Book Review :: Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies #1
Also in this series: Impostors
on March 29th 2012
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 425
Goodreads

Tally can't wait to turn sixteen and become pretty. Sixteen is the magic number that brings a transformation from repellent Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks, Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend, Shay, isn't sure she wants to be Pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the Pretty world - and it isn't very pretty.

The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn Pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Last updated on 9 October 2024

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What is Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld about?

Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld, is set in the future, a time where, at the age of 16, everyone undergoes surgery to change from their natural, ugly selves, into Pretties.

Pretties and Uglies don’t really associate with each other…at all. The Uglies live on one side of the river, in Uglyville, while the Pretties live in their mansions on the other side, in New Pretty Town. Every Ugly can’t wait until they turn 16 and they too, can be pretty and go to parties and live in high rise apartments with all the other pretty folk. Tally Youngblood is no exception. Just a few months younger than her best friend, Peris, Tally is waiting in Uglyville for her turn, so she can go and be with her best friend again.

No night, after sneaking over the river to go and see if she can find Peris, she meets Shay. Shay is an Ugly too, but Shay is a little bit wild, and after a few weeks of their friendship, she tells Tally that actually, she doesn’t want to turn Pretty, that she’s going to escape and run off and join a guy named David in the Smoke, a hideout about 2 weeks journey from Uglyville.

With Special Circumstances at her back, Tally makes the journey to the Smoke after Shay, and when she gets there, she soon discovers that everything she has ever known is a lie (of course), and there is much, much more to turning Pretty than just an outward appearance change. Torn between wanting to be with Peris as a Pretty, and the new knowledge and friendships she acquires in the Smoke, Tally has to make some big decisions.

My thoughts on Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld

With hoverboards and electronic tricks, dark caves, death, betrayal and, of course, love, this story does have a bit of everything really. So why give it only three stars, Anjali? Well, dear friends, I’m not entirely sure.

Usually, I’m pretty generous with star-giving, but Uglies didn’t really wow me as much as I was expecting. Yes, it’s a good story, and I think the concept is a great one, but I didn’t really like the main character very much, nor did I like the fact she fell for a guy she only just met as fast as she did.

I didn’t read it very fast and had to force myself to pick up the book and keep reading so I could tick it off my list. The end, though it was quite a build-up, wasn’t as dramatic as I hoped, but having said all this, I think I will read the next one to see what happens to Tally, Shay and David. Who knows, maybe the sequel will be better…?