Review Detail

Reader reviewed by erica

If you've heard about how this story is similar to "The Giver" and are expecting this book to be thought-provoking and dark, don't. It's almost anything but. Tally Youngblood has been waiting all her life to turn sixteen. In her society, sixteen is the age when you recieve an operation to turn "pretty." Before this operation, you are considered an "ugly," separated with all the other uglies from the pretties. Every ugly goes through the operation and looks forward to it because when you become a pretty, you move into New Pretty Town where you spend the rest of your life having fun. However, Tally learns the darker side of the operation when she is forced to find her runaway friend, Shay. Shay has runaway because she does not want to be pretty like everyone else. It is through the small town that Shay runs away to, that Tally realizes how horrible the society she once lived in really is.

In the operation, the doctors purposely give the patients brain legions, in order to prevent opinions from forming among the masses. Also, by preforming the operation, everyone already looks the same, so racial and ethnical differences are completely eliminated. In short, the authorities were controlling the civilians by damaging their ability to think for themselves. Subject matter like this, is very similar to the material that Louis Lowry showed in "The Giver." This was a very serious, dark book that gave the reader alot to think about. Like a good science fiction book, it showed what mistakes humans should avoid and where we do not want to be headed as a society. Subject matter like this is best handled seriously in order for a book to reach its maximum potential. Scott Westerfield, did anything but.

The book was light-hearted and felt a bit "lightened up" in order to sell more copies and appeal to more readers. It felt like he was trying to appeal to a younger age group that could not fully comprehend the seriousness of the subject. It even felt like he did not understand how serious material like this is. Honestly, I cannot believe how he presented the subject in such an innocent, ignorant way.

If you want a good plotline and some pretty decent characters, I highly recommend this book. Sure, Westerfield did do a good job in that department. The setting is believable and the characters are very well done. The only unbelievable thing is how David fall in love with Tally almost instantly to the point where it seemed like a fairytale. Otherwise, it's full of action, drama, and plot twists. If you like more mature, dark books, don't look for too much in this one. The younger age group might not notice, but matured readers will. Overall, it's a good read, but afterwards it leaves you wondering why he handled material like this so lightly.