Uglies

Dnf 8% couldn???t connect to the story or characters. Probably more a me problem than the book, but I???m going to stick with 1st person narratives in the future.

Totally bubbly!!!!!

Interesting premise. A quick, easy read, but nothing groundbreaking.

(Read this and other reviews at Fictionally Inclined.)

I have been hearing about the Uglies series for what seems like half of forever. I always thought they sounded appealing, and I even picked the first one up from the library once but returned it unread. However, a couple days ago, I found the first two books at a local thrift store for 99 cents apiece. When I spotted them, I practically tripped over myself making a mad grab for them before anyone else could spot the marvelous deal sitting in front of their very eyes. I'm not entirely sure what prompted this, as there was no one particularly near besides my sister and one woman with whom I had carried on a perfectly pleasant conversation about the Stephanie Plum series moments earlier. Regardless of the motivation, I made a slight fool of myself, but in the end, I got the books. That's what matters, I suppose.

I started the book the morning of December 31st, and I was hooked right away. I became completely engrossed in this fascinatingly original dystopian world. I was intrigued by the premise, and the execution by Westerfeld was fantastic. I never wanted to put this book down. The unusual world, the unique-without-being-absurd names, the terminology that was different from our own yet easily understood, interesting characters, and a compelling plot all existed in this book. These are all things that reflect positively on Westerfeld and his ability to craft a superb dystopian novel. I loved reading about Tally and how she changed throughout the book and how her opinions changed with her. Another thing I enjoyed was the fact that with this world, the characters can refer to all the wasteful and stupid things people did in our time. It references wastefulness and racism and things like that, and because of the setting, it does everything without sounding preachy. It is necessary for the story, and it also makes you stop and think from time to time. Even moreso, it does the same thing for beauty, which is absolutely wonderful. Beauty is all in the beholder; you don't have to be flawless to be beautiful.

I also liked the end of the book. It left you longing to know more and ready to break out the next book, but it didn't make you want to throw it across the room in frustration/anger/impatience (like, say, Possession). I do respect the cliff-hanger as a literary device, but I think it is overused and, often, unnecessary. This book, while it did leave off at a strategic plot point, let you know what was about to happen. And if you were intrigued enough by the whole story, you would definitely want to read the second one. At least, that is how it struck me. I appreciated it and liked it a lot.

I felt that the romance was a little quick to develop, but it didn't take away from the story. In fact, is was really necessary to keep the pacing of the book. I just tend to notice these things, as I'm one of those people who can't get enough of the build-up and development of relationships. It's my favorite part; nine times out of ten, I infinitely prefer it to the actual “relationshippy” part of a relationship. But I digress. I am waiting to see what happens to these two and have yet to commit to them as the ship I actually support for the series.

The originality of the storyline and the stance it takes on real beauty are probably my favorite things about this book. I am enjoying it a lot so far, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series! I got the third and fourth from the library, so I am all set. I can only hope that the rest of them are as good. I guess I'll see...

Update: Ugg, i don't know. Not a bad book But I still do not understand why many over hyped this book. It is still lack luster for me. I'm just gonna rate it three stars and leave it at that.


It has been a long time since I have actually read the book, but from what I can remember. I never understood the hype for this book. It was decent in my opinion, but I never finished it because I got bored with it.
I will read it again an will update the review. But read the book if your intrested in reading it.

I honestly LOVED the book. I got into it very fast. I think it was the thought that this book took place hundreds of years in the future, or that it took place in North America, or the fact that one girl and her friends took down a Dystopian society. SPOILER ALERT!!!!!I have all the books in this series/trilogy and I am looking forward to see what happens when David goes to get Tally and Shay. SPOILER DONE!!!!! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good adventure with a bit of rebellion.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld is a dystopian novel for young adults. I went into this book with high expectations, and to my surprise I wasn't too disappointed!

Tally is a few months away from turning sixteen and she cannot wait. Not only will she finally be reunited with her best friend Peris, but she will finally get to be pretty. In her world, everyone undergoes surgery at the age of sixteen and they can move to New Pretty Town.

In this part of the city, everyone is always having fun and they all look stunning. Everybody is the same and everybody is happy, but at what cost?

