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gembrose's review against another edition
3.0
This book wasn’t necessary in the series, but still added some value.
This book was my least favorite because I grew to really love the main characters in the first 3 books. I was sad they weren’t really in it as much.
This is still a great book and I enjoyed it.
This book was my least favorite because I grew to really love the main characters in the first 3 books. I was sad they weren’t really in it as much.
This is still a great book and I enjoyed it.
itratali's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
thetrashchan's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
faithtrustpixiedust's review against another edition
3.0
Once you told yourself a story enough times, it was so easy to keep on believing it.
Wow, this was kind of a big disappointment.
Honestly, the first half before Tally showed up was way better. Speshul Tally was Extra Speshul Tally sometimes and it really dragged down the story with her angry sanctimoniousness. Aya, besides that, was quite annoying most of the time, and I feel like very few people actually learned any real lessons and changed in any real, deep way; other than being perhaps a bit less fame-seeking.
Spoiler
Except that they all were famous by the end! So none of it really mattered anyway! And the whole, ~it was all just a big misunderstanding~ was way too much like those crappy Scooby Doo episodes where the bad guy wasn't evil and no one goes to jail at the end (I hated those episodes so much). Also, um, I'm sorry but stealing metal internationally doesn't seem like something that everyone would just forget about and be like, "oh no worries! you're going to space! it's totally okay for you to steal all our metal!" Also, I mean, come on. Extra-terrestrials? Really, Scott Westerfeld? That was the best you could come up with?I was pleasantly surprised with the lack of a love triangle, though. But that doesn't make up for the overall clicheness and cringiness of the love story that existed.
Man, Scott, I'm counting on you to not mess up [b:Impostors|37825397|Impostors (Uglies, #5)|Scott Westerfeld|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1523743739s/37825397.jpg|59503640]
calistacyq's review against another edition
4.0
With an interesting and entertaining plot, Extras by Scott Westerfeld is about a girl who lives in a society that has a reputation economy after the dissolution of the uglies and pretties system.
Summary: Three years after Tally Youngblood took down the system, the world has rapidly changed. 15-year-old Aya Fuse now lives in a society where popularity rules. She is an extra, a nobody, and she wants to kick a huge story to increase her face rank. Then, she chances upon something that can potentially destroy the world.
Tropes/Genres:
• dystopian
• science fiction
• young adult
• post-apocalyptic
Review: This book was quite entertaining. The setting of this book is different from the trilogy. For starters, it's set in Japan, as depicted by their family names and titles such as -chan and -sensei. Those who aren't that familiar with Japanese culture might find it weird, though, or others may think that it's some weeb revival across Tally's city. Either way, this is not Tally's city.
Aya Fuse is quite an interesting character who's clearly shaped by the way her city works. She wants to be popular and rise through the face ranks. Like many kickers, She's willing to do anything to kick a story that will make her more popular. She has a hovercam mod called Moggle, which is very cute. It feels so human-like even though it's a flying robot with a camera. Anyway, Aya can be annoying because of her obsession with using Moggle to film everything, but I also understand why she prioritises this so much. It's just how her city works!
Admittedly, this book didn't need to exist. It didn't really add any value to the main trilogy. Regardless, it's nice to indirectly see what Tally has been doing in the years following the end of the trilogy, showing readers what exactly she meant by the new Special Circumstances that protected the world from humanity's tendency of destruction.
Tally appears once again in this book, along with Shay, Fausto and David. She's still as Special as ever, given that she didn't rewire her brain back to normal, which Shay and Fausto did. She's here because this is a special circumstance, but I can't help but find it a little random even though it feels very cool. After all, this is what Tally has dedicated her life to after taking down the system and running off to live in the wild. It just begs the question of how necessary it is for this book to exist. Anyway, I still enjoyed this book; I just can't take the plot twist that seriously.
If you know, you know.
Overall, I recommend this book to fans of the Uglies series who want to see what this fictional world is like after Tally took down the system in her city at the end of Book 3. It's very interesting and entertaining.
Summary: Three years after Tally Youngblood took down the system, the world has rapidly changed. 15-year-old Aya Fuse now lives in a society where popularity rules. She is an extra, a nobody, and she wants to kick a huge story to increase her face rank. Then, she chances upon something that can potentially destroy the world.
Tropes/Genres:
• dystopian
• science fiction
• young adult
• post-apocalyptic
Review: This book was quite entertaining. The setting of this book is different from the trilogy. For starters, it's set in Japan, as depicted by their family names and titles such as -chan and -sensei. Those who aren't that familiar with Japanese culture might find it weird, though, or others may think that it's some weeb revival across Tally's city. Either way, this is not Tally's city.
