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Rachel King (13 KP) rated Extras (Uglies, #4) in Books

Feb 11, 2019

Extras (Uglies, #4)

Scott Westerfeld | 2006 | Young Adult (YA)

7.4

(11 Ratings)

Book Rating

I enjoyed this book as an epilogue to the Ugly Trilogy. It resolved the one aspect that I thought was left hanging in Specials, the fate of the planet Earth itself in regards to how the current human race treated it, as opposed to how the Rusties were notorious for destroying it. I liked that I got to see how Tally and the other Cutters were viewed from an outsider with the viewpoint of Aya Fuse. In addition, the reputation economy that Aya lived in was unnervingly familiar to our own Western society of blogging, social networking, computer and television-centered lifestyles. Of the four books, I found this one the most enlightening and original, in the same genre as other dystopian literature. It seeks to reveal the truth through a piece of fiction, or as one character in the book proclaims, "I guess you sometimes have to lie to find the truth."
I did find the resolution that the Extras came up with regarding the protection of the wild to be a bit far-fetched and lacking detail and explanation - it takes much, much more to train for life in outer space than just floating around on zero-gravity attachments. The lightness with which this topic is approached in the novel does not do it justice by any means, but I had to remind myself that this is still a Young Adult novel. At the same time, this concept opens up a whole new plotline that Westerfeld could pursue in the Ugly series, should he want to, which I do appreciate.