The third and final in the main Uglies series. Tally and co return again this time as Specials. There is still tension between Tally and Shay, but it is surpressed now that Shay is the leader. They are still trying to stamp out the New Smoke and Tally is keen to get Zane to join their team to make him better after the events in Pretties. The Specials are fighting machines, they are Cruel Pretties designed to instil fear into others and were created by Dr Cable just in their city.

Shay leads the Crim group in a chase of the Uglies, but they capture Fausto leaving Tally alone to save Shay. They take Shay too and Tally decides to follow them and ends up meeting up with Andre Simpson Smith again to get coordinates. It takes her on a journey to the New Smoke and another city. She learns the truth finally and gets involved in a war.

A great conclusion to the story. I was glad it didn't have a completely happy ending, it was quite a realistic series despite the sci-fi elements and this made it more so. I am interested to see how Extras fits in as the story closes quite nicely. ( )

http://tyranist.blogspot.com/2009/10/... ( )

The third book in this now 4 part series starts off fairly weak but ends very strongly. Tally is now a "special," a super-human with scary-pretty features with unimaginable strength. She belongs to a secretive group of the specials called "Cutters," who are known to cut themselves to feel "icy" i.e. clear-headed. When she and her friend Shay (also a cutter and also her boss) break into a weapons archive and accidentally cause it to be destroyed, they inadvertantly declare war in a society that hasn't had war exist in hundreds of years.

When the book started, I wasn't as in love with it as the previous two. Perhaps I wasn't fascinated by Cutters like I was with Uglies and Pretties. However, after the destruction of the weapons archive, the book picks up steam and becomes thoroughly engrossing. Can't wait to read the 4th book! ( )

The is my favorite so far of the four book trilogy - it's less of a romp and more, well, ugly. Tally is pretty isolated in this book and doesn't have too many warm fuzzy moments. The ending is a little cheesy though. ( )

Sixteen year old Tally Youngblood has had the surgery that has made her a part of the elite and extra-special clique, the Cutters. The Cutters have superfast reflexes and strength—and sport frightening “surges” making them look more fearsome than the regular agents of the secret police, Special Circumstances. Tally finally fits in but she still feels like something is missing. She soon finds herself struggling between what the City has made her to be and what she once was, now buried deep under all of the surgeries and manipulations. ( )