I didn't have very high expectations for this book, considering the trilogy as an ultimate dystopian pre-cultural Renaissance, but I must admit that Westerfeld does an amazing job yet again with action and thrill. He shows that girls are just as good at guys when it comes to bravery and fun.

Aya is a strong female lead, going through the book following her ambition and dream to become just as famous-making as her older brother hero.

The reputation economy system has to be my favourite part of the novel. It is so intricate, so different and seemingly to me, so Japanese. There are so many different groups of famous kickers from the tech-heads, ego-kickers, surge monkey (definitely me), to the mind-rain bashers, here everyone can fit into a category.

Money and popularity is everything to Aya Fuse and the economy. ( )

Genre: Science Fiction, takes our 20th century reality and throws it into the future in a way that is completely realistic.
Point of View: Limited 3rd person, this works great for the book because you can see what Aya is thinking, but it keeps the rest of the story safe and unknown.
Media: NA ( )

I absolutely love the "Uglies" series, but found myself disappointed by this latest installment. The story came to a satisfactory end in "Specials" and this next book seemed to be unnecessary. It was almost like a spinoff story, as the majority of the characters in the first three books didn't have a big role to play in "Extras".

A new set of characters with new technologies and new dramas, I think it would've suited being branded a spinoff series as opposed to a sequel, I feel conned out of the story I hoped for.

On a positive note, the book did include an interesting concept in how to measure celebrity status, giving everyone a physical ranking against everyone else in society. This is something I've never came across in a sci fi book and it did keep me reading, however it wasn't enough to make up for my feeling of disappointment with the book.

I won't let this put me off other works of Westerfeld, as it was still well written in a way that I feel I can't fault. ( )

Aya lives in what must have once been Tokyo, Japan. Their city works on a system of face ranks. Everyone has their own feed and those that are the most popular have a higher face rank and are more recognised and watched. Aya's rank is 451,369 and she dreams of being in the top 1000 so she can be invited to the thousands ball. She is a kicker, someone who writes about stories and uncovers hidden things bringing them into the open. Her brother if one of the most famous kickers in the city and she has a lot to live up to.

She stumbles across a group of girls one night who ride the mag-lev trains which is illegal and very dangerous. If she can get enough information and footage on her flying camera Moggle she can kick the story and really increase her face rank. The question is, is she comfortable lying and betraying her new friends? She has also started hanging out with Frizz, someone with a much higher face rank than her who had surgery making him unable to lie. He wouldn't take kindly to her lying to others either.

An interesting addition to the main series. It's a completely new story in a new city, but it does link back to Tally and her experiences as she is the most famous person and has a face rank of 1 despite never having been seen. There is more scope to add books to the series which I hope happens. ( )

http://tyranist.blogspot.com/2009/10/... ( )