Book: Extras by Scott Westerfeld

Publishing Info: Published by Simon Pulse; 417 pages; hardcover

Goodreads Summary: Fame

It’s a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is in a complete cultural renaissance. “Tech-heads” flaunt their latest gadgets, “kickers” spread gossip and trends, and “surge monkeys” are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it’s all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of “American Idol.” Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules.

As if being fifteen doesn’t suck enough, Aya Fuse’s rank of 451,369 is so low, she’s a total nobody. An extra. But Aya doesn’t care; she just wants to lie low with her drone, Moggle. And maybe kick a good story for herself.

Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secretive of it. Aya wants desperately to kick their story, to show everyone how intensely cool the Sly Girls are. But doing so would propel her out of extra-land and into the world of fame, celebrity…and extreme danger. A world she’s not prepared for.

This is the final book in the Uglies series, and while I liked it, I didn’t like it as much as the other three.

I think part of it is the fact that it felt tacked on.  Like an afterthought.  I had low expectations, because the series was originally a trilogy.  Perhaps that is why it feels like an afterthought.  It certainly doesn’t feel like a part of the series.

That being said, I liked that we got to see what life was like several years after Tally took down the old ways.  And it was interesting seeing life in a different city.  And using fame and reputation to decide who gets what?  It’s an interesting concept, especially with people trying to gain fame, and what they’ll do to get it.  I almost wished that Westerfeld had focused on that, instead ending up in Singapore trying to figure out what the metal cylinders are for.

Tally was interesting in this book, because she wasn’t a main character.  I liked seeing her through the eyes of someone else.  She came across a lot harsher, more violent, and more mentally unstable than she seemed in the first 3 books.  Given everything that’s happened to Tally, it wasn’t a surprise.

And what didn’t I like?  It didn’t draw me in the way the rest of the series did.  It was slightly more boring than I expected, and the new characters weren’t particularly interesting.  I just couldn’t care about about them.

Overall, it gets a 3 out of 5.  It was well-paced, and enjoyable, but missing that something special the other books had.