writehollydavis
Written on Nov 20, 2021
Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.
- ISBN10 0689865384
- ISBN13 9780689865381
- Publish Date 8 February 2005
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Simon & Schuster
- Imprint Simon Pulse
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 432
- Language English
Reviews
readingwithwrin
Written on Mar 18, 2016
I loved Tally in this book. She was a trickster and a person who just wanted what she had always been told was the thing to be. But when she learns that there are others out in the world “smokies” and see starts learning that all she had been taught wasn’t what she thought it was. She started changing and she was growing and learning, and when she realized that she couldn’t do the thing she was pretty much forced into doing, she tried to end it. Sadly this didn’t go as she thought it would and she ended up causing an awful thing to happen to the community she was now calling home. But she does her best to fix this and try to make it right and protect the people that she had by accident ended up hurting.
“History would indicate that the majority of people have always been sheep.”
It's true even if you go back centuries from the time we're in now, it shows that people have always been followers. Most to good people, but some to awful people. It's sad to think of but it does make you realize that sometimes we don't learn and we just go with the crowd even when the crowd is doing something that's wrong.
This book is very similar in ways to how we are as a society today. Which makes it scary and was what made me love this story so much I think. Because maybe we still have a chance to change how we see things and how we live.
The only real problem I had with this story was the insta-love between two characters. I know it's because they're young and all but I still feel like more important things were happening/needed to be dealt with.
That ending was really good, I can't believe she told what she had done even though she knew it would change everything. It did make me love Tally even more though because she didn't just keep hiding it until she couldn't keep it a secret anymore or someone else told it for her.
Overall I loved this story and I am so glad that I have the second book so that I can just continue on and find out what happens next.
“Yes. What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.”
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cornerfolds
Written on Feb 5, 2016
Uglies is a book that I've had my eye on for years, but just never got around to read it, despite the fact that it's one of my brother's absolute favorites. When it came up as the Dystopia Challenge group read for February, I knew it was time to take the plunge!
This is a story set at some point in the future when age (quite literally) comes with beauty. As children, everyone is an ugly, also known as normal. Everyone has nicknames based on their "ugly" qualities, but no one cares because they all know it's only a matter of time before they're made pretty with a complex medical procedure and moved to the pretty side of town.
Tally is very close to the day of her procedure when this book begins, before she makes friends with Shay and her whole world is turned upside down. Tally is also one of my issues with Uglies because I just really didn't like her very much. I tried to cut her a little slack, knowing that she had been brainwashed from birth, but I had a very hard time liking her. Her loyalties were disturbing and her insistence on becoming pretty even after she'd started to learn the truth made her difficult to sympathize with.
The story itself was definitely unique and had the potential to be great. The technology was cool and I found the ruins themselves fascinating! I thought the idea of this kind of "pretty" conformity was an interesting one and I wish it had been better fleshed out. Instead, I had problems with the world building and the writing, finding it slow even when it was supposed to be exciting. I really wanted to know more about the why and how of the current state of the world. Maybe that's something that will be further explored in the remaining books.
I really expected more from Uglies than what I got. I think part of the problem might be that I waited too long to read it. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more ten years ago? The concept was interesting and there were certainly some bits that were enjoyable, but I probably won't continue with the series.
Actual rating: 2.5 stars
Kim Deister
Written on May 28, 2015
Every dystopian world is a the result of a utopian effort to eliminate those things considered to be detrimental to society. For the world of Uglies, that is nonconformity and extremes. Set about three hundered years in the future, the world is otherworldly high-tech and the government provides everything to its people, even the extreme cosmetic surgery that is a major part of it's culture. At 16, each person receives cosmetic surgery that transforms them from an "ugly" to a "pretty." Prior to surgery, each person can choose what their future self will look like within the governmentally mandated standards of beauty. The lines between ugly and pretty are not just visual, but physical as well. Once transformed, new pretties cross the river to live in beautiful condominiums where, for the time being, their only job is to be beautiful and to have fun. Later, they will have other operations in conjunctiuon with the passage of time. Eventually they will have surgery to turn them into "Middle Pretties," those who are adults with jobs. And later they move on to become "Crumblies," our senior citizens.
Tally Youngblood is the protagonist, about to turn 16 and looking forward toi her operation. Her best friend Peris has already had his operation and she is feeling the strain that comes between Pretties and Uglies. Shortly before she has her operation, she meets Shay, another Ugly. They become fast friends, hoverboarding and pulling the pranks that are a part of Ugly tradition. Shay is different from anyone she has ever known, balking against the surgery. Tally ignores that, but is forced to deal with it when Shay runs away just before their shared birthday. When she goes, she leaves Tally a note with cryptic directions that she doesn't initially understand. On the morning of her surgery, Tally is taken instead to Special Circumstances... a paramilitary division of the government that enforces the rules. There she is given an ulitmatum to give up Shay or never get her surgery to become a Pretty. This is the motivation behind the plot of the novel as Tally discovers things about herself, about her friends, about the world, and about her own feelings.
This is a character-driven novel with important themes to consider. The concept of identity is a big part of the storyline. The government has created and mandated these surgeries in order to create conformity. Extreme individuality is considered to be a disruptive aspect of past societies, creating a standard of appearance that even removes racial markers. Beauty is dictated by those standards, a nod to the image-obsessed society that we now live in. But beauty almost loses its meaning among the Pretties, when everyone is beautiful. Uglies think of themselves as almost temporary, fUlawed. After all, they will be "fixed" when they turn 16. Even the personalities and personal dynamics change when they move from Ugly to Pretty, underlying the idea that we are defined by our appearance.
