Specials

The third book in his trilogy, Scott Westerfield continues Tally's story in Specials.

As predicted, Tally has been turned into a Special; however, as one of Shay's Cutters, she's a special Special.  As the name suggests, the Cutters use self-mutilation as a way to stay "icy".  Tally is unsatisfied as a Cutter since Zane is not a part of their group.  Finding him crippled, Tally and Shay decide that if he escapes from New Pretty Town that Dr. Cable will have to make him Special.  And to help him, they break into the Armory to find a cutting tool that will remove the tracking collar he has around his neck.  Unfortunately, when they were discovered by the guard, Shay released nanos that ended up eating through the building, destroying it in the process.

After releasing Zane, Tally follows the Crims at a distance, staying undercover and helping them when they are nearly discovered.  At the pickup point, Tally stows onboard and is taken to another City which has a more liberal point of view than the one Tally grew up in.  For example, there are no standards for cosmetic surgery, so Tally is able to hide out in the open with her Special face.  While there, she finds Fausto, a kidnapped Cutter that Shay had set out to find.  However, he attempts to make Tally un-Special; in the escape, Tally winds up in a hospital where she is deemed a deadly weapon and is scheduled to be de-Specialized. 

When Shay shows up to free Shay from the operation, she explains how Dr. Cable has declared war on the City, since she doesn't believe that the Crims or Smokies could have destroyed the Armory.  The aftermath of Dr. Cable's revenge has left Zane brain-dead and Tally spends the next 3 days flying back to the Special Headquarters to turn herself in.  Meeting David in the Ruins has strengthened her resolve to make things right, and he also gives her an antidote in case she changes her mind about being Special.  Reaching HQ, Tally is tricked and trapped; but manages to slip Dr. Cable the antidote in the process.  Due to her changed perspective, Dr. Cable ends up ruining her own position in the war and all of the Specials are de-Specialized.  Just before Tally's operation, Dr. Cable saves her from the procedure and Tally runs off to the Ruins to meet up with David again.

In the end, all of Tally's friends become allies of the new movement; however, Tally is determined to keep them from becoming like the Rusties and has declared herself (and David) to be the enemy of their cause.

I liked the book and I think Tally matured in this story.  And I liked how it ended, with Tally setting herself up as the antagonist.  I know there's another story, Extras, which I'm assuming ties up the story, although the author could have let it end there. 

The next story that I'm reading is Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut as part of the Banned Book Club. 

Pretties

Yay!  Book two of the Uglies trilogy, Pretties, by Scott Westerfield continues the story of Tally Youngblood after she turned pretty.  After her operation, Tally turned into a fluffy pretty whose biggest worries were what to wear to the next party - with a hangover.  With the help of Shay and Peris, Tally is voted into the hippest clique in New Pretty Town, the Crims, and her life is complete!  On the same night, Croy comes to Tally and leaves a "bubbly riddle" for Tally and her friend, Zane.

Discovering a note written from herself, Tally splits the pills with Zane that will cure her of the lesions implanted in her brain.  Their trick results in Tally and Zane having to wear metal cuffs that could potentially eavesdrop on their conversations; however, this doesn't deter them from finding new ways to stay bubbly.  Zane and Tally have decided to run away and they use all the members of their clique to create a diversion so they can head out to New Smoke.  On the way, Peris chickens out and Tally jumps from an incredible height to a river to avoid being recaptured by the Specials.  After her crash landing, Tally finds herself on a reservation with pre-Rusty tribes, built for the sole purpose of studying human nature such as revenge.  So, what does Tally do?  Steal a hovercar, of course!   When Tally finally makes it to the ruins, she discovers that she is all alone, except for David - someone that she had forgotten about.

Special Circumstances placed a tracker on Zane and followed the signal to New Smoke.  They also brought their newest Special, Shay.  And I think that in the next book Tally will be one of them.

I still really liked this book, but Tally has a huge complex where she believes that everything is her fault.  I'm hoping that she learns to forgive herself in the next book.  I was a little annoyed when Tally was reunited with David and wasn't sure what to do; however, I feel like it was taken care of appropriately at the end of the book and I was incredibly thankful that it ended in this story.  Having just read The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, which was 3 books of one girl having to decide between 2 boys, I was so glad when Tally made a quick decision.

