Author: Scott Westerfeld
Genre: Dystopian/Sci-Fi
Page Count: 372
Publication Date: September 2007 (first published May 9th, 2006)
Publisher: Scholastic
Source
*WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
Specials by Scott Westerfeld is the third and final book in the Uglies trilogy. This book follows Tally Youngblood's journey as a dreaded special. Specials are the equivalent to our modern day police. They have razor-sharp teeth, body modifications to make them lethal, and extremely high-tech technology. Dr. Cable has finally managed to turn Tally into a special so she can use her for her own purposes. As members of Special Circumstances, Tally and Shay must hunt down the New Smoke and stop them from curing the pretties. This book is action-packed, delivers a significant message, and is an excellent conclusion to the trilogy.
First of all the story was action-packed. The beginning of the story starts off with Tally, Shay, and Fausto, the Cutters, running after some members of the New Smoke, a group of people who choose to live in the wild instead of living in the luxurious city. This opening scene instantly hooked me. Both the Cutters and the New Smoke were using a technology, called a sneak suit, to blend in with their surroundings so one couldn't see the other. As I have mentioned before, I love this technology! Also, throughout the story Tally and Shay are on a wild chase to capture the New Smoke and stop them from curing the pretties. During this journey, Tally tries to get over her ex-boyfriend, Zane, and move on to become a better special. I found this part very annoying. Tally was constantly watching Zane and questioning his wellness. She kept telling herself that she didn't need him but deep inside she really did. I kept thinking to myself,"Get over him already! Do what you need to do, you don't need to be so obsessed with him." Besides that, I liked how Tally went through, yet another, stage of finding her true identity during that adventure. I don't know why but I really love seeing characters build into fantastic people. Additionally, I enjoyed the city of Diego. I found it interesting how the people living there were constantly changing their style and trying out crazy fashion trends. I was really enthralled by the scene where Tally was locked up by the Diego doctors. I was in suspense to find out Tally's fate and how she was going to get out of the situation. In addition, I thought it was unrealistic that a small prank that Tally and Shay pulled could start a huge war between cities. I know that Dr. Cable took advantage of the situation to create the war, but in reality I don't think that people would be so stupid to go into waging a war. The war, however, was interesting to read about.
Secondly, the story left an important message. The story ended with Tally defeating Special Circumstances and ending the rain of brain damage. Tally and David leave a letter behind stating that they don't think that anyone needs them to do the saving anymore and that the city civilians shouldn't be completely free because "freedom has a way of destroying things". I really appreciated the ending because it shows that people don't need to be dependent on others to do all of the heavy lifting for them and that people are fully able to survive and thrive on their own. I also believe that the phrase "freedom has a way of destroying things" is true because if you leave the population with no set of rules or laws and let them run free, they will find a way do stupid things and endanger the people around them. Also, the whole trilogy centers around how outer beauty is more important than inner beauty which is later proved false. This dystopian city gives everyone plastic surgery and messes with his/her brain when they turn sixteen to make them "pretty". Later on in this last book, Tally stops the city from doing this operation to prove that the world can survive without cosmetic surgeries and brain-dead people.
All in all, this book was excellent! The story was very action-packed and left a significant message for readers. I am sad that this trilogy is over but I am looking forward to moving on the companion novel Extras. I recommend this series to people who like stories about alternate realities and science fiction.
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