Review Detail

You can consider this a bonus book in the Uglies series (an extra, if you will&sorry, I couldnt resist). While Tally Youngblood is in it, the story isnt hers. Instead, this is the story of Aya Fuse. Shes a teen living a few years after the mind-rain that Tally and her friends caused. The pretty regime is over and different cities are coping in different ways. While theres no more bubble-headedness, there are equally strange ways of life.

In Ayas city, the economy runs on social status, which is dictated by your live-feed. Even though Ayas brother is a veritable star in this new economy, shes stuck as an extra in obscurity way down at the end of the social rankings. Shes determined to break a story so big that it will catapult her to the top of the charts.

Aya does, in fact, find a story so big that it could change the world again. In doing so, she endangers her life and is wrapped in a mystery where no one knows exactly what the truth is. And this story is so big that Tally and some of her friends swoop in. A story so big that no one knows how it is going to end.

Westerfeld has written another winner and this one is particularly relevant to todays teens. Between MySpace and Facebook and Am I Hot or Not? and a wealth of other websites, todays teens can easily relate to the crazy city that Aya lives in. Westerfeld has challenged notions of beauty and self and now he calls us out on our obsession with fame and popularity.

Like the previous books, this is an engrossing page-turner that you wont want to put down. While it will help if youve read the previous books in the series (Uglies, Pretties, Specials), it isnt absolutely necessary. Recommended for readers aged 12 and up. While technically science-fiction / science-fantasy, many teens who arent into either of those genres will still find themselves drawn into the story.