The characters are well-developed and easily relatable in different ways. Because of the wide range of characters along the Ugly-Pretty spectrum, there were lots of perspectives and thoughts about the world. Some of the characters made you really think about the choices you might make for yiourself if in their position. There are undoubtedly things that are tempting about the Pretty part of society, but at the same time, the implications are frightening. And there are just as many things that are tempting about remaining Ugly (our own reality), as well as the sacrifices.
My Recommendation
This is a fantastic example of dystopian literature, a world with both utopian and dystopian elements. The implications of a world like the one in this book are a little scary, particularly when compared to the world and culture we live in today. Fantastic read that will make you think!
boghunden
Written on May 5, 2013
Karaktererne var jeg ikke så vilde med og i virkeligheden kunne jeg godt have tænkt mig, at historien var fortalt fra Shays synsvinkel, hun var nemlig den eneste jeg havde det nogenlunde med. Hun var dog stadig lidt for tøsefornærmet efter min mening, men sådan er det vel at være lige omkring de 16 år. (MINI SPOILER) David, som skulle forestille at være kærlighedsinteressen, brød jeg mig heller ikke om. Måske var det egentlig hele den måde det var beskrevet på. Den ene dag tvivlede vores hovedperson Tally på hans eksistens, den næste var de kærester. Okay, ikke helt, men næsten da. Det fungerede ikke for mig, i hvert fald ikke i denne bog.
Sproget var underligt, det føltes som om det nogen gange blev fortalt i førsteperson og andre gange i tredjeperson, selvom det ikke var tilfældet. Jeg tror det har noget at gøre med, at der nogen gange skrives navnet, og nogen gange han/hun om karaktererne. Det er fint nok, hvis forfatteren forstår at skrive så man er med, men det synes jeg ikke helt Scott Westerfeld gjorde. Okay, nu går jeg nok også rimelig meget i detaljer…. Men i alt forstyrrede det altså min læseoplevelse lidt!
Jeg kunne imidlertid rigtig godt lide idéen om, at det er samfundet selv der har opbygget denne her mur af løgne og halve sandheder om, at man kun er noget, hvis man er smuk. Selve plottet fungerede rigtig godt, dog kunne tempoet have været noget mere jævnt – meget hurtigere i starten og mere langsomt i anden halvdel. Det er helt sikkert plottet der gør det for mig i denne her bog.
Om jeg får læst videre? Nej. Hvis jeg skal være helt ærligt. Jeg er ikke engageret nok i karaktererne.
Chelsea
Written on Apr 23, 2013
There are some parts I did kinda of like though. While I don’t like the dystopian world the author has created I like the idea of it. A world based on who looks prettiest. It’s a cool idea so the book doesn’t get one star like I wanted to give it. I’m trying to be a fair person here. Tally did get a little better as the book went on too so it wasn’t a completely horrible book. I suggest everyone should give it a chance and then decided if you like it or don’t. Don’t base it on some reviews you’ve read because there’s so many mixed feeling about this book.
mbtc
Written on Mar 18, 2013
ibeforem
Written on Nov 8, 2012
It was decided, post-apocalypse, that all of the world’s problems were caused by inequality. Not only financial or social, but physical. So, upon their sixteenth birthday, everyone is given plastic surgery to become Pretty. They then spend the rest of their young-adulthood going to parties, basically.
Tally is about to become Pretty, and never thought about doing otherwise before she runs into Shay. Shay doesn’t want to become Pretty. She’s learned of a settlement of people living outside of the city (the Smokes), and she’d rather be a part of that society than the one she’s expected to join. She asks Tally to come with her, but Tally is unsure, until the decision is made for her.
I thought the book had some interesting things to say about conformity and oppressive monitoring by the government. For a heroine, Tally does tend to be rather passive. Most of what happens to her is a result of what other people have either done or made her do, and I have to admit I didn’t love her. But, the story itself is compelling enough that I don’t have to love her to want to see what happens to her.
Overall, it was just an enjoyable story. Westerfeld has created an interesting world, and I’ll definitely be reading more to see what he does with it.
nannah
Written on Dec 27, 2011
It all just leaves you starting for more.
layawaydragon
Written on Oct 22, 2011
I remember being in the store browsing books and picking the first one the series is named after, Uglies. I remember feeling like a fugly teen that's never had a boyfriend and wondering WTF could possibly make you pass up a chance at being pretty.
I'm pretty sure this is where my love affair of YA Dystopians came from, it's certainly the first I remember reading. To say it had an effect and lasting impression is an understatement.
This tetralogy packed a wallop of action and romance amid a dystopian world that I found so refreshing. There's character progression galore. Tally's journey is un-fucking-belivable. And the kicker is the 4th book is set after Tally's main quest with a new protagonist: Aya.
I remember thinking "Where's my Tally damnit?!?" when I first read the blurb. But holy shit, I love how this ends up. The world building continues as it evolves, which I love to death. I hate when fantasy worlds stay stagnate when people are forever reaching forward. Aya's tale is just a good in a short amount of time and no worries, Tally keeps rolling and her ending is awesome.
Everything about is is fantastic. Of course, it's been years since I read it as teen and I can't give content warnings from recollection alone but I highly recommended the series. If you love YA and/or dystopians, it's a must read.
And yes, I love the author Scott Westerfield so much for this series and have continued reading his work proudly.