Book Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful

I reread Uglies as a novel I wanted to give a second chance. The first time around I wasn’t very convinced about this series and dropped it after the first two novels. No I am going to try and push through since there will be a 5th novel by the end of this year and then three more later.

Book Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Rating:


Title & Author: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Genre: Dystopia, Adventure
Release Date: February 8 2005
Series: Uglies
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Synopsis

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. In just a few weeks she’ll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. And as a pretty, she’ll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.

But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world– and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally’s choice will change her world forever…

I give Uglies by Scott Westerfeld three out of five hearts because I am still not convinced by Scott’s writing.

I find the idea of Uglies and Pretties very shallow and basing a book on that doesn’t really rub with me. And everyone needing to be the same. Yes there are some characters that believe you can be beautiful without looking alike and in the Smoke Tally learns to see the beauty in people. But I still feel it is not the main point of the story. Being Ugly is first is horrible, then for a few minutes it’s good and then it is being shoved aside for the whole brain lesions thing and the Specials abducting everyone.

Another big issue I had with the novel was its main character. Tally is the main character, but when you actually check how much she does, she doesn’t do anything she isn’t forced into. She is pushed into everything by other people and in the end by her own feelings of guild. I am not loving it that much.

Overall I wasn’t really happy with the shallowness of the novel, but the idea behind the story is good. Just not the pretty vs. ugly and Tally. I am going to read Pretties next and will see where I get stuck this time around.

Let me know what you thought of this book!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.

For now, let books enrich your life!

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