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A review by phoenix2
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
3.0
Extras is not a Tally Youngblood story, but she appears in it. It takes place in Japan, where the economy is based on popularity. Aya Fuse wants to become famous by "kicking" a story that will attract everyone's attention, just like her brother, Hiro. So she goes undercover, and she stumbles on a very "kickable" story that will make her famous but also set her in danger.
To be honest, I liked Aya better than Tally. Tally was a great heroine and one of my favs in Uglies, but in Extras she is hardly relatable. She is, in fact, kind of unlikable. Aya is sweet and I think and many people can relate with her, as she wants to be famous and be noticed for once. In a society that your status is uploaded on social media, Aya is closer to us than Tally; the first is a teen who struggles to find her own identity through others, the second an older teenager who had her momentum and now is saving the world. The story itself is okay, though the meanings that it gets through, like celebrity status and growing up are better than the actual story. The action isn't that great, and, to be honest, I've got a little bored by it towards the end. Speaking of which, the ending wasn't that good either, though Aya did develop as a character. Lastly the romance. Okay, I have to admit that, although I love Westerfeld's writing and consider him a great author, he just can't write romance. It always feels awkward in the end. I think the best he did was with Tally and Zayn, but Tally and David and Aya and Frizz seemed to luck chemistry, and the romance was underdeveloped.
Other than those two facts, that cost the book two stars, Extras was a great book. I like that the author gives us food for thought through his teen adventure stories and characters that one can easily fall in love with and relate to. So, three out of five
To be honest, I liked Aya better than Tally. Tally was a great heroine and one of my favs in Uglies, but in Extras she is hardly relatable. She is, in fact, kind of unlikable. Aya is sweet and I think and many people can relate with her, as she wants to be famous and be noticed for once. In a society that your status is uploaded on social media, Aya is closer to us than Tally; the first is a teen who struggles to find her own identity through others, the second an older teenager who had her momentum and now is saving the world. The story itself is okay, though the meanings that it gets through, like celebrity status and growing up are better than the actual story. The action isn't that great, and, to be honest, I've got a little bored by it towards the end. Speaking of which, the ending wasn't that good either, though Aya did develop as a character. Lastly the romance. Okay, I have to admit that, although I love Westerfeld's writing and consider him a great author, he just can't write romance. It always feels awkward in the end. I think the best he did was with Tally and Zayn, but Tally and David and Aya and Frizz seemed to luck chemistry, and the romance was underdeveloped.
Other than those two facts, that cost the book two stars, Extras was a great book. I like that the author gives us food for thought through his teen adventure stories and characters that one can easily fall in love with and relate to. So, three out of five