Yes, I did have minor, minor quibbles with the beginnings of both earlier books - we were sucked so well into Tally's thoughts that some of the writing seemed counter-productive. Part of that I put down to Scott Westerfeld, and his talents of getting into his creation's mind for us. We get a lot less of Tally's own personality, and decisions, now they've been doctored so much, so this opening third is the least satisfactory part of the whole trilogy so far. As peculiar as it is to say, considering Tally has operated so much previously due to the medical conditioning she's undergone, and the will of Dr Cable and the other villains, there is too much at the opening here that sees Tally obeying orders, and being under the thumb of someone else. It's a pity we don't see this happening right from the start with this third book. It would have been a shock to see her become a Special - one of the horrid, vulpine Gestapo-type agents - and to go from there to seeing her taking control of her own choices in life, including appearance, and possibly putting her city-state to rights.
I assume, at least, however quickly they all came out, that there was a time when we didn't know before we started that the title of the books were the status of Tally.
I wish I had been in at the start with this series. The bad news is that her ugliness is a temporary disguise, and worse than that - she knows how to feel special inside, because she IS A Special. The good news is that this woman is our returning heroine, Tally. She is going to a party, looking ugly, and she knows it is not what we look like, but how special we feel inside, that is of most importance. After a teenage life as an ugly, they all undergo a welter of medical procedures, to make their minds and bodies conform to the bland, but gorgeous, society norm. In the un-named city of the future, all the adults are living in the delusion that their city is right. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books Summary: Not quite on a par with the others, but this series closer will be essential reading for many, and won't exactly disappoint.
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