Uglies - Scott Westerfield

In a world where everyone gets turned Pretty when they are 16, one Ugly runs away from that chance. Her best friend stays, but before she can turn pretty herself, she is sent to recover the Ugly and to out the secret Ugly society living away from the city. There is no problem, until she finally arrives and sees for herself what an Ugly life can be like.

The Good:

• Our main character is really believable and relatable. When I was her age, everything was about being pretty and popular. She is basically me at that age to begin with, as I also would be wishing my own face away for a chance to become beautiful, especially if that was the normal thing to do. She has a excellent character arc too, something that would connect with a lot of teenage girls at the point. Also, kudos to the author for being able to write a teenage girl so well.

• This book deals with some amazingly tough issues, starting first with the issue of human ideals of beauty and the concern that these ideals really shape a persons self-image until they do not feel remotely pretty. It also touches on cosmetic surgery and how that would impact someone's life. That makes this story truly thought-provoking as you self-evaluate, and you also realise how close we are to becoming this type of society. That's the scary thing. This dystopia is not so far from the truth and is quite believable.

• The dystopia its-self is well thought-though, complete with slang terms, procedures, living quarters, lifestyle choice and inventions. This creates a very well put together world where there were no gaps in knowledge, meaning that the narrative had no holes and the image was a complete one.

The Bad:

• Some of the slang is banal: bubbly, for example, is a term that could get on my nerves.

• The relationships between the main character and others can seem a bit forced, possibly from where the book is quite short, so gives little time for her to get to know people.

• One character is introduced right at the beginning, then disappears only to reappear for a moment at the end. I can only assume he has a much larger part to play in future books.

• There's a major cliffhanger! Not fair!

Overall:

A good read and something that I want to read more of, definitely. There are three more to go, so look out for them some time in the future!

Kyra_x