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Title: Specials
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publication date: 2006
Book's setting: The ~Future
Random facts: Third book in a series of four.
Plot summary: Tally has spent the last month under the knife, becoming a Cutter for Special Circumstance. That means that basically she is a human weapon. She is smarter, faster, and more dangerous than any other Special. She and her fellow Cutters are trying to locate New Smoke for Doctor Cable, but when David captures one of the team their plan begins to unravel. Tally and Shay turn to Zane, weak and crippled from the lesions cure, in order to track down New Smoke and get Fausto back.
Favorite aspects: I was really happy with this book. Everything I thought was missing from the previous two was addressed in this volume, mainly the other cities and the international politics under the lesions system. Specials had a much broader scope, the world that Westerfeld created finally felt three dimensional and real because he finally showed me the big picture. Also Zane was wonderful. I really love that boy's character, he's so unchangeable and constant. Surrounded by characters like Tally and Shay who have had so many surgeries they hardly know who they are anymore, his consistent compassion and sweetness was a breath of fresh air.
Least favorite aspects: I know Tally is a special snowflake... literally. But still, Westerfeld! She's not a frigging god! I was a bit disappointed that after everything Tally had done to free her world from their crazy mind control government, she immediately had to prove that she was still superior and would be watching them for failure. The New System had barely got started before she decided she would be the secret Special Circumstance. I understand that it is because of her surgeries- she is still smarter and faster than everyone else... but it made the freedom a bit anti-climactic. The pessimism about the future set in before anyone could even decide what that future might be.
Other works it reminded me of: The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau; The Giver by Lois Lowry.
Sadie's merciless break-down: So I was pretty happy with the way that the series panned out. I guess Tally and David will go live in the forest and raise lots of free children or something. The only thing that bothered me was the Cutters. The concept of the Cutters worked really well in his dystopian society, but it made me a bit uncomfortable sometimes. Cutting is a serious problem within youth culture today and I don't think he took it seriously enough in Specials. It was a clever plot device and he certainly didn't celebrate the concept of self-harm, but it was a bit too nonchalant. I've never done anything like that, nor do I know anyone who cuts, but considering the audience of the Uglies series I'd have thought that Westerfeld might have been a bit more sensitive.
I'm not saying all teens who read ya sci-fi would be cutters, obviously. But given the amount of people reading these books I'd bet some of them do. He made it seem almost... glamorous? Obviously it was glamorous when Tally and Shay were under the influence of the Special Circumstance surgeries, but Westerfeld didn't justify it later. It didn't really bother me too much, but I think it probably seriously bothered someone else.
Recommendation rate: Now that I finished the core three books, I'd say it's worth reading if you're into futuristic society and politics.
Title: Pretties
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publication date: 2005
Book's setting: The ~Future
Random facts: Second book in a series of four.
Plot summary: Pretties picks up only weeks after Uglies left off. Tally has undergone the surgery and in the process has forgotten almost everything about her life in The Smoke. But her new life as a Pretty isn't as simple as she thought it would be. In her first weeks with the Crims she meets Zane who seems to have a much clearer mind than his peers. When a boy from The Smoke shows up with the cure for the lesions Tally decides to share her secret with Zane. Now the two of them need to find a way to keep the Crims, and all the Pretties, bubbly long enough to escape to find David and his mother and the rest of the cure. Only Dr. Cable and oddly enough, Shay, stand in their way.
Favorite aspects: To be honest I think I liked this one better than Uglies. In the first book the whole idea of the Pretties wasn't very developed... and you just started thinking of them as idiots. A book where the vapid, beautiful ones are the heroes... now that's just a bit more original. Seeing Tally and Shay (who we already loved as Uglies) in their new Pretty bodies gave the entire society more depth and took away the hesitations I had about the Uglies. I also enjoyed the fact that Westerfeld didn't punish Tally and Shay for getting surge, even after they were essentially cured. That definitely helped break down the pretty-and-dumb stereotype the first book only very nearly escaped.
Least favorite aspects: The Pretties' lingo got tiring after a while. In a way it was a strong way of establishing a culture for them that would be immediately identifiable for the reader... but my brain got tired of reading "crim" and "bubbly" and "bogus" and "surg" and "pretty-making." The lingo that the Uglies and The Smoke has in the previous book were much less offensive to my brain. Also Zane and David were awesome foils, but turning them into an over-blown love triangle took away from their individual personalities and storyline.
