battles, both internal and external. ( )

I like the idea of these books, but this one was just not as good as the first two were. The same ideas and events seemed to recur as did in the second book. It wasn't until about 200 pages in did something interesting and different take place. There were also several instances of which were very confusing as to what was happening. ( )

This is one of those cases where the star rating has little to do with the quality of the book/writing and everything to do with my reactions to the characters. I made it through the first two books because I was so curious about the fascinating world Westerfeld created. But I had to force myself to even finish this one, and it's all because I really, really loathed Tally. Her motivations and attitudes, her reactions and voice, everything just grated my nerves down to shreds. I wanted to reach into the book and throttle her. Which meant that I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes and grumbling under my breath as I read. I'm sure the people around me thought I was kind of crazy.

I found myself wishing that we could read this book from Shay's perspective because even when Shay acted stupidly I found myself sympathizing with her.

I didn't hate the story, there were even moments where I really wanted to know more about the cities and the social structures. And I wish I could feel differently about Tally, but I tried and it just wasn't happening. It's a testament to Westerfeld's writing that I might still read [b:Extras Uglies 4|493456|Extras (Uglies, #4)|Scott Westerfeld|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eZ85LAZfL._SL75_.jpg|3315797], after thoroughly despising this book, just to see where the world goes now. ( )

If you loose everything and become the thing that everyone fears, are you capable of relearning what it means to be you, and will those who once one your side be patient enough to forget the worse that you've become. ( )

On the reread, I liked this book better than the one that came before it. This may be due to improvements such as – less time devoted to camping in the woods, and not just rehashing the first book.

It still didn't match up to my fond memories of it.

Overall, I don't think the plot of the entire trilogy made much sense. It all hinges on some connection between brain structure and chemistry that I don't think Westerfeld properly worked out himself. On the one hand, Tally can "think her way out of" being a bubbleheaded pretty, and the same with being a special; but on the other hand, some mysterious chemical "cure" changes people's brain chemistry such that they break with the habits of a lifetime (or at least the part since their pretty operations)... and stage an entire continent-wide revolution.

The "cure" is explained even less well than in the last book, too; at least that time there was something about "lesions" making people bubbleheaded, that "nanos" can eat to cure the affliction. Okay. But then in this book, we learn that Tally's experience of thinking her way out of bubbleheadedness has inspired Maddy to change her cure design. So what does it even do now?! If Maddy's been inspired to let people think their way out of their brain configuration, that makes it sound like her new "cure" is just a placebo. But it's clearly not, because countless specials receive a cure against their will that changes the way they think... against their will.

So, I really don't understand what we were meant to take away about brain structures and personality and so on there. It just seemed inconsistent and considering it's what the entire plot revolves around...

There were other plot holes, too. For instance, I do not believe that the Crims would be recruited to this elite, secretive force known as Special Circumstances and never seem to be under any kind of supervision of any kind, ever. They're just free agents doing their own thing, and "their own thing" turns out to involve destroying the city's armoury in a massive chemical disaster. Seriously? Dr Cable didn't think to monitor her pet projects a little better? Considering the way the trilogy depicts her as this master manipulator who's always three steps ahead of everyone else, this is perplexing.

And her demise, as I suggested, is pathetic.

Then the book seems very muddled in the message it's trying to send about human nature. The book specifically declares that human nature is to be selfish, and it suggests that human nature is to pursue endless growth until the destruction of the world. "Rusty civilisation" (our civilisation) serves as a warning throughout the series of the dangers of endless, unsustainable growth, but then in this book it seems that the first thing humanity does when in possession of their own minds is resort to environmental destruction. Which is why the last two pages is about how Tally and David are going to become the "new special circumstances", and try to stop that. But again... seriously? Two people are going to single-handedly save the environment of an entire continent? Sure, that is so believable.

And as well, it ends up giving the impression that the very regime Tally just overthrew had the right idea – human nature is to slowly commit mass suicide, so you'd better keep them pacified for their own good. I think when I first read the series, I loved the apparent moral dilemma. Now, I'm not so sure.

Another seeming contradiction that crops up is the glorification of cutting, after the first book spent so much time preaching about how horrible all our modern stress over body image is. Like... I don't understand why you would preach and preach about body image and how everyone should feel comfortable in their own skins, but then glorify cutting. They just seem like two sides of the same coin (or two sides of the same dice... I'm sure there are lots of similar issues), and considering this trilogy seems to aspire to impart a moral lesson to pre-teen, or perhaps young teenage readers, it doesn't seem very good at it.

In the end, I am really undecided as to whether to give this two stars or three. I did like this book better than the previous one (which I rated two), mostly for reasons of pace and structure, which were much improved. But then the plot made a lot less sense, so ratings-wise I think that evens out. It's a reasonably fun read, just kind of nonsensical.

I'm still planning to read the "bonus" book, Extras, at some point in the near future; I didn't actually read that one when it first came out so it'll be something new, at least! And hopefully an improvement, although, maybe I won't expect too much from it. ( )

Specials is the third book in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies trilogy. In this book, Tally and her best friend, Shay, have been transformed into Specials and made a new division of Special Circumstances called Cutters. This is a task force intended to hunt down and eradicate the New Smoke - their former friends. But try as she might, Tally can't completely get rid of her fondness and love for the people in New Smoke or their cause. So she is left to decide: embrace her new life as a Special and kill the New Smoke people or find away to take down the regime in charge of her City and start a new way of life for everybody.


I keep expecting the novelty of these books to wear off but it never does. These books are well written, fast paced and intriguing. Tally is a girl that is easy to identify with and to want to be. I had seen these books around the bookstores for a long time and thought they looked good but I never made that leap to picking them up and reading them. Thanks to the Books on the Nighstand reading challenge and the Bart's Bookshelf reading challenge for giving me the incentive to finally pick them up and read them. I'm glad I did. ( )

The tone of these books gets a little darker here...Tally definitely doesn't have an easy time of it.

More than ever, Tally is changing from the inside. Now a ruthless Special, she and the other perfectly-designed hunters under Dr. Cable's direction are off in search of the Smoke. Rumor has it that the Smokies are up to something huge, something that may threaten the structure of the cities that Tally is now sworn to protect.

But inside, Tally is still at war with her mind. She still loves Zane, but his growing sickness and disapproval of the Specials is pushing her away from him. And she still struggles with memories of the time she fought the will of Special Circumstances and tried to throw off the oppression of the Uglies/Pretties/Specials hierarchy.

In the end, it will depend on whether or not Tally will find the strength to rewire herself one more time, without the aid of nanos or friends. So she and Shay will attempt one last mission, one that may kill them both, or end the tyrannical reign of the Specials forever.

It is a sad, painful, twisting journey to follow Tally, and my spirits definitely took a beating. But all does not end badly, and there is indeed hope for everyone by the weary but satisfying ending of this book. ( )

l gave this book three stars mainly because most of the book I was rolling. my eyes at Tally. I think out of all the books so far she's been more naive in this one. I didn't like it that Zane died. and I think it was a little creepy that Dr. Cable helped Tally escape. But I do think its good that Tally has chosen her own life path and has chosen to be the "wilds" protecter, and that it ended with her and David being friends. ( )