This book wasn't as scientifically driven as the last, but it was anthropologically interesting with the study of human nature on the reserve.  I find it fascinating to read about the Rusties: a society 300 years ago that pretty much describes our current culture and state of mind.  It makes you wonder if the oil plague, or something similar, will happen and how will that shape the future? 

It was a little annoying when the characters spoke fluent pretty, but it made the difference between being pretty-minded and bubbly more obvious.  I am really excited for the next book though, since I am convinced that Tally will be turned into one of the Specials.  I'm also curious as to whether or not Shay is as crazy as she lets on.  And off I go to read the next story, Specials!

Uglies

The first book in a trilogy, Scott Westerfield introduces us to the concept of a world where everyone is pretty.  Before they are surgically altered at the age of 16, teenagers start out as an ugly; or, in other words, normal.  Gawky, acne-prone and all the other things that make being a teenager horrible are magically erased when you turn.

Enter Tally Youngblood, a teen who has looked forward to being pretty since she was little.  Her best friend, Peris, has already turned and a disastrous undercover trip to New Prettytown has her missing him even more.  On her way back to Uglyville, Tally meets Shay, another ugly who also shares the same birthday as Tally.  However, Shay has a secret: she doesn't want to be pretty.  Instead, she wants to escape to the Smoke, a secret community that lives off the land and where you get to keep your face.  Shay invites Tally to come along, but Tally wants to become a pretty face and stays.  Unfortunately, Special Circumstances has heard of the escapees and has given Tally an ultimatum: infiltrate the Smoke and give them up or Tally will never be pretty.

Once Tally has arrived, she discovers that she enjoys the hard work and honest living of the Smoke.  She especially likes David, a man who has never lived in the city.  And he likes her.  In a fit of defiance, Tally destroys the pendant that would've allowed her to contact Special Circumstances.  However, the destruction actually calls them and they capture everyone present.  Tally manages to escape and finds David in a tunnel.  Together they decide that they're going to sneak back to the city and rescue everyone.

Breaking into Special Circumstances actually isn't as hard as they thought; but they're too late: Shay is already pretty.  They rescue her anyway and create a new Smoke in the ruins outside the city.  When David's mom discovers a cure for the lesions implanted in a new pretty's head, Tally tries to convince Shay to take the pills.  Shay refuses, so Tally decides to turn herself in, thus giving a willing subject to test the pills.

I really, really liked this story!  The biology and evolution behind becoming a pretty is fascinating; and the concept behind why and how being a pretty made the world a better place is interesting.  In this dystopian society, the population is brainwashed into believing their lives are better when they're pretty.  Children purposefully (and equally) give nicknames to their cohorts that draw attention to their faults; for example, Squint, Nose and Skinny.  Even the symmetry behind being a pretty is about equality; pretties around the world have the same standard of beauty.

This future world also talks about the Rusties: a past civilization who built the cities, tore down the trees and polluted the air and water.  A bacteria that affected the oil caused a plague that devastated their world.  In the era of the pretties, renewable resources and green power have replaced oil and gas power.

The scientific concepts behind this book has made this story absolutely fascinating!  I highly recommend it if you have a thing for biology, like I do, as well as an interest in dystopia.  So, really, this book is pure perfection for someone like me.  I also have the next story, Pretties, which I'll start reading as soon as I'm finished typing this review.

Mockingjay

Mockingjay!  The long-awaited finale to Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games trilogy!

And....!

I didn't love it.

Katniss Everdeen returns as the rebel's icon: the Mockingjay.  In an effort to overthrow the Capitol, the rebels have banded together to take back Panem, district by district.  Katniss' only request is that she herself wants to be the one to kill Snow.  Peeta, Katniss' fake lover, was captured at the end of the last book, and it is evident in this book that he has been tortured.  In a desperate rescue attempt, he is saved but his mind has been hijacked and perceives Katniss as a threat and tries to kill her. 

In theory, the storyline is good, but Katniss herself is angsty as she still waffles between Peeta and Gale.  And to make matters worse, both guys are aware of her struggles;  they even come to an agreement that she will choose the guy that she can't survive without.  Katniss also strikes me as sulky for most of the book; while others are going about their business (going to classes, etc), Katniss wanders off and does what she pleases, when she pleases.  It isn't until near the end of the book that she accepts authority, but it is still for her own purposes: to sneak off and kill Snow.  Katniss also spends a large majority of the book in the infirmary, so it seems like much of the story is happening behind the scenes.  And it seems like Katniss doesn't care.

