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A review by anautummbison
Specials by Scott Westerfeld
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I read the first two books as a kid, but my school library didn't have this one. Every few years I've tried to track it down and failed for various reasons. I'm so disappointed that this is the book I've been chasing for like 16 years.
Uglies holds up pretty well and Pretties is enjoyable, but Specials was just bizarre. It feels like Tally isn't a character so much as she's just this blank slate example of surgeries with a different personality in every book. This one was barely tolerable.
There isn't really any character development at all and what little there is for side characters seems really weird, like Maddy's total change of heart. It was annoying to see Shay and Tally's relationship used and abused once again, especially after the events at the end of Pretties. I feel like Shay's actions don't make any sense and morph to fit whatever weirdness is happening to Tally. It's like she has no real character either, which is frustrating because I enjoyed her in Uglies.
Using self harm for "icy feelings" (essentially clear thoughts/increased awareness) makes me super uncomfortable. I'm honestly relieved I didn't have access to this book as a teen because it would not have helped my own struggles with self harm. The sections that discuss the cutting aren't super graphic, but it was enough to make me a little queasy and very disturbed. The way the books describes the cutting is just vile. It really glorifies it. The book does talk about how awful the cutting is, but I don't know. The way it was all handled made me deeply uncomfortable. It gave the impression that Westerfield was trying to convey how damaging self harm is, but I don't think he was able to get that across. Maybe it came across better when it was published, but it doesn't hold up in 2024.
I did like that this book showed a bit more of the whole world and the cities outside of Tally's. The government/history/decision making feels weird in all of the books, but this one added context that helps a little. I do still have a lot of unanswered questions about how society got to this point.
Uglies holds up pretty well and Pretties is enjoyable, but Specials was just bizarre. It feels like Tally isn't a character so much as she's just this blank slate example of surgeries with a different personality in every book. This one was barely tolerable.
There isn't really any character development at all and what little there is for side characters seems really weird, like Maddy's total change of heart. It was annoying to see Shay and Tally's relationship used and abused once again, especially after the events at the end of Pretties. I feel like Shay's actions don't make any sense and morph to fit whatever weirdness is happening to Tally. It's like she has no real character either, which is frustrating because I enjoyed her in Uglies.
Using self harm for "icy feelings" (essentially clear thoughts/increased awareness) makes me super uncomfortable. I'm honestly relieved I didn't have access to this book as a teen because it would not have helped my own struggles with self harm. The sections that discuss the cutting aren't super graphic, but it was enough to make me a little queasy and very disturbed. The way the books describes the cutting is just vile. It really glorifies it. The book does talk about how awful the cutting is, but I don't know. The way it was all handled made me deeply uncomfortable. It gave the impression that Westerfield was trying to convey how damaging self harm is, but I don't think he was able to get that across. Maybe it came across better when it was published, but it doesn't hold up in 2024.
I did like that this book showed a bit more of the whole world and the cities outside of Tally's. The government/history/decision making feels weird in all of the books, but this one added context that helps a little. I do still have a lot of unanswered questions about how society got to this point.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm