Reviewer: Anuprova Bhowmik
That short quote pretty much sums up the backstory of Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. The story is set in a dystopian world where everyone undergoes plastic surgery at the age of 16 to become a "Pretty". Once they become a "Pretty", they spend their days partying in New Pretty Town. The people who have yet to receive their plastic surgery are known as "Uglies", and they are forbidden from entering New Pretty Town. However, a couple of daring "Uglies" do sneak in, which is where the story starts.
Tally Youngblood is a 15-year-old girl who is anxiously awaiting her surgery. Her best friend Peris received his surgery recently, and since then, he has only contacted her once. Confused, Tally sneaks into New Pretty Town and crashes a party to talk to Peris. However, she makes a ruckus, which causes the authorities to go after her. While running back to Uglyville, Tally meets Shay, another "Ugly" who also snuck into New Pretty Town. The two quickly become friends, and they spend time together while they anticipate their surgery, which happens to fall on the same date. However, Tally soon learns that Shay isn't as excited about the surgery as she is. A couple of days before their surgery date, Shay disappears. During their good-byes, she makes Tally promise to keep her secret and leaves her with a cryptic note with instructions for leaving the city. The note puzzles Tally, but she decides not to think about it too much and just do the surgery.
Unfortunately, all does not go as planned for Tally. When she walks into the hospital to finally get her surgery, a strange man tells her that there is a problem with her surgery. They take her to a group called the Special Circumstances, and they inform Tally that they will not do her surgery unless she leads them to Shay. Torn, Tally is forced with the hardest decision of her life: Betray her friend or stay ugly?
Although I thought that the general idea behind this book was interesting, I thought there were two major flaws in the writing of the book. The first flaw in the book was the structure of the plot, as it could have been improved a lot more. The author spent too much time in the exposition of the book, but not enough time in the conclusion. Had Westerfeld spaced out the events of the book more, it would have been more enjoyable. The other significant issue in the book was the main character, Tally. I don't want to spoil too much of the book, but I just want to say that Tally was a very annoying character that I was unable to sympathize with. In conclusion, Uglies was a very creative book with a lot of potential, but the weaknesses caused the book to fall short. Although I won't be reading any of the sequels of the book, you may want to give the book a try to judge for yourself.
"A world where everyone's ugly. And then they're not."
That short quote pretty much sums up the backstory of Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. The story is set in a dystopian world where everyone undergoes plastic surgery at the age of 16 to become a "Pretty". Once they become a "Pretty", they spend their days partying in New Pretty Town. The people who have yet to receive their plastic surgery are known as "Uglies", and they are forbidden from entering New Pretty Town. However, a couple of daring "Uglies" do sneak in, which is where the story starts.Tally Youngblood is a 15-year-old girl who is anxiously awaiting her surgery. Her best friend Peris received his surgery recently, and since then, he has only contacted her once. Confused, Tally sneaks into New Pretty Town and crashes a party to talk to Peris. However, she makes a ruckus, which causes the authorities to go after her. While running back to Uglyville, Tally meets Shay, another "Ugly" who also snuck into New Pretty Town. The two quickly become friends, and they spend time together while they anticipate their surgery, which happens to fall on the same date. However, Tally soon learns that Shay isn't as excited about the surgery as she is. A couple of days before their surgery date, Shay disappears. During their good-byes, she makes Tally promise to keep her secret and leaves her with a cryptic note with instructions for leaving the city. The note puzzles Tally, but she decides not to think about it too much and just do the surgery.
Unfortunately, all does not go as planned for Tally. When she walks into the hospital to finally get her surgery, a strange man tells her that there is a problem with her surgery. They take her to a group called the Special Circumstances, and they inform Tally that they will not do her surgery unless she leads them to Shay. Torn, Tally is forced with the hardest decision of her life: Betray her friend or stay ugly?
Although I thought that the general idea behind this book was interesting, I thought there were two major flaws in the writing of the book. The first flaw in the book was the structure of the plot, as it could have been improved a lot more. The author spent too much time in the exposition of the book, but not enough time in the conclusion. Had Westerfeld spaced out the events of the book more, it would have been more enjoyable. The other significant issue in the book was the main character, Tally. I don't want to spoil too much of the book, but I just want to say that Tally was a very annoying character that I was unable to sympathize with. In conclusion, Uglies was a very creative book with a lot of potential, but the weaknesses caused the book to fall short. Although I won't be reading any of the sequels of the book, you may want to give the book a try to judge for yourself.
Wonderful review! You did very well in capturing the aspects of this book and describing the complicated portions of the story. I read Uglies a while back and reading your review made me remember how I thought this book was so strange when I read it. I can agree that the speed of the plot was uneven, even though the book was okay for the most part.
ReplyDeleteGreat book review! You provided enough about Uglies to intrigue me in the book without revealing too much information. You then gave your own opinions of the book to follow. Based off of your descriptions and that the book itself seems fairly complicated, I can see how the exposition may have been drawn out. If I were to read Uglies, I would refer to this review to compare my own opinions of the book with yours.
ReplyDeleteI think that you did a great job of providing a detailed and high quality synopsis of this book. I also enjoyed how you did not hesitate to add in a few critiques of how the book flowed and supported that claim. Good job!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Your description of the book and your presentation of your opinions on it are great. I read Uglies some time ago and was thinking of rereading it recently, but thanks to this review I remembered the problems I had with it. I agree with your frustration at Tally and the failed potential. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering for a while if I should read this book, and your post has definitely helped me with that decision. This review was in depth and informative, and gives a great summary of the book without spoiling the entire plot. You did a wonderful job with balancing the aspects that you liked and did not like about the book, and I really enjoyed reading your analysis. Awesome job!
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