Specials (2006) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 0 stars

“I am currently on page 132 of Scott Westerfeld’s Specials, the third book to the series that started with the Uglies. It was a pretty frustrating read to be honest, because Tally, the main character, changed almost too much compared to the previous series. Her entire mentality had been altered from the Special surgery, and as a reader, knowing what kind of characters she had before, and also just witnessing how ignorant and egocentric she turned out in this novel irritated me. After the surgery she’d always look down upon everyone else in the society, even David – her old boyfriend who stayed an Ugly after he turned 16, which is extremely abnormal in this society. She is “disgusted” to see his ugly appearance (64). This is a significant change, because it illustrates how Tally lost the ability to look beyond simple appearance, and examine the inner beauty of minds and personalities. Although I was aware of the surgery and its impacts, it still frustrated me to watch Tally stuck in that state without any improvements for almost one half of the entire novel. I wouldn’t really recommend this novel to anyone. It didn’t have the sophisticated thoughts and ideas as the previous two novels, and I personally was just irritated with it the whole time.
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• Rated 4 stars

“It was good. Wrapped up rather nicely for the most part.”

• Rated 0 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.”

• Rated 3 stars

“i miss david”

• Rated 5 stars

“This is the third book in the Uglies series. In this book, Shay and Tally have become a part of Special Circumstances, the authority in the city. However, Shay, Tally and their group, the old Crims from New Pretty Town, are part of Dr. Cables' "special specials". The group is called the Cutters and is designed to live in the wild. Shay and Tally make it their mission to hunt down the old Smokies, especially David, their leader. When the Smokies trick them with all of their new equipment, the Cutters follow some escaping Pretties to "the Smoke", which happens to be a city called Diego. In Diego, the authorities see Specials as weapons because of their body structure and they attempt to "despecialize" Tally. When Dr. Cable starts a war with Diego, Shay and Tally try to end it.

This book is very interesting and has many twists that will keep the reader hooked. The development of a distopian society where Shay and Tally live is greatly expanded in this novel and the reader is able to learn about outside cities and their motives. It is a great book to end the series and must certainly be read along with Scott Westerfeld's Uglies and Pretties. This book is also similar to Delirium and Matched.

A delicious quote from this novel is, "They couldn't see how maddening death really was, how colassally pointless in every way." ”

• Rated 3 stars

“My favorite quote: “From now on no one rewires me but me.”
Tally
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, and breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally has never been ordinary. And now she has 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 is assigned the mission of stamping 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 is programmed to complete.”

• Rated 4 stars

“I really like this book... except for the ending! All I can say (without spoiling the ending) is that I wished what happened to Zane would have been different. I think that young adults would really like this series. It is a great mix of adventure and romance. I read through the book quickly. It made me grateful that I can make choices for myself... even if bad things can happen because of my choices and the choices of others.”

• Rated 5 stars

“My favorite book out of the trilogy!”

• Rated 5 stars

“It was nice to see her as a specials, and feared by all! I seriously love this series of books! A must read for anyone!”

• Rated 5 stars

“Extremely addicting series. This is the cultivating last book to the story of Tally Youngblood and her journey. Bittersweet yet perfect!”