![]() ![]() Westerfeld incorporates many aspects of adolescence-obsession with body appearance, the use of "cutting" to make oneself "feel something," a sense of a sharp divide between those who are "pathetic" or "random" and those who are special-and creates a potent metaphor for the prison that adolescence can be. I can see the appeal of Tally's double transformation, from ugly to pretty and then to Special. As a result, while I hesitate to pan it outright, this is a book I can't really celebrate for its pristine quality. Although it eventually coughed up a story that might be better even than Uglies', I remain wary about its themes. I persevered, poked and prodded at it, begged it to impress me, but it adamantly refused. It fell flat, in a quiet, unassuming sort of way. On the other hand, it is still not as good as Uglies. On one hand, it was much better than Pretties. I am ambivalent about how Specials concludes the original Uglies trilogy (yes, I know there's a fourth book, and I shall even read it one day). ![]()
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