Uglies (Uglies #1)

Reader reviewed by Samantha

Uglies is a deliciously captivating book about a teenage about to turn sixteen years old named Tally Youngblood. When you turn sixteen years old, you get an amazing surgery that turns you beautiful, actaully. One day, Tally meets another girl the same age named Shay. They instantly become best friends with "no secrets". The day before their surgery, Shay runsaway to a mysterious place called The Smoke. Tally is then given two life changing choices for her future. She must find her friend Shay and betray her, or she could turn her back on Shay and become beautiful. Her choice changes her world forever and nothing is ever the same anymore.
I read this book a while ago and fell deeply in love with it. It it a captivating book that kept me hooked until I was finished with it. I found Scott Westerfeld's descriptive words even better with each passing page. Scott Westerfeld has other series of books too and I have read one other of his books, and it is still as awesome as Uglies.
Some people have not even heard of Scott Westerfeld, but they should. He is an amazing author with great, indescribable words that capture the reader's heart and mind and which forces the reader to finish reading the book, even if they do not want to.
I love this book and Scott Westerfeld. Without having read the book Uglies, I probably would not of found another author like Westerfeld. He is so amazing that it is difficult to put to words. :)

 

Reader reviewed by KitKat

FIVE STARS. Scott Westerfeld is BRILLIANT.

In the future, when you turn sixteen, you don't get a driver's license. You get beautiful. An operation turns you superpretty and you move "accross the river" to a city of nonstop parties, champagne, and every "pretty toy" so that you live out the rest of your days in utter bliss, a perfect face and a perfect life.

Except, what happens when perfection isn't good enough? Tally and Shay know a secret - the operation changes more than your face. The operation changes your /brain/...

LOVED the idea behind the plot, the plot, the "pretty toys," the characters... the list goes on and on. I totally identified with Tally, too. So, read this book! I'm going to get the rest of the series right now.

I rarely read a book that doesn't feature vampires, but I read the entire Uglies Series and enjoyed it. They are definitely out there, but that is what keeps you coming back for more. Scott Westerfeld has an amazing imagination that I think everyone should experience!

Reader reviewed by Kyla

I absolutely love this book! I love how it's in the future! Tally's cool and easy to relate to. In Tally Youngblood's society, when you turn sixteen you get an operation that makes you pretty and perfect. Tally wants nothing more than to be a Pretty and then a Middle Pretty and then a Crumblie instead of an UGLY. But then she finds out from her friend, Shay, that there is a group of Uglies out there that defy the system and they are called the Smokies. Shay wants to go but Tally would HATE to be an Ugly forever. Shay leaves and the government tells Tally that she must go and find Shay or she can't be Pretty. So, naturally, Tally goes to find Shay. But when she eventually gets to the Smoke, the place where the Smokies live, she falls in love with everything and a very cute Ugly boy (I know, contradiction!) named David. Tally decides not to give up the location of the Smoke and throws a locket, that the government had given her to use when she finds the Smoke, in the fire. She believes everything is okay, but turns out, the locket sent a signal out from its location when it was destroyed. The government comes and captures the Smoke with Tally and Shay. At the end of the book, Tally is turned into a Pretty. Throughout the book, Tally thinks she wants one thing, then changes her mind too the exact opposite. The whole story line and concept are great. I loved it so much, in fact, that I'd rather live in the society that Tally lives in in this book. The book called out our society's obsession with being pretty and all the things we do to ruin the enviroment. Tally and Shay criticize our practices and what they said really got me thinking. I think our government and every person out there should read this series. Yeah, Scott Westerfield doesn't know EXACTLY what's gonna happen in the future but I believe he's pretty accurate. I think that if every person on the planet read this series they would change their ways so that the world isn't destroyed. It sure got me thinking, and even though I don't want the world to be destroyed, I sure want Tally's society (Even with the bubbleheadedness. Especially with the bubbleheadedness!). I think Scott has the right idea for the way our society should be (Without the mind rain. Just keeping the bubbleheadedness and operation and stuff.). I love this book, but especially Pretties (Read my review for Pretties.).
~Kyla  : )

Reader reviewed by cosmicdustbella

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license, but for turning pretty. In Tally's world, her 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. The youngest out of all her friends, Tally is the only one left to still have the operation, and she is just a few weeks away.