Aya Fuse is quite an interesting character who's clearly shaped by the way her city works. She wants to be popular and rise through the face ranks. Like many kickers, She's willing to do anything to kick a story that will make her more popular. She has a hovercam mod called Moggle, which is very cute. It feels so human-like even though it's a flying robot with a camera. Anyway, Aya can be annoying because of her obsession with using Moggle to film everything, but I also understand why she prioritises this so much. It's just how her city works!
Admittedly, this book didn't need to exist. It didn't really add any value to the main trilogy. Regardless, it's nice to indirectly see what Tally has been doing in the years following the end of the trilogy, showing readers what exactly she meant by the new Special Circumstances that protected the world from humanity's tendency of destruction.
Tally appears once again in this book, along with Shay, Fausto and David. She's still as Special as ever, given that she didn't rewire her brain back to normal, which Shay and Fausto did. She's here because this is a special circumstance, but I can't help but find it a little random even though it feels very cool. After all, this is what Tally has dedicated her life to after taking down the system and running off to live in the wild. It just begs the question of how necessary it is for this book to exist. Anyway, I still enjoyed this book; I just can't take the plot twist that seriously.
If you know, you know.
Overall, I recommend this book to fans of the Uglies series who want to see what this fictional world is like after Tally took down the system in her city at the end of Book 3. It's very interesting and entertaining.
trin's review against another edition
3.0
The fourth, surprise volume in the [b: Uglies|24770|Uglies (Uglies, #1)|Scott Westerfeld|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1654202671l/24770._SX50_.jpg|2895388] no-longer-a-trilogy. I liked this way more than [b: Specials|24765|Specials (Uglies, #3)|Scott Westerfeld|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390340887l/24765._SX50_.jpg|3278286], the last book in the series (which I actually kind of hated). This novel doesn't center around Tally, the protagonist of the previous three books, but around a new character, Aya Fuse, who's growing up in a post-Pretties world. The Important Teen Topic Westerfeld is tackling this time is fame, not beauty, as following Tally's act of liberation, the world has evolved into one where wealth and social merit are derived purely from notoriety. In other words, Paris Hilton would still be in our faces all the time, dammit.
Like a lot of Westerfeld's work, this book is the most enjoyable if you don't think about it too much. There's a fun, exciting action plot to be had here, but the whole world kind of falls apart if you ponder it for more than five seconds. How is it that Aya's city—which is clearly not the same one as Tally's, as much is made of the language barrier later—was set up in exactly the same way as Tally's? Especially when Uglies made each community seem so wonderfully isolated? And I really don't see the logic of the post-Pretty world, as it's left at the end of Specials, evolving so soon into the world Aya introduces us to. And—but no. Let's go back to nothing thinking about this too hard, okay?
Well, first: I also have to say that I find the idea of all these teenage characters—Aya is fifteen—doing and accomplishing all of this stuff on their own vaguely ridiculous, which officially makes me too old for these books. (Part of my brain can't stop thinking, Where are their PARENTS?) But, uh. If you set all that aside, this really is a fun book! Really! And it provides a slightly more upbeat ending for Tally and David, which I really appreciate. So if you like the other books in this series—or even just the first one—this is a worthy addition. I'm much, much happier having this, instead of Specials, as my final impression of the Uglies world and these characters, and that's worth a lot, I think.
Like a lot of Westerfeld's work, this book is the most enjoyable if you don't think about it too much. There's a fun, exciting action plot to be had here, but the whole world kind of falls apart if you ponder it for more than five seconds. How is it that Aya's city—which is clearly not the same one as Tally's, as much is made of the language barrier later—was set up in exactly the same way as Tally's? Especially when Uglies made each community seem so wonderfully isolated? And I really don't see the logic of the post-Pretty world, as it's left at the end of Specials, evolving so soon into the world Aya introduces us to. And—but no. Let's go back to nothing thinking about this too hard, okay?
Well, first: I also have to say that I find the idea of all these teenage characters—Aya is fifteen—doing and accomplishing all of this stuff on their own vaguely ridiculous, which officially makes me too old for these books. (Part of my brain can't stop thinking, Where are their PARENTS?) But, uh. If you set all that aside, this really is a fun book! Really! And it provides a slightly more upbeat ending for Tally and David, which I really appreciate. So if you like the other books in this series—or even just the first one—this is a worthy addition. I'm much, much happier having this, instead of Specials, as my final impression of the Uglies world and these characters, and that's worth a lot, I think.
noabeth's review
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
thatbookishwriter's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
heathercottledillon's review against another edition
4.0
I think this is a really good follow up to the Uglies series. I enjoyed discovering what happened after Tally and her friends changed everything, although I do think it is a bit far-fetched in that the world changes SO much, in terms of values and priorities, in just a few short years. Still, I just went with it and enjoyed the story. Aya is kind of annoying at first and she doesn't grow as a characters as much as I'd like, but I really liked a lot of the other characters, particularly Aya's brother. There are some really good twists in the plot and I liked how it all ended.