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The fourth, surprise volume in the Uglies no-longer-a-trilogy. I liked this way more than Specials, the last book in the series (which I actually kind of hated). This novel doesn't center around Tally, the protagonist of the previous three books, but around a new character, Aya Fuse, who's growing up in a post-Pretties world. The Important Teen Topic Westerfeld is tackling this time is fame, not beauty, as following Tally's act of liberation, the world has evolved into one where wealth and social merit are derived purely from notoriety. In other words, Paris Hilton would still be in our faces all the time, dammit.

Like a lot of Westerfeld's work, this book is the most enjoyable if you don't think about it too much. There's a fun, exciting action plot to be had here, but the whole world kind of falls apart if you ponder it for more than five seconds. How is it that Aya's city—which is clearly not the same one as Tally's, as much is made of the language barrier later—was set up in exactly the same way as Tally's? Especially when Uglies made each community seem so wonderfully isolated? And I really don't see the logic of the post-Pretty world, as it's left at the end of Specials, evolving so soon into the world Aya introduces us to. And—but no. Let's go back to nothing thinking about this too hard, okay?

Well, first: I also have to say that I find the idea of all these teenage characters—Aya is fifteen—doing and accomplishing all of this stuff on their own vaguely ridiculous, which officially makes me too old for these books. (Part of my brain can't stop thinking, Where are their PARENTS?) But, uh. If you set all that aside, this really is a fun book! Really! And it provides a slightly more upbeat ending for Tally and David, which I really appreciate. So if you like the other books in this series—or even just the first one—this is a worthy addition. I'm much, much happier having this, instead of Specials, as my final impression of the Uglies world and these characters, and that's worth a lot, I think.