Why does everything turn into a statement about the environment?

I finished Specials this week, the third book in the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. So here are my thoughts on all of them.

Uglies. I liked it okay. It was a quick read and a very interesting idea. Westerfeld creates a fairly believable far distant future of the world based on our current trends/social foibles, although some of it bugged me, but that's bound to happen when you are dealing with a completely fictional state based off of reality - everyone has their own view and interpretation. The main character, Tally, was likable in this book, less so by Specials. I don't want to get into the whole story line because a lot of stuff happens - but I was hooked by the end of the story. I previously mentioned that the book ends in a cliff hanger (which annoys me so very much), but I owned the next two books so I just picked up Pretties and moved on with the story.

Pretties. Tally turns from an Ugly to a Pretty. Pretties are "bubbleheads" who basically spend their time partying...well, not basically, that's all they do. But Tally is different and her ugly past comes back to help her escape the life of a pretty. I like the new love interest, Zane, but Shay becomes more and more annoying. I think Tally's priorities start to change in this book, but I like the idea that Tally changes herself and doesn't need a "cure" to overcome what's ailing her. She is confident and determined and those are good qualities for the main, female character in a teen fiction novel to have. On the other hand, she's far too involved with/concerned about her boyfriends. And now for a tangent.

I think authors (especially in teen fiction) get caught up in trying to always have some sort of love interest for their main character. This is mostly annoying with the female leads as the way they associate with the boy they "love" often counters their previously established characteristics. A prime (and recent) example of this would be Bella in the Twilight series. We are told that she is mature, independent and strong-willed. When she is with Edward, though, none of these traits really shine through. The same can be said for Tally (possibly to a lesser degree) and also for several other teen heroines. Am I the only one who sees this or is bothered by it? Perhaps this is just human nature and all girls can be this way at times (ie. change themselves to make someone else happy), but I'd like to think that in a book, where everything is being created from scratch, that maybe the heroine could truly stick to her character/morals/beliefs and still keep her boyfriend, best friend, etc. happy. Maybe I'm crazy.

Finally, we have Specials. The pace was slower and Tally was annoying. Also, Shay was MORE annoying. Shay redeemed herself in the end, which was good. Tally never really truly "fixed" herself in this one though. She just leveled out everyone else. Plus other things happened that I was not happy with but that I don't want to write here and spoil for those of you who haven't read it yet. Then, to top it all off, the ending! The entire series is turned into a politically charged environmental statement and a poorly worded one at that. I am to believe that in the space of one year, Tally has gone from ugly to pretty to special, has brought down a corrupt government, alienated most of her friends, lost two boyfriends, AND then chooses to become a super secret environmental crusader?! Is it sad that I was fine with everything I listed before "chooses to become a super secret environmental crusader"? The ended just made it cheesy and annoying for me. It felt like an afterthought. Like Westerfeld needed to make a statement so he picked one, scattered a few convenient lines throughout the last book to corroborate the ending and viola!, that's it? Meh.

I think there is actually a fourth book in this "trilogy" but I am unsure about whether or not I want to read it? It's called Extras. Has anyone read it? Let me know.

Overall, I would probably recommend these books if you wanted something quick and light to read. I guess they would be a B- all together (I really enjoyed the first book, but was disappointed by the last).

Frustration!

Can someone please tell me why book 8 is not in paperback yet?? It came out at the very beginning of July of last year. This was eight months ago! And until now I had heard nothing about its paperback release, although I just found something on a website that said the beginning of July 2008--which I will trust, since I have nothing else to go on, and which also makes me very sad. Why do you suppose this book will require a full year before its paperback release? None of the others took that long. Grr.