Again, I affirm that I have very little difficulty embracing books that are generally seen as "chick lit" or otherwise romantic in nature. With that said, Uglies and its corresponding books in the series by Scott Westerfeld is more of a dystopic novel than a romance. I do have to be honest that it would have been unlikely that I would pick up this book if it were not for three things. First, my wife had already grabbed it from audible. Second, it is the favorite series of her brother, Leeroy's, wife. And Third, I had read another series of books by the author and enjoyed them quite a bit. Distopias are not my preferred genre, but I was quite intrigued with Uglies. Like the Leviathan trilogy the writing was good and the plot had some twists and turns. Here is the link to Audible's page for the book. It was narrated by Carine Montebertrand and while I didn't like everything she did it was a good listen.
Plot: Tally is ugly. This is not just what people say about her and it is not even what she says about herself. It is what society has classified her and everyone between the ages of twelve and sixteen. At sixteen uglies become pretty, a plastic surgery designed to align their looks with what the society determines to be ideal beauty. Tally can't wait. She has only a few months before she'll be made pretty and be able to join her best friend, Paris, over in New Pretty Town. Stuck over in Uglyville until then, Tally sneaks out and visits Paris. On the way back she meets Shay, another ugly who is out and up to tricks. The two bond as all their other friends are already pretty and have left the dorms. Shay teaches Tally how to hoverboard and invites her to come visit the Rusty Ruins - the remains of a city from the previous unenlightened society. They enjoy their time together, Tally counting down the days until she'll be pretty and she is excited that Shay will become pretty too. But Shay is not excited. She's almost hostile about the procedure and they get into a couple of fights about it. Four days before their joint birthday Shay tells Tally she's running away and invites her to come along. Tally has to decide. Stay or go. Stay safe or go into danger. Stay ugly or go against her loyalty for her friend. Tally's world spins out of control as she learns that there are more than one kind of pretty, and how ugly some of them can be. And what if the operation isn't just about making you pretty?
My Personal favorites: I enjoyed seeing arguments both for and against the concept of beauty. Tally's arguments on why it was so important to be pretty were well made and the book prompted some good musings. I do not believe that the book is a ham-fisted commentary on our modern obsession of beauty. There were several times I was driven to deeper reflection on the topics being discussed. The book had decent pacing as well. It didn't feel like it bogged down and there were periods of action that were nicely done. Having talked with Leeroy's wife, I knew that the series is more of a distopia then anything else, but it was well covered by the character story being told. I can accept the vast majority of the character motivations and the internal struggles that Tally had were believable. It was a great story about what it means to be a friend.
Considerations: I would often find myself getting annoyed with some of the characters, but it was because they were acting like typical, or at least believable teenagers. As the main characters are between 15 and 18, you will have some angst, and a fair number of decisions based on hormones and not thinking too clearly. But again, that fit the characters of the book. I related to my wife that the book felt juvenile and sophisticated all at the same time but that was because they were juvenile characters in a sophisticated story. There is some alcohol references and a couple of very brief references to pretties hanging out in "pleasure gardens" which appear to be just want they sound like. There is no graphic violence or any sexuality despite the adventure and romance in the story. It does have a hefty romance element, but that becomes overshadowed by the distopic element. Last, the narration wasn't bad, but one of the voices irked me and occasionally she would narrate with a character's voice or use the same voice with a coupe of characters.
I did enjoy it and am glad that Angel has already secured the second book Pretties so I can start on that at my leisure. The total length was just over twelve hours.
Plot: Tally is ugly. This is not just what people say about her and it is not even what she says about herself. It is what society has classified her and everyone between the ages of twelve and sixteen. At sixteen uglies become pretty, a plastic surgery designed to align their looks with what the society determines to be ideal beauty. Tally can't wait. She has only a few months before she'll be made pretty and be able to join her best friend, Paris, over in New Pretty Town. Stuck over in Uglyville until then, Tally sneaks out and visits Paris. On the way back she meets Shay, another ugly who is out and up to tricks. The two bond as all their other friends are already pretty and have left the dorms. Shay teaches Tally how to hoverboard and invites her to come visit the Rusty Ruins - the remains of a city from the previous unenlightened society. They enjoy their time together, Tally counting down the days until she'll be pretty and she is excited that Shay will become pretty too. But Shay is not excited. She's almost hostile about the procedure and they get into a couple of fights about it. Four days before their joint birthday Shay tells Tally she's running away and invites her to come along. Tally has to decide. Stay or go. Stay safe or go into danger. Stay ugly or go against her loyalty for her friend. Tally's world spins out of control as she learns that there are more than one kind of pretty, and how ugly some of them can be. And what if the operation isn't just about making you pretty?My Personal favorites: I enjoyed seeing arguments both for and against the concept of beauty. Tally's arguments on why it was so important to be pretty were well made and the book prompted some good musings. I do not believe that the book is a ham-fisted commentary on our modern obsession of beauty. There were several times I was driven to deeper reflection on the topics being discussed. The book had decent pacing as well. It didn't feel like it bogged down and there were periods of action that were nicely done. Having talked with Leeroy's wife, I knew that the series is more of a distopia then anything else, but it was well covered by the character story being told. I can accept the vast majority of the character motivations and the internal struggles that Tally had were believable. It was a great story about what it means to be a friend.
Considerations: I would often find myself getting annoyed with some of the characters, but it was because they were acting like typical, or at least believable teenagers. As the main characters are between 15 and 18, you will have some angst, and a fair number of decisions based on hormones and not thinking too clearly. But again, that fit the characters of the book. I related to my wife that the book felt juvenile and sophisticated all at the same time but that was because they were juvenile characters in a sophisticated story. There is some alcohol references and a couple of very brief references to pretties hanging out in "pleasure gardens" which appear to be just want they sound like. There is no graphic violence or any sexuality despite the adventure and romance in the story. It does have a hefty romance element, but that becomes overshadowed by the distopic element. Last, the narration wasn't bad, but one of the voices irked me and occasionally she would narrate with a character's voice or use the same voice with a coupe of characters.
I did enjoy it and am glad that Angel has already secured the second book Pretties so I can start on that at my leisure. The total length was just over twelve hours.
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