Uglies by Scott Westerfeld Review

Title: Uglies

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian 

Page Count: 448 Pages

Book Type: Paperback

Publisher: Simon Pulse

ISBN: 9780689865381

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: 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.

My Review: I love the cover of this one. I can’t really pinpoint why this is, but it just always catches my attention. I also like the tagline of, “In a world of extreme beauty, anyone normal is ugly.” 

Uglies started out a little slow for me, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the story. It really made me think about what it would be like if everyone in the world turned “pretty” at the age of 16. In one way, it would be nice in the sense that potentially no one would be judged by their looks, but on the other hand, it takes away any individuality. It really is a difficult situation to imagine. 

The world Westerfeld created seems pretty fun to live in, if you take away all of the creepy Special Circumstances people. The idea of hoverboards and bracelets to make sure you never plummet to your death was such a cool idea. I would need those bracelets for sure. I am not the most graceful person on the planet. I also have been loving dystopian novels lately. 

I think this one could potentially be a good book to be read in a high school class. It teaches a lesson without being overly preachy and it is pretty “clean” for a teen book.

Have you read this series? I’ve only read the first two so far. Do you have any other dystopian recommendations? I would love them! Leave them in the comments below :)