Hello blogosphere! This is my very first post on my new blog! As you can tell from the title, it is about books and other things. Whenever I post an entry I feel like people are going to read this and love it or hate it. But the main reason for this blog is to be a Kicker. For those of you who dont know what a Kicker is, it is a person who kicks stories about stuff and tries to get people interested in whatever he/she/it posts about. Mine centers around kicking books. For those of you who are reading this and have deja vu of the term kicker, you have probably seen it in the book "Extras" by Scott Westerfeld www.scottwesterfeld.com/blog As a matter of fact in this post I will be reviewing "Extras" by Scott Westerfeld. What a coinkidink! (Great segway huh?)
Title: Extras
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies
Genre: Sci-Fi (but this book was a little more mysterious than the others in the series)
Page Count: 417 (hardcover edition)
Price: $16.99 hardcover, $9.99 paperback
Barnes and Noble Link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Extras/Scott-Westerfeld/e/9781416971214/?itm=1
Blurb On The Back (Or Dust Jacket): Fame. It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge-monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of American Idol. Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules.
As if being fifteen doesn't suck enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451, 369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. Her only chance to escape extra-land is to find a big story to kick - something wild and unexpected.
Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secritive about it. But the Sly Girls are hiding something bigger - an explosive discovery that may change the face of the brave new world forever. If Aya kicks this story, she'll be propelled into the world of fame, celebrity... and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for.
My Review: This book was PHENOMINAL! Probably my favorite in the four part trilogy (yea you heard me). The reason I say four part trilogy is because the first three books (Uglies, Pretties, and Specials) were supposed to be a trilogy in itself but mastermind author Scott Westerfeld wrote Extras as an unexpected fourth part due to popular demand of the series.
I think that one reason I liked the book so much is the way the author used the same universe as in his previous books but changed it around so much by adding new cliques and characters and so many twists and turns. Some of these are bringing old characters back as well and changing the whole idea around in a story that you would've never imagined to be true until it all the puzzle peices come together.
This book also had some very good themes including some very good ones about friendship and trust and honesty as do all of the other books in the series have. Trust and understanding definity come together with this story very well indeed and the author just makes his views so simple and honest in the book.
One thing that kind of bothered me was a left open sub-plot that had really nothing to do with the story but was still very interesting in itself (but i guess that just leaves more room for a FIFTH book!). But that barley changes the reading experience.
Something that I liked yet disliked at the same time was how easily you could just pick this book up without reading the other three (but dont mix up the order when reading the other three trust me you will get confused!). I know what you're thinking "How is this a bad thing? It seems good to me!" Well I just think that you won't like and appreciate the book's twists and turns as much as i did if you haven't read the other 3.
Final Note: READ THE DAMN BOOK! IT'S AMAZING! TRUST ME.
Do I Reccomend This Book: Hellz yea.
Grade: A-
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heyy i get that you are writing a blog and you give a lot of great feedback about the book, but it just feels as if im in 6th grade again and i have to write a mini-report on the books we read. (i was never a huge fan of that)
ReplyDeletebtw, i read the trilogy and loved it. when i picked up the 4th book, i found it to be so uninteresting because it had nothing to do with any of the other books.
My point: i like your perspective about there being a different story during the same time period in the same setting.
looking foward to checking out your next blog post :)
I've been looking for a series to fill the void the end of the Harry Potter series left -- I am actually going back and reading the series again. This sounds interesting. As you suggested, I'll start from book one.
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