Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Published: In 2005 by Simon Pulse
ISBN: 978-0689865381
Synopsis:
Tally Young lives in a supposedly utopian society, where everyone has the chance to become beautiful at the age of 16; no one has to worry about discrimination based on looks anymore. Once you become pretty you are transferred to New Pretty Town, where life is always a party. Tally is impatient to have her surgery and rejoin her school friends in New Pretty Town. But then she meets Shay, another ugly. Although Tally and Shay share a number of things in common, they have one fundamental difference; Shay does NOT want to become pretty. Right before Shay's 16th birthday she runs away to find The Smoke --a secret place were the people stay ugly forever. Unfortunately, Shay's escape creates nothing but trouble for Tally. Instead of being turned pretty on her 16th birthday, Tally discovers her operation has been indefinitely placed on hold. She is given two choices: betray Shay and the Smoke or remain ugly for the rest of her life. What would you pick?
My Reaction:
This is an average, run of the mill science fiction thriller, espeically when the book is compared to the other two books in the series: Pretties and Specials. Although the plot is interesting, the author's decision to use names such as "New Pretty Town" and the "Smoke" makes the world seem somewhat childish. Furthermore, it is really redundant to her the characters talk about becoming pretty and going to New Pretty Town. I heard the words "ugly" and "pretty" so many times that it actually started to annoyed me, which doesn't often happen.
Overall, the first book is definitely better than the later books in the series, because at least it's the first time you've read the adventure plot. A good portion of Uglies is spent with Tally attempting to tough through the wilderness as she attempts to locate the Smoke. Unfortunately, both of the subsequent books follow the same basic plot: Tally leaves or escape the city, she meanders through the wild trying to locate the Smoke. At the moment I am still currently reading the third book, Specials, so I'm still a little hopeful that the author will deviate from the pattern she set in the last too books, where Tally sacrifices herself and is brought back to the city, where she becomes a Pretty at the end of the first book and a Special at the end of the second. I was really surprised how predictable and juvenile these books seem to me after all the hype and praise I had about them. Everyone kept saying it was such an original story, but when I read these books, I just see a less compelling version of the Giver. Does anyone else feel this way?
Overall, the first book is definitely better than the later books in the series, because at least it's the first time you've read the adventure plot. A good portion of Uglies is spent with Tally attempting to tough through the wilderness as she attempts to locate the Smoke. Unfortunately, both of the subsequent books follow the same basic plot: Tally leaves or escape the city, she meanders through the wild trying to locate the Smoke. At the moment I am still currently reading the third book, Specials, so I'm still a little hopeful that the author will deviate from the pattern she set in the last too books, where Tally sacrifices herself and is brought back to the city, where she becomes a Pretty at the end of the first book and a Special at the end of the second. I was really surprised how predictable and juvenile these books seem to me after all the hype and praise I had about them. Everyone kept saying it was such an original story, but when I read these books, I just see a less compelling version of the Giver. Does anyone else feel this way?
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