This was my first book by Scott Westerfeld, so I didn't have anything to compare Uglies with. I had heard a lot of good things about the book (a lot of booktubers also raved about it) and I decided it was time I picked it up to see what it was all about.

Full review over @ The Hungry Bookster

**4.5***
Amazing read a real page turner and a believable protagonist. This book was great but I felt certain things could have been developed better.

Jeg likte denne boka veldig godt! Dystopian er en interessant sjanger, og denne er vel satt sånn ca. 200-300 år etter vår tid, tror jeg. Det var kult å lese om all teknologien og hvordan verden var, og hvordan menneskene tenkte om vår generasjon (The Rusties) og hvordan vi behandlet naturen. På begynnelsen møter vi Tally når bestevennen Peris nettopp har blitt Pretty, og han betyr tilsynelatende veldig mye for Tally, men utover i boka virker det som om hun glemmer at han eksisterer, og det var litt trist. Håper han er med i Pretties (neste bok). Slutten var spennende og sikkert uventet for dem som har klart å ikke spoile seg selv (ehehehem...). David – the love affair – var søt, men jeg følte ikke at jeg helt følte kjemien mellom ham og Tally. Men så var ikke kjærlighet hovedtemaet i boka heller, da.

Tally var en helt grei hovedkarakter. Hun ble stilt et ultimatum, og jeg tror jeg ville ha valgt det samme som henne. Hun bryr seg mye om dem rundt seg. Shay var grei i begynnelsen, men så irriterte hun meg bare mer og mer.

If my mom and sisters hadn't praised this series and likened it to the Hunger Games, I would never have picked it up. The premise is interesting enough, but this book has one of the worst first paragraphs I've ever read. Thankfully, the writing seems to improve as the story progresses, and I'm intrigued enough to want to know how the story plays out. I would have liked to give it 2 1/2 stars, though. The plot seems to drag out a lot longer than it really needs to, and there's a general formulaic predictability to the story so far.

So good! I love the take on physical acceptance and the technology!?!?! So good!!

HMM I think I probably would have liked this way more if I'd read it closer to when I read the actual [b:Uglies 24770 Uglies (Uglies, #1) Scott Westerfeld http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358962036s/24770.jpg 2895388] books? As is, though, it's been a few years and all I remember are the barebones details of Uglies so this didn't feel like an alternate take on Uglies, it felt like... the same thing? Which, I mean, I really liked the other Uglies books. So that's fine.I really liked the very end with a few sketches from the artist & notes from Scott Westerfeld about character design and like what it means to be an “Ugly” (aka: normal).

I devoured this book. It has a message that appeals to all ages (not just teens) and addresses an issue that is at the forefront of our society. Tally is strong and relatable and I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

This was more than a little preachy. I don't need to be reminded that clear cutting and oil dependence are despicable while reading YA lit.

That being said, it was a neat premise for a book and I liked what a little turd the protagonist was. She was truly unlikeable for half the book, and that must have taken some nerve to write!

Super dystopie, si au départ le titre me rebutait un peu et que le début du livre ne me plaisait pas des masses, la suite s'est révélée vraiment géniale. Un univers intéressant, des personnages assez bien creusés, bref une série à découvrir :)

Damn cliffhanger.

I honestly thought by the description and reviews on this book that it was for an older audience (older YA) but it is clearly not. I got a little dragged down with main character some, but that is to be expected given the target audience. An interesting story that got better as the book went on. Not sure if I will continue to read the series though.

Picked this up knowing nothing about it, enjoyed it immensely!

Dystopian books are intriguing.

Would love deeper character development, am hoping it comes through in the next two books, which I have on hand waiting TBR!

A society where people are forced to be pretty via plastic surgery? Potent metaphor, and Westerfeld really makes the most of it, presenting some even-handed reasons why such a society would come about. You know they're wrong, but at the same time you can see their point. At least, before you learn about the secrets that the surgery are meant to hide...

Of course, setting can only take you so far - you have to have a compelling character at the centre of your story, and Tally Youngblood certainly is that - she's faced with some tough choices throughout the book, and despite a couple of missteps she does make the right decisions, no matter how tough it is for her to make them.

