Reviews

Specials by Scott Westerfeld

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abbielizabeth13's review against another edition

5.0

Re-read #3! It is interesting taking these in back to back which is not how books are designed to be read. I'll need to look into the history if the series, but this also felt like an ending. Yet there's still one more book. Very Eclipse to Breaking Dawn energy. The end was a bit anti climactic but still enjoyable all in all!

des17's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

katie_reader_rose's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

jurassicreads's review against another edition

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3.0

I felt that Tally's personality was dramatically different in this book in comparison to the other 2 that preceded it. Of course, Tally has undergone another operation that has altered her mind and her perception of the world, I feel that her view of everything from the mind of a 'Special Special' is a little too condescending. I feel like most of her original personality (even though it was annoying in its own way - worried, flighty) was stripped away to make room for this novel.

In addition, I feel that despite her supposed love for Zane, she simply doesn't feel as strongly for him as she did in the previous book. Her operation to become a Special is also to blame for this, but the deterioration of their relationship throughout this novel was heartbreaking and I feel almost unnecessary. I found myself asking 'why did she not freak out this much over forgetting/losing David?' I feel as if the author found Tally and Zane to be more fitting than Tally and David, although, personally, I found her relationship with David to be much more solid than that with Zane...

Lastly, this book is kind of frustrating because it revolves mostly around Tally, Tally, Tally. Of course it's written from her point of view, like the other two novels, but for the majority of the story she is alone either in the wild or elsewhere. In addition, despite her surgery to become part of the 'Cutters Cult,' I feel like she is still very separate from everything. I feel like the fact that she was constantly separating herself and feeling detatched was very frustrating, as if her butting heads with everyone and any opposing opinion kept her from reaching a perhaps much faster conclusion.

milkshop's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.5

gretchenplz's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It wasn't a bad book. It was just the exact same formula as the first two. I'm happy with (seemingly) the conclusion to Tally's story, but I think there are still some things to be resolved.

Content Warnings