Westerfeld, Scott: Uglies
Uglies
Writer: Scott Westerfeld
Genre: YA/Science Fiction
Pages: 425
This book caught my radar long before I was even considering YA. First the covers, then the titles, which pretty much speaks to the heart of our society: appearances. But because these books were YA, I never gave them too much though beyond curiosity. And to be honest, I'm really not sure why it took me so long to read this, even AFTER I got over my YA bias. The only thing I can think of is that I'd heard SO MUCH GOOD about these books that I was afraid they wouldn't live up to the hype.
But I finally got it, and I finally read it. And yes, I'll read the rest of them.
The premise: in Tally's world, turning sixteen isn't about getting the license to drive, it's about turning pretty. This is a world where everyone goes through a major operation at the age of sixteen to become impossibly beautiful, and she can't wait. Until her best friend decides she doesn't want to turn pretty at all, that people shouldn't be ashamed of their faces, and runs away. This shouldn't affect Tally, but some higher-ups have decided to use Tally to track down rebels like her best friend and break up the resistance to the pretty society. Suddenly Tally is learning some very ugly truths about her pretty society, and if she doesn't do what she's asked, she'll never be pretty. But if she does, it means betraying her best friend.
Spoilers ahead.
I had to laugh at the opening line's tribute to William Gibson's Neuromancer, which pretty much told me that just because someone's writing YA SF doesn't mean that person doesn't know what he's doing. And I've got to give Westerfeld credit: this book with all its themes, told from the POV of a girl, is a damn brave story to tackle. I'm not saying guys don't worry about appearances, but let's face it: when it comes to beauty, I think women have far more expectations than men do, which makes those of us who're feminists more keenly aware of the media, what it's portraying to whom and why.
But I'm getting off-track. One thing I really admired about Westerfeld's world-building is that he doesn't rely on the version of pretty we're all used to. And he reveals this slowly, showing how people are made pretty and the versions of themselves the create on their wallscreens to imagine what they'll look like. Sneaky comments are thrown in too, like how Shay, the best friend, is too skinny. And then Westerfeld smacks us upside the head when Tally reaches Smoke: she's shown fashion and sports magazines FROM OUR TIME and her first reaction to the kind of people WE consider beautiful is that . . . wait for it . . . that's right, you guessed it, THEY'RE UGLY. She even starts picking out exactly what's wrong with a fashion model's actual body in terms of its shape, and at that point in the book, I had to applaud. Westerfeld isn't catering to current notions of beauty or anything else, but he's taking a conscious concern in society and giving it life in a story, showing the reader how beauty really does drive everything in society, and making the reader question the versions of beauty they've grown up with. As well they should: just as Tally questions the notion of beauty in those magazines from our time, so must she question the notion of beauty in her own time, and what it really means.
There's more to this book than pretties though. Westerfeld's clearly created a dystopia, and Tally soon learns that being pretty isn't everything--turning pretty means the doctors turn off your intellect, turning you into a happy, gullible creature that'll go along with just anything. It's a creepy revelation, those brain lesions, and I was fascinated by how two doctors' discovery ended up creating an entire rebellion.
I can see why this book--likely the whole series--is so popular. Tally is an immediate narrator, so down on herself that you never once consider her perfect, but rather very capable because that's the only thing worthwhile about her until she comes to terms with her definition of beauty. It's heartbreaking to see Tally change, especially when she makes the conscious decision to not betray Smoke, because by destroying that locket, she broadcasts their position and everything goes to hell.
I'm a little torn on the outcome of all of this. On one hand, I get it: she is responsible whether she wants to be or not, and people died because of it. On the other hand, not only was she FORCED into even discovering Smoke, but in the end, bringing the Specials to Smoke was a complete and total accident. I understand why characters would feel betrayed in the end, especially Maddie, but there's a part of me that resists Tally's responsibility in the whole thing. Yes, she's responsible, but as a very unwilling participant.
The book ends on not quite a cliffhanger, but it's not exactly an ending either, just a segue to the next title. That's fine--it certainly creates a demand for the next book, which is a good thing when you're dealing with a YA audience who wants everything right at their fingertips. I can see too, based on the titles, how Westerfeld plans to explore each faction of this dystopic society he's created, and how it's all a progression. But oddly enough, I do hope he touches on pregnancy. While there's no sex in the book, it's more than hinted at, and since Pretties are allowed to party, drink, and have as much sex as they want, I'm curious if there's something in the operation that eliminates the need for birth control, something that's reversed when a person reaches middle-pretty age. Whatever the case, I hope it's touched on. Westerfeld does a great job illuminating so much else about teen culture and the fantasy thereof, that we learn where exactly sex falls into all of this.
My Rating
Must Have: it's a fast, enticing read that does an amazing job at illustrating the heart of teen issues and fears. And the fact it does it in such a well-drawn SF dystopia makes it something more than a must-YA-read, but a must-SF read as well. I've yet to see an adult SF writer (meaning, writers for adults) take a science fictional spin on the ideas of beauty and letting those ideas drive the story rather than be window-dressing. At least, I haven't seen this in a novel. Short stories, I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, I look forward to reading the rest of these books, and as of right now, I'm more than willing to check out other Westerfeld titles as well.
Next up:
Book: Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
Graphic Novel: V for Vendetta by Alan Moore