- Publisher: Recorded books
- Publish Date: 2007
- Print Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
- Format: Audio Book
- Duration: 11 hours 45 minutes (10 compact disks)
- ISBN-10: 1428172416
- ISBN-13: 9781428172418
- Author: Scott Westerfeld
- Read by: Catherine Montbertrand
Extras by Scott Westerfeld is the fourth (and final?) book in the Uglies series (Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras). It is a few years after Tally Youngblood and her friends have brought down the society based on genetically-preferred looks. Another city, presumably in Japan, has moved on from a looks-based society to a fame-based society. Everyone’s social status is monitored continuously, and your position in the society is based solely on your social rank. The more you are mentioned in social media, or even just your name being spoken aloud enough, will raise your rank in society.
Aya is an Extra in this society. One of those also-rans whose social status is stuck somewhere in the middle of the rankings. Her brother is a high-ranking person cracking his way into the top 1000 in the city. Aya longs to join him and is constantly on the search for stories to “kick” into the public view to gain her views and re-kicks and raise her status. She stumbles upon a story that is bigger than she could imagine, and is catapulted into the highest ranks. This also brings her into the view of strangers from out of the city who seem to have nefarious plans for her, her friends, and everyone. Will Tally Youngblood be able to come to her rescue in time?
I tend to have low expectations for YA novels, and I try not to get overly negative about plot holes and science that doesn’t make sense. Let’s just say I had to do a whole lot of ignoring of these things in this book. For about the first half to maybe two thirds of the book, I was very interested in the story and where it was going to lead. Westerfeld sets up a society that he could use to explore the social media cultures that are so prevalent in our world today. He does a little of that, but gets too hung up in side adventures and such to really make you think much about ‘fame’ as a goal. In the end, Aya doesn’t seem to really learn much about having personal worth above and beyond social status. She may value her privacy a bit more than she thought she would, but in the end, it is still the clicks and likes that are the most important.
For YA stories, these were better than some I’ve read. I think Westerfeld is a reasonably good writer, but I am repeatedly disappointed in the messages behind his books. He seems to want to tell us that looks are not the most important thing, but repeatedly focuses on how looks make one stand out and special. He seems to want to say that believing in yourself is important, but repeatedly focuses on what other people think of the characters. He seems to want people to think for themselves, but then stresses things like Self-harm, Risk-Taking, Self-Starvation, are ways to think for yourself. I think he could do better.
Matt Truxaw’s newest book is Monster, which released on 1/12/2026. This urban fantasy, horror, thriller will keep you turning the pages.
He is also the author of the hard science fiction thrillers: “Plastiphobia/Plastivore” and “Anthrophobia: A Teacher’s Tale”
You can find them all on Amazon in Paperback, Hardback, Kindle and/or free to read with Kindle Unlimited.
When you read any of them, he would really appreciate a review/rating on Amazon or your favorite book seller/book reader site.
More about Matt:
He was born in Orange County California many years ago and he still lives there. He has been reading books for most of those years and writing up book reviews for the last few years. He gets most of his books out of the library so expect a lot of old science fiction classics book reviews and other science related reviews in addition to newer books he comes across.
If you want to be ‘in-the-loop’ on these and other works, you can follow his author’s page on Amazon or his Facebook page.
For more reviews and articles by Matt here on Amazing Stories (Click here).
