#29 Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
In Tally's world, everyone is considered ugly until you turn sixteen. Then your face is surgically molded into symmetrical perfection, and every
little flaw is ironed out of your body. You're taken out of school and moved into New Pretty Town where all you do is party and have a good time. Tally can't wait to turn pretty, especially now that her friend Peris has moved to New Pretty Town. Then Tally meets a new friend named Shay who doesn't want to be pretty at all. When Shay runs away before her operation can take place, Tally is sad that she's lost a new friend. But things become more complicated when the authorities find out what Shay has done. They give Tally and ultimatum, either turn in Shay, or never become pretty.
The concept behind Uglies really appealed to me. After all, there's something both fascinating and disturbing about our culture's fascination with physical beauty. Obviously, we're a long way off from surgically altering every one of our children into perfection, but whenever I see a beautiful model in a magazine that has been photoshopped into something alien, it doesn't seem that far away. What I found the most disturbing about this book was how well they brainwashed people into thinking that their natural states were unnaturally ugly, and how biologically we're supposed to be pretty. Children grow up longing for the day that they will be pretty. At twelve, they're taken away from their homes and put into dormitories with other adolescents until they turn sixteen. What better stage to isolate teenagers and make them long for good looks then when we are naturally at our most awkward and insecure?
I had put off reading Uglies for a while because I was worried that it wouldn't live up to the impossibly high praise I had been hearing. Perhaps it was due to this high praise that I found it a little disappointing at first. It didn't really grab my attention for the first hundred pages or so, as it focused on developing the friendship between Tally and Shay. I found myself a little frustrated with how dense Tally could be to her friends obvious turmoil, but given the way she was raised, it did make sense. I also wasn't fond of the way Westerfeld really hit the reader over the head with the subtext, which seemed a little too obvious even for a YA book.
But once Tally was called in for her surgery and was forced to chose between being pretty and her friend, something about the book clicked with me. The next two sections that made up the rest of the book were much more consistent and enjoyable. The book suddenly became exciting, suspenseful, and much less predictable. Tally developed in ways that made her a very likable heroine at the end. I really enjoyed they way they developed this future world that was in many ways, much better than the one we live in (can you imagine a world without poverty? Racism? Anorexia?), but in so many ways much more terrifying than ours. I thought that the specials, who play a villainous role, were particular creepy.
Despite any initial misgivings, I ended up liking this book in the end. I enjoyed it's fast pace, fascinating world, and even the heroine. I already have Pretties waiting for my on my shelf, and plan on reading it next.
Rating: four stars
Length: 425 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Challenge: This book is part of the 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge, and the Sci-Fi Reading Challenge.
Similar Books: For other YA dystopias, there's The Hunger Games by Suzzane Collins ( my review), The Giver by Lois Lowry, and Shade's Children by Garth Nix ( my review)
Other books I've read by this author: this is my first
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads
little flaw is ironed out of your body. You're taken out of school and moved into New Pretty Town where all you do is party and have a good time. Tally can't wait to turn pretty, especially now that her friend Peris has moved to New Pretty Town. Then Tally meets a new friend named Shay who doesn't want to be pretty at all. When Shay runs away before her operation can take place, Tally is sad that she's lost a new friend. But things become more complicated when the authorities find out what Shay has done. They give Tally and ultimatum, either turn in Shay, or never become pretty.
The concept behind Uglies really appealed to me. After all, there's something both fascinating and disturbing about our culture's fascination with physical beauty. Obviously, we're a long way off from surgically altering every one of our children into perfection, but whenever I see a beautiful model in a magazine that has been photoshopped into something alien, it doesn't seem that far away. What I found the most disturbing about this book was how well they brainwashed people into thinking that their natural states were unnaturally ugly, and how biologically we're supposed to be pretty. Children grow up longing for the day that they will be pretty. At twelve, they're taken away from their homes and put into dormitories with other adolescents until they turn sixteen. What better stage to isolate teenagers and make them long for good looks then when we are naturally at our most awkward and insecure?
I had put off reading Uglies for a while because I was worried that it wouldn't live up to the impossibly high praise I had been hearing. Perhaps it was due to this high praise that I found it a little disappointing at first. It didn't really grab my attention for the first hundred pages or so, as it focused on developing the friendship between Tally and Shay. I found myself a little frustrated with how dense Tally could be to her friends obvious turmoil, but given the way she was raised, it did make sense. I also wasn't fond of the way Westerfeld really hit the reader over the head with the subtext, which seemed a little too obvious even for a YA book.
But once Tally was called in for her surgery and was forced to chose between being pretty and her friend, something about the book clicked with me. The next two sections that made up the rest of the book were much more consistent and enjoyable. The book suddenly became exciting, suspenseful, and much less predictable. Tally developed in ways that made her a very likable heroine at the end. I really enjoyed they way they developed this future world that was in many ways, much better than the one we live in (can you imagine a world without poverty? Racism? Anorexia?), but in so many ways much more terrifying than ours. I thought that the specials, who play a villainous role, were particular creepy.
Despite any initial misgivings, I ended up liking this book in the end. I enjoyed it's fast pace, fascinating world, and even the heroine. I already have Pretties waiting for my on my shelf, and plan on reading it next.
Rating: four stars
Length: 425 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Challenge: This book is part of the 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge, and the Sci-Fi Reading Challenge.
Similar Books: For other YA dystopias, there's The Hunger Games by Suzzane Collins ( my review), The Giver by Lois Lowry, and Shade's Children by Garth Nix ( my review)
Other books I've read by this author: this is my first
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads