Review Detail

Reader reviewed by cosmicdustbella

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license, but for turning pretty. In Tally's world, her sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a 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. The youngest out of all her friends, Tally is the only one left to still have the operation, and she is just a few weeks away.

When lonelyness overcomes her, she decides to visit one of her old friends in New Pretty Town, an island specifically for Pretties, no Uglies allowed. After meeting her friend she must get off the island undetected, or else get caught and undergo severe consequences. Everything went fine, until she meets another ugly on her way back.

Tally and Shay become the best of friends, being the last of the uglies in their grade. But Shay is not sure that she wants to be pretty. She would rather risk life outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world, and it is not 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.

In Scott Westerfeld's thought provoking novel, he has combined social issues with friendship and betrayal. This book about the future will keep you reading for hours, and have you debating with yourself for even longer. Should she have done this? What if she had done that? This fantastic novel of a utopian society will have you on the edge of your seat and comes highly recomended.