Review: Extras (04 The Uglies) by Scott Westerfeld

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse (October 2, 2007)
Language: English

Cover of Extras (The Uglies)

ISBN-10: 1416951172
ISBN-13: 978-1416951179
Genre: dystopia, adventure, sci-fi

Question: How many parts are there in a trilogy?

Answer: Three, unless it is a real success. Then as many as the author feels like writing. For example four.

Synopsis:

Having commented on the fact that I am reviewing the FOURTH part of The Uglies trilogy I might proceed to the plot itself. Some two or three years after the Diego war and mind rain (if you do not understand, don't worry, it is all explained in the book) the most valuable and important thing is fame. If you are popular you can get enough merits to buy yourself a nice flat in a modern skyscraper and enjoy a popularity bubble (so a protective space around you) in the city. You might be invited to fantastic parties and your stories, published on the Internet, will get more kicks (so views and recommendations) than others, making you even more famous and richer. Small wonder in such a world everybody is a journalist or a journalist wanna-be and most people own their own flying remote control hovercams and snoop to get a scoop. 24/7. Recognition economy or Facebook on steroids - every citizen who wants to make a decent living must be simultaneously a celebrity and a paparazzi.

Aya Fuse, a fifteen-year-old Japanese girl, is tired of being a nobody (called an Extra) so she wants to find a story that can propel her face-rank to the top of the feeds - optimally boost her public name recognition above the level of her annoying but famous older brother. She has a good story on her mind and in order to find a useful footage she follows a secret group of daredevil girls who want to stay (incredible but true) unknown. Through some neat tricks of her own, she is finally asked to join the group, but as soon as it happens Aya becomes torn between spilling the story (and getting famous) and keeping the Sly Girls’ secret as she promised. Her situation is additionally complicated by finding a nice (and decently famous) manga-faced boyfriend in the process - a boyfriend who just can’t lie.

After a while Aya is even more perplexed finding that her little secret is nothing compared to what she and her new friends eventually uncover while surfing a very fast mag-lev train to a certain old mine. In short it is a thing which could spell disaster for the whole world. Aya decides to kick a story about it and now she becomes an instant celebrity but also an easy target for an unknown enemy. Fortunately the highest face-rank of them all – Tally Youngblood herself and some of her old friends– comes out of hiding and rushes to help but they all might be too late to save the world. Or they might be mistaken. Or both.

What I liked:

“Extras” is just as thrilling as its predecessors, but after reading the whole trilogy in a very short period of time (like a week) I felt already bit tired by the same old tricks. Still it doesn’t change the fact that “Extras” is also a thoughtful novel of ideas, a brilliant parody of the modern obsession with fame – this angle of the story was in my opinion the best. Westerfeld slyly shows what happens when you take the brakes off and let the market of media exposure determine your worth. Not pretty-making for sure. ;) An Asian MC was a nice idea but...ok let's pass to the section below.

What I didn’t like:

The winning formula combining high-stakes melodrama, cinematic action and thought-provoking insight into questions of human nature became a bit worn-out in this case but I bet if you read this book as a stand-alone novel (it can be done no problem) you would find it refreshingly original. Aya is a smart if confused girl but can be very annoying. After she hooks up with a group of danger-loving girls it all starts to sound a bit too similar to Tally herself and her adventures from the previous parts. Aya's romance I find the weakest link here – rather insipid overall. In the end the whole book felt anti-climatic but I admit the concept of Outer Space colonies opens up a whole new original plotline that Westerfeld could pursue in next parts of the Ugly series.

Final verdict:

This book is worth a read from any Scott Westerfeld fan, filled with interesting world building and amusing scenes, but it isn't one of his bests. Unless you are one of these people who can read books of the same author incessantly I strongly recommend taking a break between this one and the first three parts.

Review: Pretties (02) and Specials (03) by Scott Westerfeld

Reading level: Young Adult

Paperback: 384 pages, 400 pages

Cover of Pretties (Uglies Trilogy, Book 2)

Publisher: Simon Pulse; Original edition (November 1, 2005

Language: English

genre: dystopia, sci-fi, adventure

Synopsis:

 The first part of this series, Uglies, I reviewed here.
As it is impossible not to spoil if you deal with the second and the third installment  I decided to limit the synopsis to bare minimum.

