Title: Uglies (The Uglies Book #1)
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: February 8, 2005
Pages: 432
Buy It! amazon
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Summary from Goodreads: 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.
First Thoughts: The story itself was just okay, but the thoughts about our society in the present and in the future were really intriguing. Worth reading just for a glimpse into who we may become someday.
As with most young adult dystopian novels, I liked this book, but it wasn’t anything special (I know I shouldn’t compare books, but this didn’t give me the goosebumps that Divergent, Delirium, or Legend - the dystopian novels I compare all others to - did).
The characters were just okay (expect David - I loved David). And, maybe that’s the feeling Scott Westerfield wanted his readers to get. I felt like Tally wasn’t a very strong heroine; she went along with everything and gave in to whatever norms she was living under (the pretties or the smokies). But, maybe that’s the whole point. Westerfield was trying to show his readers how vacuous our society can become. We already are attached to our technology, obsessed with our image. As ridiculous as Tally’s world may seem, it really isn’t that far-fetched. If we had the technology and science, why not make everyone pretty to reduce ridicule and judgment? You can almost see the logic behind the people in charge of this society.
As I said, David was a redeeming quality in the book for me, perhaps because he wasn’t touched by the “pretty” world. He made unreal characters seem real. He added heart and humanity into a society (and book) that was really lacking. Honestly, I was slowing down in the book until David came along. He made me want to keep reading. He was the character that made me feel like maybe humanity isn’t doomed. Maybe we don’t necessarily have to turn into the empty, brainless pretties that Westerfield describes. He was the character that gave the reader hope, and thank goodness, because the future of humanity, as described in this book, is going to need as much hope as it can get!
Final Thoughts: A thought-provoking book carried more by its big ideas than by its characters and storyline.
Who Should Read It? Any fan of dystopian fiction will probably enjoy this book. Also, if you are interested in what humanity’s future holds, Uglies gives its readers a very different take on the downfall of society.
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