Other works it reminded me of: The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.
Sadie's merciless break-down: I've never read a dystopian novel I loved unconditionally. When you're playing with dystopias you're playing with sensitive and complicated subject matter and you're just doomed to either be too heavy handed or offensive somewhere in your plot. Even the Ember series had it's flaws. (DuPrau, I love you, but give religion a break. For like, two seconds. Please.) All this aside, Pretties handled it's subject matter with utmost care. Perhaps it would have been an even better book if Westerfeld let his guard down and got gritty, or perhaps it would have just been awkward.
Anyway, now I am going to point out something that annoyed me in Pretties that wasn't substantial enough to be filed under "least favorite aspects." One of my big pet peeves is when teen novel authors say their characters "cursed" or "swore" instead of using real words. Westerfeld did it a few too many times in Pretties. My entire body tenses up when I see it written. Dear authors of the world, you have options: Man up and throw a few fucks in OR substitute for less offensive words OR just make cursing a non-issue. (The only time I am okay with seeing the word "swore" in a book is when Riordan does it. Simply because it brings amusing images to mind of Percy screaming strings of profanity.)
Recommendation rate: You obviously shouldn't read it if you haven't read Uglies, it's a sequel dependent on the first one. If you like dystopian lit then pick up Uglies first. If you like that one then try this.
Title: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publication date: 2005
Book's setting: The ~Future
Random facts: First book in a series of four.
Plot summary: Some three centuries in the future all of humanity is broken into stages. When you're born you are a Little, just a cute kid. Once puberty sets in and everyone looks awkward and strange you become an Ugly. Uglies have to wait around till their 16th birthday, at which time they undergo full-body surgery to turn them into a Pretty. The purpose of all this is to make the world uniform, to stop racism and jealousy and eating disorders. It's supposed to make everything fair. Your imperfect body and face are enhanced to make the most perfect you possible. Pretties age with grace, undergoing two more surgeries as they age to help keep them fresh and attractive, and die at ripe old ages without much outward deterioration. Tally Youngblood is in the home stretch, just months before her big surgery, when she meets Shay, a girl who doesn't want to be pretty. Days before their surgeries Shay runs away from the city, defying her culture and government. Tally is sent out by Special Circumstances to find Shay and the band of rebels that she'd hiding with.
Favorite aspects: Somehow Westerfeld manages his touchy subject matter with care, despite the "YA Lit" label he seems to have adopted. The writing isn't anything spectacular but it's not distractingly bad either. The characters are where he shines, as well as his subtle references to incredibly sensitive topics like anorexia, racism, and beauty as something that can be measured. I don't really know how he made it work so well without shocking or offending me, but he did.
Least favorite aspects: I think that this would have been a better novel if Westerfeld had gone further. Although it isn't as annoyingly "teen" one one would guess by looking at the cover, there was a lot of unexplored territory that he could have dove into if Uglies had ended up under General Fiction or Science Fiction/Fantasy instead of YA Lit. Not that I LIKE my books full of sex and violence, but it avoided some issues I think should have naturally come up considering the subject matter.
Other works it reminded me of: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau.
Sadie's merciless break-down: I didn't want to like this book. The concept looked kind of dumb and the cover blinded me with the ~TEEN FICTION~ glow. Despite countless recommendations from friends and trusty internet comrades I didn't want to read it. Mid-December I ran out of books to read and reserved it from the library. It must have gotten lost or something because it finally appeared in the library two months later. Too make matters worse the library sent me a large-print copy which meant I had to hold the book about two feet away from my face and turned the page every few seconds. But then something really awful happened. I liked it. It felt similar to the moment when I realized that I actually loved cheese after spending a decade mocking cheese-lovers. (Just roll with me here.) Anyway, I really liked it.
I've never been insecure about my own body, but many people I love struggle with body image which created a sort of hyper-sensitive switch in me. I hear anyone talking too decidedly about what diets and body shapes are healthiest or what sort of face is prettiest and I climb onto my soap box. I guess I thought that Uglies would rub me the wrong way because it dealt with all of that stuff I hate. Westerfeld managed to get me to genuinely sympathize with both sides of his story. I think that's rare when dealing with the question of whether or not beauty is subjective, biological, or even important.
Recommendation rate: If you like a good dystopia then definitely give it a try. If you're not fond of sci-fi in any way shape or form... don't bother.