In “Pretties” Tally’s story continues as she is being made into a Pretty to prove Maddy’s pills can erase brain lesions. Then bad things happen and she is turned against her will into a Special. Deep down she remains the same Tally though but it will be a rough journey till she finds it out and rediscovers herself. As you see – short and sweet and almost spoiler-free. I have a surprise for you, though.

 The full synopsis with many juicy details and spoilers galore is published on the Black Hole page linked for your convenience – if you don’t mind reading it and  you are as brave as a lion you are very welcome to go there and check it out. There will be dragons! It will stay published for two weeks (roughly) and then will be deleted. Unfortunately you can comment only here. Have fun!

What I liked:

Oh believe me I liked plenty indeed! Although the second book was not bad the third one was simply brilliant. Just be warned - if you're looking for a cliché, smooth novel with a “normal” romantic trio (if such a thing exists of course) , then you should end reading with Pretties, Specials is not for you. However, if you are searching for a fast paced novel with adventure and twist and turns of every kind, I highly recommend the third part. There's a quick pace with a helping of on-the-edge excitement that makes Specials a good choice for almost any teenage/young adult/adult sci-fi fan reader. Once you have begun, it is impossible to stop. I personally have found this to be a book you have to sit down and just read in one day.

I did like the way Tally’s story developed and especially how it ended- it was unexpected but very, very exciting and somehow right in the accordance with her character. Shay was not bad either! The ideas, creativity, imagery, and almost everything about the third book astounded me.

Cover of Specials (The Uglies)

What I didn’t like:

In the second part one thing drove me mad – the word "bubbly." It was repeated practically every page for the first two-thirds of the book showing the flatness of the Pretty world but also making my head spin. “Bubbly” was a slang version of any number of adjectives including, but not limited to: weird, impressive, exciting,exhilarating, fashionable, cool, cute, interesting, smart, happy, buzzed,  daring, rational, thrilling, shocking, good, intelligent, trustworthy, rewarding, conscious, smart, riled up, cognizant and so on. Quite a lot of possibilities, isn’t it? Another such a “master key” word (but not abused so outrageously) was “bogus”. Apart from that it seems that Westerfeld spent more time developing a romantic relationship in the second book than in having his characters engage in adventure. In my very humble opinion it’s a pity as adventure is his main strength. Fortunately it was corrected in the third book.

The cover of Pretties is the worst of them all either btw - I totally don't get it!

Final verdict:

Rare thing – a series with a good, strong beginning and equally strong ending. Highly recommendable!!!

Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Cover of Uglies (Uglies Trilogy, Book 1)

Reading level: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon Pulse (February 8, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0689865384
ISBN-13: 978-0689865381
genre: dystopia, sci-fi, adventure

Synopsis:

Welcome to a dystopic vision of the future, a world where everyone gets a very advanced operation that makes them pretty when they turn sixteen. In fact more than pretty – far beyond a stunning supermodel . They get new, extra-white ceramic teeth, wider eyes, different irises, healthier, perfectly smooth skin, fuller lips, even a new set of bones if there’s such a need. All free of charge and according to the formula of aesthetic attraction written in our genes by biology - all the things we instinctively look for in a potential perfect partner. The new pretties leave dorms at Uglyville and move to New Pretty Town to get new nice apartments, meet other pretties, attend parties and have fun. What could possibly be wrong with that?

Surprisingly not everybody wants to have the operation. Sometimes different Uglies run away, usually into the ruins of the Rusties--the civilization that existed before, the one that chopped trees and burned oil and laid down steel and concrete, and tinkered with the natural resources in an abominable way until finally people outsmarted themselves and became the civilization that exists now, divided not into the rich and the poor, the smart and the stupid but just into uglies and pretties.

