Specials is the third book of four from Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series. When this book starts out, Tally has been transformed into a Special – one of the Special Circumstance team that guards their city from threats. Specifically, threats from the New Smoke – a group of people who live in the wild and are against the form of control that the cities have over the people who live there. Tally enlists the help of Zane, her boyfriend from the previous book (Pretties) to find the New Smoke and stop them from giving everyone the cure for the brain legions that are making everyone into mindless drones.

However, like in the other two books in the series, Tally manages to overcome the rewiring the city has done to her mind, begins to think for herself again while she is tracking those going to the New Smoke, and starts to question whether what the city has done to people is the right thing.

I have to say that it’s a little frustrating to have Tally always revert to her belief that what the city has done to her has made her better than she was previously, that what they do is right. Very frustrating to get all kinds of awesome character growth and then go back to the beginning. But, at least then we get to see Tally start to think for herself in every book, and it does make her stronger in the end with every passing book.

While I did enjoy the first two books in the series, I definitely enjoyed Specials moreso. It’s definitely worth reading them just to get to the last third of this book, which was totally awesome. Totally. It has some seriously great butt-kicking moments, which reminded me a little bit of something you would see in a comic book. Starting from the moment Tally walked into Diego, I loved every single second.

The Bottom Line: I’d definitely recommend this series to fans of scifi and dystopian fiction – and not just those who enjoy YA books. It definitely gives you something to think about, and it’s got a lot of everything in it (from action to a bit of romance).

Here’s the thing, though. This series was originally meant to be a trilogy. Then there was a fourth book written. But the third book ends so well, with so much closure, that I don’t think I’ll be reading the fourth one. I’m happy with where this series has ended for me, and I don’t feel the need to delve any further into the Uglies world.