Uglies (Uglies #1)

Reader reviewed by Rose

This si a great sci-fi book, even if your not into that stuff. Meet Tally, a girl of the future after our society has collapsed....a future where at sixteen, everyone is made to look like a supermodel. The problem? Tally's friend, Shay, has decided she dosen't want to be pretty, and runs away. Now the athorities are telling Tally that if she dosen't find Shay, she won't ever turn pretty! But what Tally finds once she leaves her citys safe walls might be enough to make her never go back.

Reader reviewed by Victoria

I'm not very interested in sci-fi type stuff, so I was rather unsure when I began reading this book. Once I started, however, I got really interested and finished it quickly and had to go pick up the sequel.
I definitely recommend it whether or not you're into science fiction.

Reader reviewed by Lauren

This book takes place in the furture where everyone gets to become pretty when they turn 16. Tally is the last of her friends to become pretty. So she is all alone when her friends became pretties. Then she mets Shay and they quckly became friends over thier birthdays. Shay tells Tally being pretty isn't everything and that she dosen't even to became a pretty. She wants to runaway and become a smokie( a smokie is a person who runaways to a place called smokie.)Shay asks Tally if she wants to come but Tally declins. The next day Tally learns Shay is gone. Tallt is then told she has go find Shay and bring Shay back. So Tally is off.
So do you want to know what will happen then read this wonderfull book!

Reader reviewed by Amanda

Tally is Ugly. She will be Ugly until she turns 16, when the government of the futuristic world she lives in will turn her Pretty. And Tally is completely alright with that. She feels like she is the last of her friends that has not yet turned 16 and is thrilled to be Pretty in just a few short weeks. It is the only life she has ever known until she meets Shay. Shay is also 15 and sharing the same birthday as Tally, will be made Pretty at the same time, unless she runs away. Shay does not want to be made Pretty, as she believes that life as an Ugly would be more pure and free than to be made into a person that is exactly the same as everyone else. She tries to convince Tally to run away with her, to a village called the Smoke, where other Uglies live their lives in peace, without surgeries. When Tally refuses and is then asked to betray Shay and inform the leaders of the city as to where she has gone or never be made into a Pretty, Tally needs to decide what is more important: friendship or becoming what she has always dreamed of.


This book was fantastic and of a completely different level than anything I've read in a very long time. The underlying metaphors about being unique or becoming like everyone else are very strong, but in a way that is not blatant or in-your-face. Westerfeld created characters that are just like teens today, with strong feelings, interest in the opposite sex, and the yearning to be popular, but allowed the plot to take these characters into realms previously unknown, just as teenagers often face the unknown in their daily lives, often choosing to take the path that everyone else takes. I can certainly see how everyone seems to love this series and I cannot wait to get to the 2nd in the trilogy, Pretties.

Reader reviewed by Sara

"Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license - for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. IN just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world - and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever."

At first I thought this book was really boring and not all that well written, but the more I got into the plot the better it got. It might not be my favorite book, but its no slouch.

Reader reviewed by Boatdock

There are two things I love about this book:
1. the writing
2. the reality

Scott Westerfeld is my all-time favorite author. He can paint the pictures in my mind so well. But, the reality of the story is amazing. If you described the book to someone they usually wouldn't see the reality. But when you read it, you ,or at least I, can tell that even though we don't go through that drastic of a surgery, we will usually do anything to look 'pretty'. Even though everyone else sees a normal person, we see the ugliest thing in the world when we look in the mirror. We love but hate the people that are already so beautiful, but sometimes they are the ones that envy you also.
Anyway, this book is GREAT!!! I have recommened it to my family and friends, and I have had long conversations at the dinner table about the book, even though nobody has a clue what I am talking about. THIS IS THE BEST booK I HAVE EVER READ!!! SCOTT WESTERFELD ROCKS!!!

Reader reviewed by Missy

This was a grat book. I read 4 times already and I just got it two weeks ago. i love how when you read abook once twice and even three times and each time you read somthing new or understand something better. I really like Shay and Tally because I can relate to them both in one way or another. I give this book a 5+ star rating!
I also can't waid for Prities the other boook!

Reader reviewed by erica

If you've heard about how this story is similar to "The Giver" and are expecting this book to be thought-provoking and dark, don't. It's almost anything but. Tally Youngblood has been waiting all her life to turn sixteen. In her society, sixteen is the age when you recieve an operation to turn "pretty." Before this operation, you are considered an "ugly," separated with all the other uglies from the pretties. Every ugly goes through the operation and looks forward to it because when you become a pretty, you move into New Pretty Town where you spend the rest of your life having fun. However, Tally learns the darker side of the operation when she is forced to find her runaway friend, Shay. Shay has runaway because she does not want to be pretty like everyone else. It is through the small town that Shay runs away to, that Tally realizes how horrible the society she once lived in really is.

In the operation, the doctors purposely give the patients brain legions, in order to prevent opinions from forming among the masses. Also, by preforming the operation, everyone already looks the same, so racial and ethnical differences are completely eliminated. In short, the authorities were controlling the civilians by damaging their ability to think for themselves. Subject matter like this, is very similar to the material that Louis Lowry showed in "The Giver." This was a very serious, dark book that gave the reader alot to think about. Like a good science fiction book, it showed what mistakes humans should avoid and where we do not want to be headed as a society. Subject matter like this is best handled seriously in order for a book to reach its maximum potential. Scott Westerfield, did anything but.

The book was light-hearted and felt a bit "lightened up" in order to sell more copies and appeal to more readers. It felt like he was trying to appeal to a younger age group that could not fully comprehend the seriousness of the subject. It even felt like he did not understand how serious material like this is. Honestly, I cannot believe how he presented the subject in such an innocent, ignorant way.

If you want a good plotline and some pretty decent characters, I highly recommend this book. Sure, Westerfield did do a good job in that department. The setting is believable and the characters are very well done. The only unbelievable thing is how David fall in love with Tally almost instantly to the point where it seemed like a fairytale. Otherwise, it's full of action, drama, and plot twists. If you like more mature, dark books, don't look for too much in this one. The younger age group might not notice, but matured readers will. Overall, it's a good read, but afterwards it leaves you wondering why he handled material like this so lightly.

Reader reviewed by Samantha

This is the first book on the trilogy. the second book is Pretties and last is Speacials.
In this futuristic world, when you turn 16, you get an operation that turns you "pretty."Until then, you are ugly. Tally is waiting to turn pretty, then she meets shay who is not sure if she wants to turn pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally gets told that she can't turn pretty unless she tells where shay is. she finds shay but she also meets david and a whole now side of pretty is shown. Now tally isn't so sure that she wants to turn pretty.I would also reccommend reading pretties to find out what happens next!

Reader reviewed by Catherine

the story begins in the future. where you are born uglie, and until you reach the age 16, you will stay that way. When you reach 16 you are taken and reformed in a new likeness, you become a "pretty". pretties party all day and hang out, basicly just have fun. You meet Tally who just lost her best friend , Peris, because he was older than her. (you move into the other part of the city once you are a "pretty") now she meets a new friend, named Shay. Shay isn't longing to be pretty like Tally is, she thinks she is fine the way she is. This idea was enforced by a place called Smoke. A civilization were no one had the operation to be pretty done. Where everyone was ugly, meaning no one was. tally conciders this way of life until she is faced with a choise. go and betray her friend, or stay uglie forever. which will she choise? find out. now its not as good as Twilight, BUT WHAT IS!!!! extreamly good. a must read for teens who are insecure or totally secure!!