Tally can't wait to turn 16 so that she can have an operation to become a Pretty, like all the adults in her city, and to get across to New Pretty Town where her best friend Peris has been without her for months. But in the lonely waiting time in between, she meets Shay, another senior Ugly who isn't so sure that she wants to become pretty like everyone else. Her friendship with Shay leads Tally down a path on which she learns much more about her society and the price Pretties may be paying for their beauty and from which she may never be able to return.

I wasn't crazy about many of the characters in this book. I guess many of them are not supposed to be likable, anyway, but the story was so compelling that I enjoyed it nonetheless, and I plan on reading the next book soon.