Mirkat Always Reading

So, I will be writing a review of the entire series, once I have completed all four books.  I just started reading Specials, which is book #3 of four.

I intend to avoid spoilers for Pretties in this write-up, but please stop here if you have not read Uglies and wish to avoid spoilers for that book.

****************************************LOOK AWAY TO AVOID UGLIES SPOILERS!****

At the end of Uglies, Tally has volunteered to allow herself to be caught, be brought back to the city, and to be "made pretty," with the intention of letting Maddy test her cure of "pretty-mindedness," healing the brain lesions that are administered along with the plastic surgery that transforms uglies into pretties.

Pretties picks up on Tally's story when she is a "new pretty," adjusting to her new life of attending parties and striving to be voted into the "Crims," the most prestigious clique in New Pretty Town (why don't they call it "Pretty City"?).

In keeping with the thoughts I shared on Uglies, I want to touch on YA Dystopian tropes.  As I mentioned in my Uglies write-up, there was a case of insta-love in that book, and that trope shows up in Pretties, too.  So that inevitably leads to something many YA Dystopian readers (and YA readers in general) have come to dread:  a love triangle.  However, it shows up very late in the book, and as I reflect on the way it's addressed, it occurs to me that it's lampshaded and even subverted.  I ultimately appreciated that, though arguably, the trope could have been avoided altogether.  Related to that, there are moments in the book where Tally has moments of clarity that are brought about by kissing.  KISSING?  That strikes me as somewhat problematic.

This book has propelled me into immediately starting the next book--so that speaks in favor of Westerfeld's ability.  I expect to tear through the next two books and be posting again soon.

[3.5 stars on Booklikes; rounded down to *** on Goodreads.]