Uglies (Uglies #1)

Reader reviewed by Victoria

I'm not very interested in sci-fi type stuff, so I was rather unsure when I began reading this book. Once I started, however, I got really interested and finished it quickly and had to go pick up the sequel.
I definitely recommend it whether or not you're into science fiction.

Reader reviewed by Amanda

Tally is Ugly. She will be Ugly until she turns 16, when the government of the futuristic world she lives in will turn her Pretty. And Tally is completely alright with that. She feels like she is the last of her friends that has not yet turned 16 and is thrilled to be Pretty in just a few short weeks. It is the only life she has ever known until she meets Shay. Shay is also 15 and sharing the same birthday as Tally, will be made Pretty at the same time, unless she runs away. Shay does not want to be made Pretty, as she believes that life as an Ugly would be more pure and free than to be made into a person that is exactly the same as everyone else. She tries to convince Tally to run away with her, to a village called the Smoke, where other Uglies live their lives in peace, without surgeries. When Tally refuses and is then asked to betray Shay and inform the leaders of the city as to where she has gone or never be made into a Pretty, Tally needs to decide what is more important: friendship or becoming what she has always dreamed of.


This book was fantastic and of a completely different level than anything I've read in a very long time. The underlying metaphors about being unique or becoming like everyone else are very strong, but in a way that is not blatant or in-your-face. Westerfeld created characters that are just like teens today, with strong feelings, interest in the opposite sex, and the yearning to be popular, but allowed the plot to take these characters into realms previously unknown, just as teenagers often face the unknown in their daily lives, often choosing to take the path that everyone else takes. I can certainly see how everyone seems to love this series and I cannot wait to get to the 2nd in the trilogy, Pretties.

Reader reviewed by Samantha

This is the first book on the trilogy. the second book is Pretties and last is Speacials.
In this futuristic world, when you turn 16, you get an operation that turns you "pretty."Until then, you are ugly. Tally is waiting to turn pretty, then she meets shay who is not sure if she wants to turn pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally gets told that she can't turn pretty unless she tells where shay is. she finds shay but she also meets david and a whole now side of pretty is shown. Now tally isn't so sure that she wants to turn pretty.I would also reccommend reading pretties to find out what happens next!

Reader reviewed by Catherine

the story begins in the future. where you are born uglie, and until you reach the age 16, you will stay that way. When you reach 16 you are taken and reformed in a new likeness, you become a "pretty". pretties party all day and hang out, basicly just have fun. You meet Tally who just lost her best friend , Peris, because he was older than her. (you move into the other part of the city once you are a "pretty") now she meets a new friend, named Shay. Shay isn't longing to be pretty like Tally is, she thinks she is fine the way she is. This idea was enforced by a place called Smoke. A civilization were no one had the operation to be pretty done. Where everyone was ugly, meaning no one was. tally conciders this way of life until she is faced with a choise. go and betray her friend, or stay uglie forever. which will she choise? find out. now its not as good as Twilight, BUT WHAT IS!!!! extreamly good. a must read for teens who are insecure or totally secure!!

Reader reviewed by Natalie

at first it was hard to understand. the setting is in the future therefore they use different terms. Tally is 15 and shes an ugly. when she turns 16 she will have an operation making her a pretty. she cant wait because then she will finaly be with her best friend again. she meets shay and they quickly becaome friends. shay plans to run away because she does not want to become a pretty. it turns out that in the operation to become a pretty, they operate your head and brainwash you. so everyone is alike.
Tally does not run away but shay does. wen tallys operation arrives, it turns out that she cant get it until she helps Dr. Cable, the leader of the operation comitte, get shay and all the other runaways back to the city. Will she do her task?

Reader reviewed by Lynsie

This Book was awesome. I highly recommend it. It kept me into it and I trail off a lot. I really did enjoy. It'ss capture the reader and leave you wanting more. This is the first book in the series, the only one I've read so far. I can't wait to read the other two. I highly recommend this book if you like fantasy tied into real life.

Reader reviewed by Lauren

Tally can't wait until she turns 16. Turning 16 is a big deal, its when you get to turn pretty. Tally lives in a world where the pretty people who party all the time, live separate from the uglies. She can't wat until she's sees Peris, who turned pretty last month. During the summer, a couple of months away fromher birthday she meets Shay. She isn't sure that she wants to turn pretty though. Shay runs away to the smoke where all uglies run away to, and Tally us called into Special Circumstances to get them back. Tally traveled to the Smoke by herself, and betrayed them without meaning to. Tally gives herself in to become pretty in order to save the smoke, but will she remember what happened and what she's supposed to do?

Reader reviewed by linda

Tally is a young and impressionable girl who is waiting for her sixteenth birthday when she will be turned into a stunning Pretty and thrown into a world of parties and beautiful people. Everything is fine until she meets Shay, another young Ugly, who is not interested in a shallow life. Shay takes off for the Smoke and leaves Tally with many questions, regrets, and a group of Specials who want her to track down Shay. Tally is forced to take a hard journey to the Smoke where she learns about the past and has to decide whether she wants to be Pretty or whether she wants to be free.