When lonelyness overcomes her, she decides to visit one of her old friends in New Pretty Town, an island specifically for Pretties, no Uglies allowed. After meeting her friend she must get off the island undetected, or else get caught and undergo severe consequences. Everything went fine, until she meets another ugly on her way back.

Tally and Shay become the best of friends, being the last of the uglies in their grade. But Shay is not sure that she wants to be pretty. She would rather risk life outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world, and it is not 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.

In Scott Westerfeld's thought provoking novel, he has combined social issues with friendship and betrayal. This book about the future will keep you reading for hours, and have you debating with yourself for even longer. Should she have done this? What if she had done that? This fantastic novel of a utopian society will have you on the edge of your seat and comes highly recomended.

Reader reviewed by SarahJane :)

Tally was born ugly, just like everyone else born into Tally's world. All Tally ever wanted to do was be pretty. But prettieness isn't like our pretty today. Prettieness is a gift given to you on your 16th birthday, an opperation that changed you from an ugly to a pretty. A few months before her 16th birthday Tally meets Shay, a rebellious girl that doesn't beleive in the way that their world is run. Then shay starts talking about this other world outside of uglies and pretties a world frobidden of the special circumstances. But what if Shay's right? What if the opperation isn't really what they have been told? was there a secret that the Special Circumstance keeping from all the people?

Reader reviewed by Dancerdork

This is one of the best books ive read, maby bc i like books about the futre or the kids in the story are very interesting. In this world you are ugly untill you turn 16 and you can have the sugery to make you one of the pretties. The pretties are the pamperd bunches of kids who allways get to party. the main character cant wait to be a pretty untill she meets a mysterious girl who talks about running away to land where only uglys live and no one else. after she leaves an elite group called the specials send Tally the main character to find this land. once there Tally falls in love and can no longer rat out her friends but to bad her and the everyone who lives there. i wont go further because im giving to much away peace

Reader reviewed by Springhair

The first in a captivating trilogy set in the future. The main character, Tally Youngblood is about to turn 16 and cant wait. When people in this city turn 16, they turn supermodel gorgeous and live in a city with petty much no rules, super cool technology, and parties every day and night. Then a new person, Shay, shows up in her life, and they become best friends. The night before their 16th birthday, Shay tells Tally she is running away to the Smoke, so she wont have to turn pretty. Suddenly, Tally is faced with a choice, follow Shay and expose the Smoke to become pretty, or stay ugly forever. She finally gets to the Smoke and finds out that she rather likes the Smoke and destroys her tracker so she cant be found. But since the tracker sends out a signal when it is damaged, the Smoke is destroyed and her friends are taken away. Now Tally must go back to the city and rescue her friends before they are turned pretty. This was a really long book, but it was still really good. It got a bit boring near the middle but it did get better. I really like most books set in the future and this was no exception. If you read this one, I would really recommend the rest of the trilogy, Pretties and Specials. I recommend this book to everyone, especially if you can read 300+ page books.

Reader reviewed by Patricia

The book was very good witha captivating plot and left you hanging. It gave a new look on the future and got you thinking about the importance of beauty and ugly. It showed a glimpse of the people in the furture and left us with unforgettable characters (Davids my favorite so far) and was just...goood.

Reader reviewed by Mindy

Picture a world of beauty where everyone is model-perfect. Where beauty and irresponsibility are the goals of one's life. This can all be yours if you allow the government to completely reconstruct your features from head to toe. Everyone is doing it or almost everyone!