I also found the writing style to be jarring.  I don't know the proper term, but it is written in first person present tense; meaning that it is written as it happens.  However, I didn't like that style and I'm surprised I didn't notice it in the other books.

Even the ending was anticlimatic: Katniss assassinated the wrong person (the correct person in her thinking) and then tried to kill herself with a poison pill.  In the end she was exiled back to District 12.  There's an epilogue included as well: a 20 year look into the future.  Which would've been fine if it wasn't written in the present tense. 

Like I said, I was disappointed by the story.  Maybe I'll re-read it in the future, this time with the books back-to-back (instead of reading the third book several months later) to see if it makes a difference. When I read them before, I really enjoyed the series, so I'm rather surprised that I didn't care for this one.

So, read it if you want.  And let me know what you think.

the perks of being a wallflower

the perks of being a wallflower is a story by Stephen Chbosky about an antisocial teenager who writes a series of anonymous letters to a recipient that is never named.  His advanced english teacher tells him to truly live life, instead of just watching it happen and so "Charlie" ends up befriending a guy in his shop class. 

As Charlie's friendship grows with Patrick, Charlie begins to party and use drugs, making friends and gaining a girlfriend in the process.  However, Charlie's home life, while stable with good parents, begins to deteriorate after he sees his sister get hit by her boyfriend.  A comment to his teacher, which in turn makes its way back to his parents causes his sister to alienate Charlie after their parents forbid her from seeing her boyfriend again.  There are continuous references to an Aunt Helen who was always in an abusive relationship, before she passed away due to a car accident on Charlie's birthday years ago.

As the reader delves further into the story, more carnal subjects appear: homosexuality and teenage sex (which, for one character, leads to an aborted pregnancy).  Charlie's life becomes more complicated as one of his friends puts the moves on him, and Charlie, for the sake of friendship, doesn't stop it.  Not even a girlfriend will prevent him from pining for his elusive Sam.

Charlie is brutally and whimsically honest with his friends, which they pass off as "Charlie-esque" and cute.  He is emotional and never truly tries to be someone he is not.  He is protective of his friends and will (literally) fight anyone who threatens them. 

He is damaged.

It is not until nearly the end of the story that you realize that he has been molested by someone close to him when he was a child.  It was buried in his subconscious until Sam attempts to be intimate with him. 

He is also a survivor.

His final accounts are of his rehabilitation and counselling.  He believes that he no longer needs the support of his unknown reader to live life.  And that he'll be just fine.  His final letter ends with: "So, if this does end up being my last letter, please believe that things are good with me, and even when they're not, they will be soon enough" (page 213).

I found this story to be bitterly sweet.  Charlie is a likeable character who is intensely in love with Sam, but was told to "not think that way" at the start, so he's truly fighting it every step of the way.  He's a good kid with a good family, but they have problems just like everyone else. 

There's a poem that I want to share with you, from the story (pages70-73) that I find mesmerizing and tragic.  You'll see why:

"Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines / he wrote a poem /
And he called it "Chops" / because that was the name of his dog
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A / and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door / and read it to his aunts
That was the year Father Tracy / took all the kids to the zoo
And let them sing on the bus
And his little sister was born / with tiny fingernails and no hair
And his mother and father kissed a lot
And the little girl around the corner sent him a / Valentine with a row of X's / and he had to ask his father what the X's meant
And his father always tucked him in bed at night
And was always there to do it

"Once on a white paper with blue lines / he wrote a poem
And he called it "Autumn" / because that was the name of the season
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A / and asked him to write more clearly
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door / because of its new paint
And the kids told him / that Father Tracy smoked cigars
And left butts on the pews
That was the year his sister got glasses / with thick lenses and black frames
And the girl around the corner laughed / when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
And the kids told him why / his mother and father kissed a lot
And his father never tucked him in bed at night
And his father got mad / when he cried for him to do it

