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Uglies (Uglies Trilogy, Book 1)

Uglies - Scott Westerfeld Check out this review at Smash Attack Reads! http://smashattackreads.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-uglies-by-scott-westerfeld.htmlThe PlotMeet Tally, an almost-16-year-old Ugly. Yes, Ugly. In Tally's world, people are considered Ugly until they become Pretty. And they become Pretty on their 16th birthday. How do they become Pretty, you ask? Via an operation, of course. This operation allows everyone to conform to to the ideal standard of beauty in order to keep the population on equal terms. When someone becomes a Pretty, they are shipped out of Uglyville into New Pretty Town, where they party the night away and have no responsibilities. Sounds like an ideal world, no? Wrong. Underneath all the glam and beauty lies a secret. Because we all know you don’t get something for nothing…Tally accidentally meets Shay, another ugly whose 16th birthday is also right around the corner. Shay doesn’t really see any problem with staying Ugly. She voices these opinions to Tally who is horrified at such a thought. Shay urges Tally to come to the outskirts of their world to the Rusties’ ruins. Yes, they refer to former civilizations as Rusties due to the corroded cars and broken down buildings. They find such waste atrocious. At the ruins, Shay lets on she knows someone on the outskirts, someone who isn’t part of their civilization, someone who doesn’t believe in being Pretty just for the sake of fitting into society. In fact, there is entire village of people, living in a place called The Smoke...Shay makes a run for it. Unfortunately for Tally, she gets noticed by Special Circumstances, who knows of her connection with Shay and the Smokies. Special Circumstances demands that she assist them in finding the Smoke. Their ultimatum: Help us or remain Ugly forever.Will Tally betray the Smoke in order to become Pretty, or will she realize that all that glitters is not gold?The ReviewI love books with satirical themes. It is very obvious that this book brings to light the ridiculous nature of our society. We are so over the top about what beauty is, and so many young people struggle with looking like a Victoria’s Secret model or David Beckham, when chances of looking like that are 1 in a mil. Young girls starve themselves and young boys become attracted to mostly model-types. We’ve forgotten what really makes someone beautiful. I also love the intense environmental destruction theme in the book, which is most definitely a call to how we’re treating Planet Earth.I loved the riddled directions to the Smoke that Shay gave Tally. She had decipher the meaning and it turned into a great adventure. I also think Tally grew up a lot during that very long, lonely and dangerous trek to a new society. Once she arrives at the Smoke, no longer do you see the self-centered, materialistic, naive young girl. Instead, a mature young lady has emerged, one who realizes there is more to life then just herself.I really loved reading about this future society. Their technology far surpasses ours. They have a metal grid running under the city so they can use hovercars and hoverboards. Hoverboards FTW!! Where can I get one? They also have something called a bungee jacket, which we get to read about in action more than once.David = AwesomesauceDystopian fiction is the best. Seriously. I do love it so.I look forward to the next in the series, Pretties.QuotesDavid lowered his voice. “Maybe they didn't want you to realize that every civilization has its weakness. There s always one thing we depend on. And if someone takes it away all that s left is some story in a history class.""We're not freaks, Tally. We're normal. We may not be gorgeous, but at least we're not hyped-up Barbie dolls."Tally sighed, tipping her feet again to follow. "Maybe that's because they have better stuff to do than kid tricks. Maybe partying in town is better than hanging out in a bunch of old ruins."Shay's eyes flashed. "Or maybe when they do the operation-when they grind and stretch your bones to the right shape, peel off your face and rub all your skin away, and stick in plastic cheekbones so you look like everyone else-maybe after going through all that you just aren't very interesting anymore."