katekintailbc | Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (Reply)

Uglies
by Scott Westerfeld
(Audio)

I had heard about this series from a few people (friends, daughters of friends) and I'd seen it on the library shelves for a while. But it wasn't until I finally picked it up and read the description on the cover that I knew it was for me.

The world (utopia or dystopia-you decide!) that the characters live in is one where you undergo an operation on your sixteenth birthday to make you pretty. Then you get to go live in New Pretty Town with all the bubbly pretties and party your heart out. Being pretty means you have bigger eyes and look vulnerable, not like a threat. Being pretty means you'll be symmetric, and people looking at you will think anything you have to say is fantastic and believable. Being pretty makes you attractive enough to find a husband/wife to have children with; it's just how continuing the species works.

Tally Youngblood is not yet sixteen, which means she's still an Ugly, stuck finding her kicks doing fun things like sneaking around or doing tricks like crashing a party of Pretties just to see her best friend, who turned sixteen before she did. Then she meets Shay, who is questioning this whole world around them. Shay had friends who ran off to the Smoke, where people are able to escape society and grow up normally (though without the modern conveniences of city life). After Shay runs off and Tally is left alone again, she is recruited by Special Circumstances to go get Shay and bring her back to be pretty, which is what Shay probably wants deep down inside anyway. So really this is doing her a favor. And Tally will not be allowed to have her surgery until she completes the mission.

First off, I love the complex society built within this series. Just when I thought I had seen it all, there was yet ANOTHER layer beneath to reveal and another step to take. And this, the first book, might just be my favorite (it's actually difficult to decide, because I really like the second one as well, for different reasons, and Extras was actually amazing as well). I liked how easy it is to assimilate into the world. As far as I can remember, no time is really spent explaining anything to anyone. You're just throw in with catch new vocabulary and a set of perceptions foreign to you and you have to adapt. You've got Tally & her point of view to help you out though. Tally is a fantastic main character; her motivations are ALWAYS clear to you, even when she ends up making the wrong choice or doing something she wishes she didn't have to do. Even when we know what's coming--the fact that she'll realize maybe being forced into the pretty operation isn't the only choice--we understand all of what's behind that realization.

And then there's David. How could I NOT fall in love with David? Born in "the wild" David has never even been IN a city and certainly never had the pretty-making operation. And, yet, Tally finds herself warming to him and him to her (cliche as it might be, it's still realistic once you get to the end of the series and realize the real reasons he was attracted to her at first are pretty genuine).

There's also a lot of other themes at play in this book (and the series). There are medical ethics at play and a special (literally) police force that is beyond scary and efficient in their missions. This society came about after a huge catastrophe caused by a plague that didn't attack people but, instead, attacked oil. Our civilization fell apart, died out, and are now called the rusties (because we wasted so much metal and other resources in our buildings, cars, etc.). There's an underlying theme of environmental awareness. When the Smokies cut down trees to make their homes, is that a justified waste of materials?

Tally's internal struggles--to betray her friend, to reveal the Smokies for selfish reasons vs. live a life out in the "wild" roughing it, surrounded by ugly faces--are complicated enough to keep the reader wondering and guessing. And the final showdown is unexpected and rewarding in certain ways but terrifying and shocking in others.

I highly recommend this whole series, but this book especially. It will get you thinking about what's really important, about how we instinctively react to beauty and to situations in general, about how we (as Rusties) need to be aware of what we're doing. But it will also entertain you. You can't help but love these characters, I swear.