"Once on a paper torn from his notebook / he wrote a poem
And he called it "Innocence: A Question" / because that was the question about his girl
And that's what it was all about
And his professor gave him an A / and a strange steady look
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door / because he never showed her
That was the year that Father Tracy died
And he forgot how the end / of the Apostle's Creed went
And he caught his sister / making out on the back porch
And his mother and his father never kissed / or even talked
And the girl around the corner / wore too much makeup
That made him cough when he kissed her / but he kissed her anyway / because that was the thing to do
And at three A.M. he tucked himself into bed / his father snoring loudly

"That's why on the back of a brown paper bag / he tried another poem
And he called it "Absolutely Nothing"
Because that's what it was really all about
And he gave himself an A / and a slash on each damned wrist
And he hung it on the bathroom door / because this time he didn't think / he could reach the kitchen"

This story reveals itself in bits and pieces.  When Charlie mentions a poem that he read, the reader doesn't imagine it could be anything so sad.  However, later, Charlie writes down the words and one of his friends comments on how it was a suicide note.

I really can't say too much more about it, except what I've already said: bitter sweet.  I loved this story; I read it in one night and honestly didn't feel like I could write a blog about it without thinking about it first.  Unfortunately, my internet went down and I subsequently forgot most of what I would've said.  The story is beautiful and joyful mixed with sad and tragic.  Which is pretty much the definition of adolescence.

The Satanic Verses

I finished it!

Salman Rushdie was sentenced to death after the publication of his book, The Satanic Verses.  His novel follows the lives of two actors, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, starting with their fall from a hijacked airplane over England.  Not only do they survive their fall, they transform into a living incarnation of an angel (Gibreel) and devil (Saladin), to the point where they take on the physical characteristics of each: a halo for Gibreel and a goat-like body for Saladin.

After losing their divine/fallen characteristics, they attempt to regain their normal lives; however, they are obsessively drawn toward each other - both for purposes of revenge.  For Saladin, he wishes to destroy Gibreel's life the way his was ruined.  When Saladin returned to his home in his goat form (after being brutally beaten and humiliated by the police), he discovers his wife in bed with his friend.  He left his home and stayed at a bed & breakfast above the Shaandaar Cafe.  His presence causes a disturbance in the dreams of the people living nearby, forcing him out of the B&B and into a club called Hot Wax, where he has a hissy fit in the basement and regains his human form.  At this point he's determined to destroy Gibreel.

Gibreel, the Golden Boy who fills Saladin's days with misery, has problems of his own.  He finds himself haunted by an ex-mistress, who flung herself (and her children) off of her apartment complex after Gibreel ended it to fly to England to find Alleluia Cone.  And after wandering throughout London in a daze, he miraculously ends up on Alleluia's doorstep, much to his relief.  After a huge fight, Gibreel storms out in a jealous rage and is convinced that he is the archangel Gibreel (granted, talking to the Man Upstairs helped sway his opinion) sent to convert the world.  He tries for a while, but ends up back with Alleluia and his agent, Sisodia.  He has visions (one involving a girl by the name of Ayesha who tells the people of her village to go on a pilgrimage to the ocean; another involves the prophet Mahound) which Sisodia figures can be used as screenplays to boost Gibreel's return to the movie world.

At this point their paths cross again at a party: Gibreel, heavily medicated, describes his perfect life to Saladin but reveals his jealous streak when Gibreel beats Saladin's friend (who is sleeping with Saladin's wife) over the head with an oar!  In a bid to ruin his perfect relationship, Saladin plants the seeds of doubt in Gibreel's mind, causing Gibreel to destroy Alleluia's apartment, and their relationship.  Gibreel ends the night treking through town, again influenced by the notion of being an avenging angel and leaving a path of fire and destruction behind him.  Finding his enemy, Saladin, at the Shaandaar Cafe, he realizes the truth and yet somehow manages to forgive Saladin, to the point of carrying him out of the burning building.

Finding forgiveness from a man he was determined to ruin, Saladin decides that it is time to go see his father, who is now on his deathbed.  Caring for his father has given him a new view on life, so when Gibreel comes to him the night of his father's funeral and points a gun at him, Saladin is scared.  Gibreel then turns the gun on himself and ends his nightmares.  Saladin, who has re-adopted his real name Saladduhin Chamchawalla and has reconnected with a fling-turned-love feels pity towards the man who seemed so perfect, but was haunted to the point of killing his lover and taking his own life.

