Uglies -- Scott Westerfeld

Remember that futuristic Twilight Zone about the people that, at a certain age, were given mandatory plastic surgery to make them beautiful and ageless?

This book is that story told in 400 pages.  Obviously, there have been a lot of additions, but the basic premise is the same.  Being a dystopian novel, it's pretty clear early on that beauty comes with a price.

On one hand, the book irritated me because there was no subtlety.  I saw the plot twists coming miles away and the points that the author was trying to make had the Rainbow Boys frying pan effect.  BLAM.  Different is good.  BLAM.  Love yourself.  BLAM.  Beauty is relative, as is ugly.  (Judging from the Amazon reviews, though, there are plenty of readers out there that don't mind the frying pan.)

On the other hand, I kind of got hooked.  There was a lot of action, the hoverboards were cool, and there was an excellent cliffhanger.  Even though the lessons are a tad forceful, they are extremely valid.  (I still wonder if Scott Westerfeld has a background in advertising.  It would make so much sense.)  I'm sure that I'll break down at some point and read the next book.

Comments

[Chrissy]

I took this book out a while ago, but never read it. Something about it just turned me off, and I couldn't sit down and just read it. I'm glad you got to it. I'm not really surprise it had the frying pan effect. There are a lot of good ideas out there. I really wish there was more subtlety in handling them.

Side note: Not too long ago, I found myself explaining the difference between affect and effect and ever since then I haven't been able to pick the correct one. I think I broke my grammer with over explanation.

[Rebecca]

OMG! this was one of the best books I read..love it! oh, and pretties rox! I CANT WAIT UNTIL SPECIALS!!just one thing I have to complaine about...is how you end it! way to cliffhang! I was almost kicking the book I was so annoyed when it ended!
But these books are books you feel that youre part of..and for me its a very hard thing to find a book I feel Im there! SO THANKS FOR WRITTING A GREAT BOOK!
P.S it would make a great movie!

[Andrea]

well im reading this book and i LOVE it. its not like anythong ive ever read before. i hear prettys is good but Specials is bad. i intend on reading them both.

[Sasha]

I LOVE THESEE BOOKS THEY ARE OFF DA HOOK I COULD READ THEM ALL DAY KEEP'EM COMING SCOTT!!!!

lOVE,
SEXY SASHA

[Ashleigh]

These Books are awesome I literally love them!!! I'm not a big reader but the triology kept me going i cant wait for The Extras ... i thought the ending to The Pretties could have been alot better more detailed i dunno ,but the Specials was awesome all the way through and the best ending it was a real shocker , but no one could have done it better. I couldnt put any of these books down !!!
It should be a movie i think it would go way bigger than Harry Potter no doubt!!!!!!!!!!!!

i loved this book adn cant wait to readd the next one!

does anyone kno what the setting of the book is though or what the life lesson is?

[erica]

i am currently reading uglies. it reminds me of wicked, everyone loved it and said it was awesome. i was one of the last to see it and when i saw it it was good and everything but i didn't think it was THAT AWESOME to keep on raving about. same thing with the uglies series. i haven't finished it yet, but it still reminds me of wicked. if it turns out like wicked did,well, that would surprise me. same thing with the twilight series. still haven't read twilight or the other books because they are SO popular at my school that it is extremely hard to get your hands on a copy. espically twilight, the first book. same ting with the uglies. i got lucky because my friend some how got her hands on a copy and then she JUST finished reading it so she checked it in and i checked it out. diary of a wimpy kid was awesome. i'm waiting for my library to get a copy so i can read it. now that i think about it, i'm a bookworm.