Uglies (Uglies #1)

Reader reviewed by HoopsGirl27

Scott Westerfeld's novel, Uglies, is a dystopic vision of the future along the lines of Shirley Jackson and Pearl S. Buck. In Tally's world, everyone gets the operation that makes them pretty when they're sixteen, when they leave the dorms at Uglyville and move to New Pretty Town with the other new pretties. They get wider eyes, healthier skin, fuller lips. It's all according to the formula of asthetic attraction written in our genes by biology, all the things we instinctively look for in another.

What could possibly be wrong with that?

But not everybody wants to have the operation. Sometimes, they run away, out into the ruins of the Rusties--the civilization that existed before, the one that chopped trees and burned oil and laid down steel and concrete, and tinkered with the natural order of things until finally it outsmarted itself and became the civilization that exists now: Uglies and Pretties.

Tally's new friend Shay is an ugly who doesn't want to have the operation. She sneaks Tally out at night and shows her the ruins of an old amusement park, and tells her of a friend she has met out there that takes runaway uglies to a hidden place, a place away from being pretty--a place known only as "The Smoke." Back in Uglyville dorms, Tally can't even get Shay to experiment with the computer screens that give potential glimpses into what her new pretty form would look like

- Petrarch, De Remedies

After I read this book review for the Uglies it really got me interested in reading the series. I recommend this book to all of my friends!

Reader reviewed by OY

What if the entire world depended on beauty?
  Scott Westerfeld's book Uglies is about a girl named Tally, whose only goal in life is to become a Pretty. Created through extreme plastic surgery to be "beautiful," every one in the post- worldwide disaster city looks more or less the same.
    I  enjoyed this book because it makes me appreciate the world we live in today.
  Definitely recommended to everyone.

Reader reviewed by Rvnclw08

Very good.  THis is my favortie type of book--dystopia.  You'll find out the  being pretty isnt just about look.  Don't judge this book by its cover and title because it your teenage love story like you think it is deeper and a lil more scifi.  Vry good.

Reader reviewed by Kath

Uglies was a verry mind-catching book. This book (the first of four) takes us in a world witch could be ours in our futur if we continue the way we are...We quickly fall in love with Tally and her friends, in this twisted world, where they push every thing to the limit. While they whait for their operation to finaly become Pretties, Tally's friend run's away and she needs to bring her back, but what they discover and experiance, will change her long life beleifs. Will she get the operation to become pretty even if she now knows the truth about the operation???
This book was verry good, verry easy to read and realy captivating. It leaves us wanting to know what will happen to Tally in the next book; Pretties and changes our view or the world of today!!!
Read it !!!
Kath

Reader reviewed by Lisa

in a sentence or so: Tally is 15 and Ugly. the good news is, on her 16th
birthday she gets to have the surgery that makes her Pretty - and then
life is one big party! until she meets Shay, a girl who is just fine
the way she is and knows of a place where everyone is Ugly. which leads
Tally to the question: why would anyone want to stay Ugly for life?

Tally's best friend Peris
turns pretty about a month before Tally is able to. while spying on him
one night in New Pretty Town, Tally runs into Shay. Shay is also spying
on her Pretty friends, but lacks the desire to join them that Tally
has. but - they are both currently friendless, and become prankster
friends pretty quickly. when Shay tells Tally mere days before their
surgery (same birthday = same surgery day) that she intends to run away
to the Smoke and stay Ugly forever, Tally is heartbroken her friend
will not be there with her in New Pretty Town. Tally has resigned
herself to live life without Shay, until Special Circumstances (super
creepy organization) decides to use Tally as a spy. Tally is faced with
the choice to either become a spy and betray the Smoke - or stay Ugly
forever...

i really dug the futuristic / sci-fi aspect to this. it wasn't over the top sci-fi (which, for the record, i am okay with), but had a lot of potential realism in it. sure there were hover boards and dehydrated food and interface rings, but nothing was really that
outlandish. which i think was the whole point. but anyway, Tally's
journey and decision making was interesting. without being too spoilery, i will reveal that there is a love interest at some point (other than Peris) which is super cute.

while
i am interested in the rest of the series (Pretties, Specials, Extras),
i was not super in love with this. i think it picked up during the
second and third sections, but a lot of it was explaining what things
were like, how society had evolved from the Rusties
(that's you and me folks) into the society they have now, etc... which
was necessary, but not the most riveting thing for me to read.
regardless, i enjoyed this book and am looking forward to seeing how
the rest pan out!

fave quote: "Sometimes Tally felt like she could almost accept brain damage if it meant a life without reconstituted noodles." (367)

fix er up: i felt like it took forrreevvverrrr to get to the action of the book.

Reader reviewed by Taylor

Uglies is one of the few books that has ever captured me from the first page. After being an avid Twilight fan (like the majority of YA female readers) I had almost given up on finding anything to fill the void I felt. Then a friend convinced me to read Uglies and I haven't looked back since. Of course this book is nothing like Twilight, but I felt it was equally as addicting.

The book is the perfect combination of friendship, action, romance, and suspense making it impossible to put down. Being the first book by Scott Westerfeld I had ever read, I ordered five other books by him the day I finished Uglies.

The book is a futuristic sci-fi which usually isn't my favorite, but what drew me in was the possibility it has of being a very acurate non-fiction in the future. The futuristic prediction this book has is very believable and left me thinking for hours about humanity and the future. (It was a very deep internal conversation with myself I can promise you :-P)

I give it a 4/5.

Reader reviewed by rochelle

wow! scott westerfeild has the most amazing mind! the way he mocks the world in a totaly awsome way makes me wonder how he comes up with all these fresh ideas! in UGLIES, he makes human society sound all snoby and stuck up and it really makes you wonder and realize somethings. i definatly encourage you to read this book!

Reader reviewed by Megan

I really enjoyed this novel! Tally, the main character, is super excited for her surgery. Her "pretty surgery." You see, when people in Tally's world turn sixteen, they get to go and have a major operation that makes them pretty. Before that, they are called the Uglies, then after the operation, they are called the Pretties. Then, Tally meets a girl, Shay, and they become good friends. One day, Shay mentions to Tally that she doesn't want to become Pretty and before she turns 16, she runs off to a place called The Smoke, where others go to avoid getting the operation. And they don't just run away because they don't WANT the operation, they run off because of the EFFECTS of getting the operation. See, the doctors know something the people don't know and that fact will stun readers and will them to keep turning the pages! I know I did! This book was a real page turner and readers of all ages will enjoy it!

Reader reviewed by Meg

I just finished this book this morning. The series is really popular right now, so I've seen the cover everywhere, and with the pretty girl on the front I figured that it was just about high school girl drama. But I read the back and it's actually a Sci Fi book. I definitely wouldn't have guessed that from the cover. Anyway, I really enjoyed the book. It had a really interesting message (as all good Sci-Fi books should have), however I don't think that this message was as provocative as a book like "Feed" by M.T. Anderson. It was still good though, and I think teen girls may find this main character more accesible than the boy in "Feed".

Reader reviewed by ambeen

The concept in Uglies is very intriguing. Would you become pretty if you could, even if it meant looking like everyone else? Or would you rather maintain your unique look and self? In today's society of supermodel/actor worship, it's an interesting idea.
Uglies is a fast paced read taking the reader on the same roller coaster of emotions that Tally experiences.