Wow - was this book ever difficult to wade through.  Salman has a poetic way of writing that is very beautiful to read, but has caused this book to be at least 4 times longer than it would've been if he spoke more plainly.  The story has a tendency to jump around from one man's view point to another and then it will jump back in time to explain the story up until that point.  It also goes into detail about the visions that Gibreel has and which I'm not entirely sure if they were dreams or something more.  I don't understand certain aspects of the story, like whether it was a coincidence that certain names from Saladin's life were repeated in Gibreel's dreams; if Saladin's wife and lover were set up to take the blame for a terrorist group or if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

I imagine this is a book where several reads are necessary to understand the whole story - as long as you have a dictionary, a science dictionary and several religious texts nearby so you can put the stories in to context.

I enjoyed this book very much: I love the way he writes and I like the way he challenges you to think while reading.  As you go through the book there are several "ah-hah!" moments where you feel like you're finally starting to understand the storyline.  And then he promptly switches directions, leaving you scrambling to catch up again.  I was a little surprised when Gibreel and Saladin have their confrontation in the burning building only to have them forgive eachother.  There was so much buildup at that point and I was really excited to see how it would end.  By the time the end did come, it was anticlimatic and out of the blue.  And the revelation of Alleluia's death was a shock.  I had read the Wiki-version of the story, so I knew that it ended in tragedy but it definitely didn't happen the way I expected!

In short, don't read it if you expect an easy read, but I thought it was worth the trouble.

Catching Fire

In her second book of the Hunger Games Trilogy, Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins returns us to Panem, which used to be formally known as North America.

In Hunger Games (book one), the heroine Katniss was introduced and forced to play the Game. In the end when she was told that only one would be allowed to return, Katniss and her partner, Peeta, made a suicide pact; her minor rebellion against the Capitol provided the spark for an uprising.

In Catching Fire, Katniss and Peeta hear whispers of rebellion in other Districts. Two figures from District 8 are found hiding in the woods, searching for the destroyed remains of District 13; however, Katniss is recognized and the two strangers have a wafer with a mockingjay on it. Katniss finds out that the TV reportings on District 13 keep showing the same footage and a conversation with the Head Games Master, Plutarch, has a mockingjay on his watch.

After it is announced that the 75th Hunger Games will have the tributes reaped from the victor's pool, Katniss and Peeta are forced back in to the arena. During her live interview, Katniss models the wedding dress she'll never wear and is shocked when it starts to smolder and burn away to resemble that of a mockingjay.

When she returns to the arena, Katniss has sworn to herself that she will protect Peeta and that he will be the one to make it home alive. However, protecting him is proving difficult as her allies are trying to keep them separated, even though they seem to be willing to die to protect the both of them. In the end, Katniss ends up blowing up the force field that traps them in the arena and is picked up by a hovercraft. Inside, she finds out that she is the symbol of rebellion: the mockingjay.

The first book was more straight forward: Katniss was determined to live at all costs. Having met Peeta, she tried to keep them both alive. In this book, she has resigned herself to death since the Capitol is trying to kill her anyway. She also figures that by protecting Peeta, her family will be able to live as well. So this book is more about politics and hidden agendas than the last one was. Throwing them back in the arena was a surprise for me.

I was disappointed at first since that was what happened in the first one and didn't want a replay. However, while I figured out that the Mockingjay was a rebel's symbol earlier than she did, I didn't expect her being placed back into the arena was part of the larger picture. Or that the other players were aware of it and were trying to further their cause.

Needless to say, the story was good. Katniss still hasn't deepened in character and she's still clueless about guys, but I don't think that will change much in the next book either. She still wavers between Peeta and Gale, between staying and going. It's inevitable that something will happen between her and Gale now that they're in the same place since she's affectionate with Peeta when they're in the same vicinity. However, I'm hoping she'll shed some of her cowardice and bluffing to reveal a real backbone.

Unfortunately for me, the newest book, Mockingjay, won't be available until August 24, 2010. Which sucks because the author ended after disclosing that Katniss was the figurehead for their uprising. So that means that I'm going to have to wait a few months until I can read the next part, when, clearly, I'm dying to find out right now.