Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Uglies by Scott
Westerfield
After
spending four years with other Uglies in a dormitory, pulling all kinds of
tricks, you finally grow up and become a Pretty on your sixteenth birthday.
That’s what Talla had been looking forward too. Her best friend Peris was three
months older than her, living lavishly in New Pretty Town, going to fancy
parties, dressing up and having the time of his life. Alone and lonely, that
was when Talla met Shay. Shay would turn sixteen the same day Talla would! But
Shay wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a Pretty. And the stories she told Talla
about a place where your looks didn’t matter, where you could live without
looking pretty like everyone else, seemed appalling to her. But when Shay runs
away Talla might not have a choice of whether or not she wants to be a Pretty.
Someone might have just stripped that choice away.
This
new world Westerfield created where you become a Pretty and everything is
perfect, everyone looks the same, no troubles, no care is downright disturbing.
He took all those insecurities teens feel and put them in a box that you could
burn and completely forget about when you turn sixteen and in theory it sounds
amazing. Set in the distant future, in a time where technology and the world as
we know it has disappeared, this is what society now looks like. There is no
conflict, because there is nothing to fight over anymore. The cities are
self-sustaining. Jealousy no longer exist. Everyone is safe. This is where the
world building is done very well. Then when the characters reflect back on the history
and the “rusties” that came before, it’s easy to understand why people think
this new world may be better. That is until Westerfield starts pulling the
layers back. I liked these characters, for the most part. Talla was well
flushed out and her motivations were easy to decipher. She felt like a real
teen struggling with the weight of the things she was learning. Some of the
other characters I would have loved to see fleshed out more. I had a harder
time believing some of their motivations.
My biggest
complaint comes with the ending of this book. It felt rushed. A lot of things
happened and it felt like we were running towards a cliff and certain things
had to happen before we jumped off it into the abyss. But now I’m here after
devouring this book and I know I am intrigued enough to finish the series. It’s
been worth it so far to get lost in this city of Uglies made Pretty and I want
to see where this journey takes Talla and what she discovers. I give this 3.5
out of 5 stars.
Comments
Post a Comment