by Scott Westerfeld
(Third in the Trilogy: Uglies, Pretties, Specials)
Tally Youngblood is back for the final volume in the Uglies trilogy. This time around she is dealing with her status as a Special (as in Special Operations). But there is nothing special about the way this girl thinks or acts. Basically, she unknowingly starts a war and spends her time pining for Zane, her boyfriend who is still just a Pretty bubblehead. Does this girl have problems, or what?
Essentially, this is just all plot and no characterization. There is no meaningful dialogue and no self-actualization. To me, this is a weak conclusion to the series. The beginning is all sci-fi novel, no YA novel. Needless to say, I was very disappointed in this weak third volume. Read Uglies and leave it at that.
9/9/06
2 comments:
I just read Uglies, with great anticipation, and then a few yawns. This book was praised so highly, and I found it so tame. Exciting action, but no characters I could get a handle on, and little genuine feeling. They all seemed kind of teflon-y (Why yes, that IS a word).
Did you like the first novel better?
Uglies was my favorite, but I have to agree with your assessment. Teflon-y indeed!
Mostly, I object to the lack of true character development--isn't the point of YA lit to create a character with whom young adults identify?
I guess what I liked was the concept of uglies and pretties.
Check out my reviews of Sue Limb's Girl books. The first one is hilarious, and I recommend it.
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