Tally Youngblood, the main heroine, will soon turn sixteen, the age she's been waiting for her entire life. She is impatient because her best friend, a boy called Peris, has already been turned into a Pretty and he hasn’t sent her a ping or a line ever since. One day Tally sneaks to see him but it doesn’t go well and she must escape jumping from the roof. Returning to her dorm she meets a girl called Shay who is one of those Uglies who don’t want to have an operation. Shay sneaks Tally out at night and shows her the ruins of an old amusement park, and tells her of a friend called David she has met out there that takes runaway Uglies to a hidden place known only as "The Smoke." Shay decides to run away, she visits Tally one more time to convince her to come with her. Tally refuses, but Shay leaves a cryptic rhyming note in case she ever changes her mind.

When she's picked up and taken to her operation, though, there's a sudden problem. Because of that Tally learns the world is more than Uglies and Pretties. A third set, a population of beauty that is beautiful but also advanced, intelligent and cruel is called the Specials. They police the entire place through a barely-believed organization known as Special Circumstances. They've been monitoring the runaways for some time now and have decided they want "The Smoke" to disappear and all its denizens returned. One of the Specials, Dr Cable, blackmails Tally into betraying Shay and sends her on a mission to find The Smoke. Until Tally makes the journey and activates a special tracking device to alert Special Circumstances, she will never be made pretty. All other twists in the plot force Tally to continually lie to her friends making of her not only an unwilling secret agent but also a traitor. What will be her decision at the end? Will she still be willing to become a Pretty? Do the doctors change just your appearance or maybe it's more serious?

What I liked:

To be honest I must say I simply loved the idea behind this book – finally somebody dared to show young (and not so young) people that great looks might become a blight and a problem. With the rising popularity of cosmetic surgery among teens who want to undergo the knife to fix physical problems at increasingly early age such a story is simply too precious to be missed.

What’s more the world building in this novel is great and the plot – as fast-paced as I like. I devoured this book in two days (I had to take breaks) and I was never bored. Part The Matrix, part Brave New World and part The Wave, Uglies is the first installment of a very intelligent trilogy. It does more than deliver pulse-pounding adventure, it also forces introspection into the way we perceive ourselves and others in the modern world.

The main heroine, Tally Youngblood, is a nicely conflicted character which develops quickly from a gawky, naïve teenager into an almost adult. I felt drawn to her and could relate to from the start after she decided that the perfect sky over her perfect city was the colour of cat vomit, providing that the cat was fed salmon – a great way to show that deep inside she was a perceptive, intelligent girl, even though for others she was just a little Ugly.

The cover is catchy. Perhaps not very original but catchy nevertheless.

What I didn’t like:

In general Westerfeld's writing is so accessible that sometimes I couldn’t help wondering if he intentionally lingered on certain things just to cater to a younger audience. Secondary characters were rather flat (e.g. David's immediate infatuation with Tally grated a bit) but I hope it will change in next parts of the series. Also the names of some of the places presented in the book could have been a tad fancier: "Uglyville" and "New Pretty Town" are a bit too obvious, aren’t they?

Final verdict:

A very fresh story, simultaneously funny and frightening, which includes some serious questions about our world and its crazy ways – in short a great read!

Teaser Tuesday, 11 January

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

Here are the rules: Grab your current read. Open to a random (or not so random) page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I didn't intend to do it this week but as I happen to read something good I couldn't restrain myself from participating in this meme again. My teaser comes from "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld. I got so excited because the book deals with the topic I featured in one of my "Thoughtful Thursdays" some time ago - beauty and its influence on us. Here is the quote (a bit long but really worth posting) :

The big eyes and lips said: I’m young and vulnerable, I can’t hurt you, and you want to protect me. And

the rest said: I’m healthy, I won’t make you sick. And no matter how you felt about a pretty, there was a

part of you that thought:If we had kids, they’d be healthy too. I want this pretty person….

It was biology, they said at school. Like your heart beating, you couldn’t help believing all these things,

not when you saw a face like this. A pretty face.

A face like Peris’s.

Cover of Uglies (Uglies Trilogy, Book 1)