Specials by Scott Westerfeld continues the mutatious adventures of Tally Youngblood. First she struggled to maintain her individuality in a world that forces their population to undergo an extreme kind of plastic surgery that affects both body and brain. Then she struggled to reclaim her identity when she was blackmailed into the change for the sake of her best friend.
As the third book in the series it’s very hard to read without starting with Uglies or Pretties. Specials is complicated, threading in new cities. It twists the “Pretties” surgeries back from just a bad thing to something that can be used as a form of self expression. In Tally’s life Dr. Cable forces these manipulations on people with absolutely no morality other than her own selfishness. In the city of Diego, where Tally chases her kidnapped fellow members of the elite Cutters (only to discover they’ve been kidnapped and cured based on their own living wills, made before they were forced to become Specials) body mutations are a form of expression and individuality.
Twisting a human form for violence, aggression, rage and superiority as Cable has done to Tally is unheard of. As the cities consider outright war over Cable’s actions Tally must decide if she wants another “cure” or if she’s done letting other people change who she is.
Special Tally is the hardest one to relate to. Her violent nature makes it hard to feel sorry for her as well. It’s great to finally see some expansion in the Uglies world, but seeing it through Tally’s eyes make it an overwhelming, confusing experience.
Specials is a decent conclusion to this trilogy, but absolutely, positively do not start here or you will find yourself following a mean main character and complex, confusing world.