The only thing holding this book back from a higher rating? The ending. I really don't like it when books end in massive cliffhangers, especially when it's the first book in a series.

This wasn't the best book I've read, but not the worst either. It did seem to drag in spots and I felt like every other page I was reading about a kid on a hoverboard. It got a bit repetitive. I didn't find myself drawn to any of the characters or even particularly liking any of them/caring what happened to them. The book has an interesting concept, but for me it didn't really get interesting until the “truth about being pretty” was revealed to Tally. That being said, since I already own the next two books, I'll read those. Otherwise, I wouldn't read them.

I'll just cover the whole series in one go: they're great. Adventure, adventure, adventure; a little futuristic face-changing, bubbliness, hoverboards, spag-bol, and rusties. Wonderful series.

Uglies vertelt het verhaal van een post-apocalyptische samenleving, waar iedereen op zijn zestiende verjaardag verplicht plastische chirurgie ondergaat. Deze operatie transformeert je van een “ugly” (i.e. een gewone mens) naar een “pretty”, een generische vorm van schoonheid gebaseerd op biologische reacties op bepaalde uiterlijke kenmerken (a.k.a. Barbie & Ken).
Hoofdpersonage Tally kan niet wachten tot het haar beurt is en ze kan verhuizen naar “New Pretty”, het deel van de stad waar alle jonge pretties samenwonen waar de enige eis “plezier hebben” is. Jammer genoeg wordt haar operatie in de war gestuurd door een vriendin die besluit de operatie niet te ondergaan en weg loopt naar een stad waar “uglies for life” in het wild samen wonen. Dit is (surprise, surprise) niet naar de zin van de hogere machten en zij verplichten Tally haar vriendin achterna te reizen en hen de plaats van deze verborgen stad te verraden.
En dan volgt de grote revelatie, die er eigenlijk al vingerdik van in het begin op lag: mooi worden heeft een prijs. Naast het strippen van je uiterlijke zelf, krijgen je hersenen ook een “pretty” operatie. Het komt er op neer dat alle pretties leeghoofden zijn (a.k.a. Barbie & Ken ;-) ). Schapen, zonder eigen mening, die geen beslissingen kunnen nemen. Een typische dystopie dus.

En op zich kan ik zo'n verhaal wel smaken, het heeft potentieel dit gegeven. Jammer genoeg voldeed het niet aan mijn verwachtingen (tjah, ik heb dan ook net Big Brother gelezen, dus misschien is deze reactie niet helemaal eerlijk). Wat mij vooral stoorde was,
(1) de extreme voorspelbaarheid (vanaf moment 1 dat een pretty wordt beschreven is het al vrij duidelijk dat daar iets aan scheelt en dan spreek ik nog niet over wat gebeurt wanneer Tally de mysterieuze ugly-David ontmoet...);
(2) cliché, na cliché, na cliché (wat soms wel kan smaken, zoals junkfood voor de hersenen, maar hier toch op den duur serieus tegen stak); en
(3) het feit dat de schrijver meer argumenten “voor” de pretty operatie had dan tegen. Dankzij de operatie worden mensen niet meer beoordeeld op hun uiterlijk (ze zien er allemaal min of meer gelijk uit). Er is geen ongelijkheid meer. Iedereen leeft in vrede, met elkaar, met hun omgeving, met de natuur.

Al bij al een boek met een thema dat heel goed kon zijn, wel vlot las, maar uiteindelijk wat ontgoochelde en vrij voorspelbaar was. Misschien zijn de volgende delen beter, maar ik zie mij die niet in de nabije toekomst lezen.

Loved this book when i was younger and now looking back I wouldn't really recommend due to the changing times when it comes to beauty, body acceptance, and the fact that the later books suck in my opinion.

Damn cliffhanger.

I wanted to reread this series ahead of the Netflix movie for the books. I wish this held up better but it is 100% made for 12-13 year olds. The writing is immature and the dialog is unnatural. We listened to it on audiobook which made it worse. The amount of description about the hover crafts and boards is strangely in-depth and completely unnecessary. I gave it an extra star for the nostalgia but I'm just hoping the show is better than the book because it's pretty bad.