Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on June 30, 2012 | 2 Comments


Review: Uglies by Scott WesterfeldUglies by Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies #1
Published by Simon & Schuster (1.1.2005)
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Paperback, 425 pages
Source: I own it
Buy on Amazon


3.5 Stars

Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait for the operation that turns everyone from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to party. But new friend Shay would rather hoverboard to "the Smoke" and be free. Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The "Special Circumstances" authority Dr Cable offers 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.

My thoughts

The premise of this book….I can’t even.
Okay, imagine a world where people live to be pretty. I’m not talking like the stars and famous people of now, I mean when you turn 16 everyone gets an operation to make them look pretty. Everyone looks the same and acts the same. Being Pretty is normal, and every Littlie dreams of the day when they can have the operation and no longer be an Ugly. A world of happy mindless robots, where no one can think for themselves. Crazy, right? The idea of it blew me away. It was a horrifying concept, but sadly would appeal to anyone’s shallow side. Who wouldn’t want the option to be pretty? But in the world of Uglies, beauty comes at a price.

I hated Tally. She dug herself into such a deep hole of her own lies and it really pissed me off. She knew what she was doing was wrong, yet she continued to do it. In keeping up the farce, she screwed things up. Royally. Every time she told a new lie I wanted to throttle her. As if being a compulsive liar wasn’t bad enough, she also made a move on her best friend’s crush. Yep, quality traits right there.
Speaking of best friend – I liked Shay. She actually saw the wrongness of the operation, while Tally was perfectly fine with looking and acting just like everyone else.
As for the love interest, I didn’t really care either way. David didn’t really inspire any emotion in me. I was very glad that the romance took a backseat to the action.

The world building was the best part in my opinion. I loved the world that Westerfeld painted with his words. I would LOVE to have the technology! The hoverboards and crash bracelets were fantastic (who wouldn’t want to fly?), but my favorite was the bungee jacket. Like bungee jumping, but better! Just jump off the roof and the jacket will save you! This probably sounds horrifying to some of you, but with my being a major adrenaline junkie, I want one SO BAD. C’mon, government, get on it!!
 
assessment
Plot: 4/5
Writing style: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
I would have like to be able to connect with the characters a little more.
World-building: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Cover: 3/5
 
Overall rating: 3.5/5 starfish
Good, not great. But definitely worth the read.
 
Jessi (Geo)

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2 responses to “Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

  1. I own this series in PDF, but haven’t read it. I want to, though because I have a younger cousin who has started to read them and I want to be able to discuss them with her. I have one comment/question though. You mention that the main character is ok with the procedure to make her pretty and that bothered you. While I understand that, at the same time, with what I know from our own society and from reading other dystopians wouldn’t that be understandable? Society is telling you day in and day out that you need this procedure, that you have to have this procedure. It’s hard to change your mindset to think that maybe that isn’t the right thing or that there are other options out there. I don’t know, just a thought, maybe I’ll think differently after I read the book.

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