Review: "Specials" by Scott Westerfeld

Specials (Uglies, #3)
by Scott Westerfeld
Published: April 15th, 2006
192 pages
I give it:

Description: 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.

My Thoughts: Although I did enjoy the third book in this series... I just can't help but compare it to the first two: "Uglies" and "Pretties". To be completely honest, it just didn't measure up to the first two in the series. Hence the 3 star rating. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good book, but I guess I just expected a little more from it. Maybe my expectations were set to high?

I found the plot to be a little redundant. I feel like we've heard this story before. Tally in the wild, looking for "The Smoke". I also found Tally to be very unlikeable in this book, which I am sure is for good reason, but it still made it a little difficult to read.

I also wasn't fully satisfied with the end. I actually thought it was a bit abrupt, and let's face it, sometimes the end of a book determines how well you like the entire story!

So, if you're considering reading the Uglies series, I definitely encourage you to do so! The first two books were fantastic!