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Genre: Sci Fi Main characters: Tally, Shay, Zane Time and place: Dystopian future First sentence: The six hoverboards slipped among the trees with the lightning grace of playing cards thrown flat and spinning. Summary: Ever since first meeting Dr. Cable the thought of Special Circumstances sent shivers down Tally’s spine. But now she is one of them, a super-capable fighting machine, nearly indestructible and with all the senses ramped up. At last she feels like she is in a place where she belongs. But there’s one cloud up in her sky: the thought that Zane is not with her. If only he’ll prove capable enough to impress Dr. Cable, who’d then agree to turn him into a special too… But Zane’s brain is still affected and his motor skills aren’t by far what they used to be (or what they should have been for him to be able to impress anyone). What is Tally to do? |
Ever since the first few lines Tally reminded me of Bella in Breaking Dawn: too strong and too close to supernatural for me to identify with/relate to her anymore (just think about it, spectacularly enhanced senses, improved speed, ceramic unbreakable bones and… internal software? really??). Add to that the fact that her mind has been messed with again and you’ll probably guess that I didn’t “click” with Tally, nor cared too much about her for most of the book. Actually, the only main character I did like and whose future I was quite interested in was Zane — I found him to be quite the hero, fighting to overcome his disabilities (and truly despised Tally seeing her reaction towards him). As such, I was very sorry that he got so little “screen time” (since the storyline is following Tally around not him; but I would have loved to know a lot more).
Speaking of Tally and Zane, I think that one of the book’s greatest faults is the lack of a plausible struggle. Tally is way too strong now for any of her difficulties to be truly believable (she does have some moral dilemmas but either the author didn’t insist on them or I did not care, but they never touched me the way the first book did). Zane on the other hand, is at a difficult time in his life, trying hard to escape the city despite his vulnerability, dreaming of “repairing” Tally and not giving her up despite the awful way she treats him.
There are still some common plot lines between the three books, but less with this one than in the previous two. For example, the intrigue: in the first two books, Tally starts out passionately wanting to belong to a superior group, and everything she does later is based on it; in this one Tally is already part of a powerful clique, but she starts out by wanting Zane to be a part of it too (and mostly everything she does later is based on it). As in the first book, Tally goes out to find Smoke, ready to betray everyone so that she’ll get the operation she so much wants (in Uglies, her becoming pretty, in this one, Zane’s becoming a Special). But, as in all three books, Tally is changed by the very fact of her being alone in the wild; and yet she ends up to blame for the bad things that happen to the new Smoke yet again.
Which is probably why I liked the books less and less — the first one surprised me in a good way, because mostly everything there was unexpected, and Tally was at her most “relatable” point back then (prior to having any operations). The second book was a lot less surprising since many of the events were “recycled” from the first book — but I could still relate with some of what Tally was going through. While admittedly this book was less predictable than the rest, the fact that I didn’t care about Tally didn’t help at all. At this point I am fairly certain I will probably never read the fourth book, Extras, especially as it seems that the old characters and issues have been replaced with new ones (a fact that, to be honest, can be both a blessing and a curse — and yet I am so not curious about it these days).
What I liked most: The fact that the author has taken into account putting in place some sort of coercive measure so that people won’t end up like the Rusties, destroying everything else around them. I would have worried about it (or rather laughed at him for not thinking of it) if he hadn’t, and so I was happy to find out that he did (though I do doubt the efficacy of the measure).
What I liked least: Icy !!! What’s wrong with these people and repeating words?? If the second book left me with a dread for hearing the words “bubbly” and “bogus” ever again, almost the very same thing happens here with the words “icy” and “random” (mostly “keeping focused” is “staying icy”, just like “staying bubbly” before; and “that’s so random” whenever something unpleasant happens, just like something being “so bogus” in the previous book). Ugh. Oh, and I wasn’t particularly happy with all the talk about people cutting themselves either :|
Recommend it to? Anyone who read the first two books and is curious about what happens next :)
This book is a sequel to:
Uglies
Pretties
Written by the same author:
The Secret Hour
Touching Darkness
Blue Noon
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