Title: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies #1
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 8, 2005
Pages: 448
From Goodreads:
Playing on every teen’s passionate desire to look as good as everybody else, Scott Westerfeld (Midnighters) projects a future world in which a compulsory operation at sixteen wipes out physical differences and makes everyone pretty by conforming to an ideal standard of beauty. The "New Pretties" are then free to play and party, while the younger "Uglies" look on enviously and spend the time before their own transformations in plotting mischievous tricks against their elders. Tally Youngblood is one of the most daring of the Uglies, and her imaginative tricks have gotten her in trouble with the menacing department of Special Circumstances. She has yearned to be pretty, but since her best friend Shay ran away to the rumored rebel settlement of recalcitrant Uglies called The Smoke, Tally has been troubled. The authorities give her an impossible choice: either she follows Shay’s cryptic directions to The Smoke with the purpose of betraying the rebels, or she will never be allowed to become pretty.
What an amazing story! From the minute I picked it up I was completely sucked in to this futuristic world of “uglies” and “pretties.” I think what entranced me the most is that society very well could be closer to this future world than we think. With our society so focused on beauty and what constitutes beauty, we could all end up being surgically altered – who knows? I would hate to think it could come to that, but anything is possible. I also like how they explain that the “Rusties” (modern-day society) were obliterated because of contaminated oil. Hits a little close to home right?
I immediately fell in love with Tally and her shenanigans. Even when she was teetering between betraying her best friend and becoming pretty, I still felt emotionally connected with her and could feel her pain and turmoil. Scott Westerfeld does a phenomenal job with character development, especially with Tally, Shay, and David. You can see each of their emotional journeys throughout the book and how they intertwine and connect. I am especially anxious to see how David develops throughout the rest of the series.
This is a very fast-paced and thought-provoking book that will leave you wanting more. Luckily there are three more books in the series so we don’t have to wait!
I really enjoyed Uglies too. I didn't like the rest of the series that much, but Uglies was great.
ReplyDeleteAlison Can Read
I hope you like Pretties! People tend to be very split on it. Most people find the "pretty talk" annoying but I thought it was so well done and I absolutely loved the second book. It was my favorite in the series.
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