AUTHOR APPRECIATION WEEK 2: SCOTT WESTERFELD: Uglies

Specials by Scott Westerfeld



My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"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.GoodReads





The final chapter of the Uglies Trilogy finds Tally once more transformed. Due to Shay's actions Tally is now a Special Circumstance. She is also part of a Special group of well, Specials! The Cutters. It is eerie to see in the early chapters how much Tally is transformed. She now calls Shay "Boss". The special upgrades give her a crisp perspective on the world. She is cold and brittle yet remembers everything about her past.



She is also bonded to the Cutters through their "skintenna" this allows her to talk directly two them and makes there emotions accessible to her. The form a strange, alien hive mind. It is when Tally is alone that uncertainties plague her.



While investigating an Ugly party Tally and the Cutters run across a group of Smokies delivering the Pretty Cure to a bunch of Uglies. Giving chase Tally discovers that David is among them and an action packed chase begins.





These early chapters are exciting and do a great job of reintroducing the reader to Tally's world. More than the prior books Specials spends a lot of focus on Tally's thoughts and emotions. Scott also does a great job updating the situation of the Smokies. They are now extremely organized and are curing thousands of Pretties.



Tally and Shay discover that Zane, recently released from the hospital but still brain damaged, is actually a part of the Smokies plans. He is aiding the Crims in schemes that are poised to destroy Pretty society.





Shay comes up with an idea to use Zane's connections, as well as destroying the Smokies for good. Shay manipulates Tally's love for Zane offering her the chance to make Zane a Special. Tally agrees since her new Special senses make Zane appear to her as a shadow of the man she once loved. Seeing Zane again brings her more confusion than clarity and Shay ponces on the chance to manipulate her and act outside of Dr. Cable's plans.



From this point on the book lost a little focus for me. As Tally once again disobeys Shay to keep an eye on Zane, a big chunk of the book is devoted to the journey to the Smokie hideout Diego.



Shay has been an increasingly pathological character in the series and yet when tally finally arrives at Diego she is cured of her Specialness and wants to force the cure on Tally as well.

I also missed the character of David in this book. He has brief parts and though the ending was satisfying it seemed a little rushed and tied up a little to neatly. the final chapter though, Tally's manifesto is well done and shows many of the characteristics I liked about this character.





























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