Uglies book review

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld

Dystopia/Romance

425 pages

 

I love dystopian novels! They are becoming my favorite genre because it is so fun to see how different authors foresee possible futures. Uglies reminded me a lot of Matched. I started it one day and finished it the next. It follows Tally, who is about to turn 16, and subsequently, turn Pretty. When you turn 12, you are sent to Uglyville to live with all the other Uglies until you turn 16, when you become a new Pretty and move to New Pretty Town. Tally’s best friend Peris has just turned Pretty and left her all alone. That is, until she meets Shay, who shares her same birthday.

 

Tally and Shay begin doing everything together, which mostly involves pulling tricks and sneaking out at night to go to the old Rusty Ruins. The Ruins are what is left of the previous civilization that almost destroyed the world. Tally and Shay trust more in each other until Shay lets Tally know that she doesn’t plan to become Pretty, but wants to run away to a group of people who have escaped from various cities. Of course, this means that they will have to stay Uglies the rest of their lives. Shay wants Tally to go with her and run away, but Tally wants to become Pretty and join Peris. However, things don’t end up going as planned.

 

When Shay disappears, Tally suddenly becomes important enough to call on the attention of a group that no one really thought existed, the Specials. They tell her that in order to become Pretty, Tally has to betray her friend and help them discover the location of the secret city that Shay ran off to. Tally has to decide what to do, and who to honor her promises with. She promised Peris she would meet him soon as a Pretty, but she promised Shay she would keep her secret. And if she does go, what will she find when she gets there? Will it be enough to change her mind and make her want to stay?

 

I really enjoyed this book; dystopian novels are almost always a fun read, in my opinion. This is a great book for young adults, or anyone else who likes these kind of stories. If you like these kinds of books, pick it up! Especially if you liked Matched, as I said, this reminded me a lot of it. This is the first book in what was originally meant to be a trilogy, but is now a 4 piece set. I’m excited to keep reading on and see what happens in the rest of the series.

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