#30 Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
HUGE SPOILERS for Uglies in the review below, so everything goes under a cut. Minor spoilers for Pretties.
In Tally's world, everyone is considered ugly until you turn sixteen, but now Tally knows that the surgery that transforms an “ugly” into a “pretty” is more than just cosmetic. The procedure also involves tampering with the brain, making everyone passive, shallow, and selfish. Maddy has created a cure, and Tally has given herself up to become a pretty in order to give Maddy a willing volunteer for this experimental drug. Only things look different to Tally now that she's a pretty and the biggest thing she has to worry about is what to wear. Her memories of her days in The Smoke have been tampered with. Can she remember who she is in time, or has she been lost forever?
While reading Pretties, one of the things that struck me the most was how it seemed a lot less black and white than Uglies. Although Tally's actions in Uglies had negative consequences, I had a hard time pinpointing any blame on her. She merely felt like an innocent girl being outsmarted by the evil Specials. Things felt a little different this time around. Perhaps it's because Tally's no longer an innocent girl, or because the Specials seem less omniscient this time around, but there were many times where I wondered if Tally was doing the right thing in introducing the cure to the pretties. On some level I knew it was, but after seeing the impact Tally has on the pretties, especially Shay, who has been warped to something far different than the mischievous girl at the beginning of Uglies, I found myself questioning Tally's actions. It made the book more interesting to read.
At the same times Pretties, like Ugilies, is somewhat flawed. About two thirds of the book takes place in New Pretty Town, meaning that with the exception of Tally and Shay, the Smokies of Uglies are absent for the majority of the book. Westerfeld gives us a new cast of characters to follow, including a new romantic interest for Tally named Zane, but the empty headed pretty characters often feel less interesting then the Smokies. Zane is by far the most complex of the new characters, but even he seems unappealing when compared to the romantic interest of last book, David.
Flaws aside, there were a lot of things I liked about this book. Westerfeld does a great job in continuing to grow this fascinating world, and there are plenty of nail biting suspenseful moments to keep the reader turning the pages. I love the new level of complexities found in this plot, and how Westerfeld isn't afraid to take some risks when it comes to typical tropes found in young adult fiction (especially romantic ones). Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of book three Specials, on hand, but I do plan on reading the final two books in the series once I have the chance.
Rating: four stars
Length: 370 pages
Source: library book sale
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: Uglies ( my review)
xposted to bookish , temporaryworlds and goodreads
In Tally's world, everyone is considered ugly until you turn sixteen, but now Tally knows that the surgery that transforms an “ugly” into a “pretty” is more than just cosmetic. The procedure also involves tampering with the brain, making everyone passive, shallow, and selfish. Maddy has created a cure, and Tally has given herself up to become a pretty in order to give Maddy a willing volunteer for this experimental drug. Only things look different to Tally now that she's a pretty and the biggest thing she has to worry about is what to wear. Her memories of her days in The Smoke have been tampered with. Can she remember who she is in time, or has she been lost forever?
While reading Pretties, one of the things that struck me the most was how it seemed a lot less black and white than Uglies. Although Tally's actions in Uglies had negative consequences, I had a hard time pinpointing any blame on her. She merely felt like an innocent girl being outsmarted by the evil Specials. Things felt a little different this time around. Perhaps it's because Tally's no longer an innocent girl, or because the Specials seem less omniscient this time around, but there were many times where I wondered if Tally was doing the right thing in introducing the cure to the pretties. On some level I knew it was, but after seeing the impact Tally has on the pretties, especially Shay, who has been warped to something far different than the mischievous girl at the beginning of Uglies, I found myself questioning Tally's actions. It made the book more interesting to read.
At the same times Pretties, like Ugilies, is somewhat flawed. About two thirds of the book takes place in New Pretty Town, meaning that with the exception of Tally and Shay, the Smokies of Uglies are absent for the majority of the book. Westerfeld gives us a new cast of characters to follow, including a new romantic interest for Tally named Zane, but the empty headed pretty characters often feel less interesting then the Smokies. Zane is by far the most complex of the new characters, but even he seems unappealing when compared to the romantic interest of last book, David.
Flaws aside, there were a lot of things I liked about this book. Westerfeld does a great job in continuing to grow this fascinating world, and there are plenty of nail biting suspenseful moments to keep the reader turning the pages. I love the new level of complexities found in this plot, and how Westerfeld isn't afraid to take some risks when it comes to typical tropes found in young adult fiction (especially romantic ones). Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of book three Specials, on hand, but I do plan on reading the final two books in the series once I have the chance.
Rating: four stars
Length: 370 pages
Source: library book sale
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: Uglies ( my review)
xposted to bookish , temporaryworlds and goodreads