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Pretties
(Uglies #2)
by
In Tally's world, your 16th birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellant Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is having a really good time. Just before her birthday, Tally discovered that turning Pretty comes with a terrible price. She vowed to accept the operation, but with the understand
...more
Kindle Edition, 275 pages
Published
November 1st 2008
by Simon Pulse
(first published November 1st 2005)
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Maya
I remember her saying stuf like, "he swore under his breath" and it's YA so there is like 3 scenes with kissing
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

What happens when perfection isn't good enough?Undergoing the Pretty Operation - aka the mandated set of operations at age 16 designed to make everyone as beautiful as possible - was all that Tally ever dreamed of....
Well, until (in typical YA fashion), she learns that her loving and kind government actually inserted lesions into the brain thus neutering the population.
These lesions made Pretties incapable of anger, meanness and anything that required difficultly. Everything is "bubbly" and " ...more

Mar 22, 2009
Kristina
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
no one
Recommended to Kristina by:
Kenzie
I'm pretty disappointed with this book. The last one was pretty good but this one... not so great. They kept using this stupid pretty language that annoyed me to no end. If i hear that anything is "Bogus, bubbly, pretty-making, fashion-missing" ect. EVER again, i might have to strangle that person.
Besides the annoying slang, the main character is now a complete twit. She is a "Pretty" sure, but she made some really stupid decisions. The worst was at the end. She picked the WRONG guy. and that's ...more
Besides the annoying slang, the main character is now a complete twit. She is a "Pretty" sure, but she made some really stupid decisions. The worst was at the end. She picked the WRONG guy. and that's ...more

Here's what I wrote on my book club blog about Pretties, and the whole series: Westerfeld knows that he's writing to teens, so he's trying to address a LOT of issues that teens face. One is, obviously, being superficial. Remember reading the teen magazines, hearing all of the celebrity gossip (not to mention your own school gossip), trying to dress well and be "cool?" Maybe you were better than I was and didn't get pulled into that, but most teens are. And often the pull doesn't go away once you
...more

Apr 25, 2013
Helen
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sci-fi,
young-adult-fiction
If I never hear the word "bubbly" again, I'll die happy.

Jul 24, 2007
Jessica
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
modern-fiction,
ya-lit
What I found most interesting about Pretties was its thematic use of various forms of bodily mutilation/eating disorders. In a perfect society, where everyone is brain-damaged into peace and transformed into absolutely perfectly beautiful creatures, how do you rebel? By starving yourself, cutting yourself - in a lesser sense, by covering your body in tattoos. (Tattoos as mutilation is a controversial thought, and I'm not sure I know where I stand with it - I mean, are some tattoos okay, but a bo
...more

Just like "Uglies," "Pretties" is an entertaining read. Tally's adventures continue as she becomes pretty and fights to regain her awareness. We meet some new characters, including Tally's new love interest. The story moves fast and gets more intense in the third part of the book. Like many mentioned before, the "pretty talk" gets annoying. There is only so many times you can take the word "bubbly" repeated. But I guess the author was trying to create a "pretty language" indicative of the slow p
...more

Pretties is the sequel to Uglies, the second in a trilogy which I had started back two months previous. I opened the book with some hesitancy, despite the fact that I'd enjoyed the first book and had been anxious to start the second, since the details of the first book were kind of fuzzy — would I remember enough to piece together a coherent story?
Turns out I needn’t have worried. Pretties picks up where Uglies left off, yes — but the main character’s memory has been tampered with and she can’t ...more
Turns out I needn’t have worried. Pretties picks up where Uglies left off, yes — but the main character’s memory has been tampered with and she can’t ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

My first completed novel for the #BookTubeAThon!
My thoughts on this book are simple:
- I enjoyed it, but I don't think it comes close to matching how great Uglies was
- The plot in the last around 100 pages was exciting, but the first 2/3rds of this book dragged and felt all-together unnecessary
- The novel felt repetitive and redundant at several points
- I feel like it's suffering from middle-book-syndrome
I did enjoy it, like I said, but it just didn't capture me like the first one. I will defini ...more
My thoughts on this book are simple:
- I enjoyed it, but I don't think it comes close to matching how great Uglies was
- The plot in the last around 100 pages was exciting, but the first 2/3rds of this book dragged and felt all-together unnecessary
- The novel felt repetitive and redundant at several points
- I feel like it's suffering from middle-book-syndrome
I did enjoy it, like I said, but it just didn't capture me like the first one. I will defini ...more

Apr 06, 2015
Norah Una Sumner
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Uglies fans
Recommended to Norah by:
I brought this misery upon myself
Shelves:
fantasy,
from-library,
young-adult,
series,
adventure,
2-star-read,
read-in-serbian,
drama-llama
If I hear word bubbly one more time,I'll kill someone.
This was boring as hell.The story is boring,actions of the characters are utterly boring and stupid,the ending is stupid as hell...I'm really disappointed.And there's suddenly a love triangle(really Scott,REALLY?)

The only person I liked in this book was thankfully Tally.That's the only reason I'm giving this book 2 stars.She's really great.Everyone else...not so much.Shay is a freaking idiot and so is Peris.Zane seems like a decent guy,but I ...more
This was boring as hell.The story is boring,actions of the characters are utterly boring and stupid,the ending is stupid as hell...I'm really disappointed.And there's suddenly a love triangle(really Scott,REALLY?)

The only person I liked in this book was thankfully Tally.That's the only reason I'm giving this book 2 stars.She's really great.Everyone else...not so much.Shay is a freaking idiot and so is Peris.Zane seems like a decent guy,but I ...more

(EDITED: Updated star-status at the end)
Is this book really as bad I as I think it is? I need more friends to read this, to reassure me that it really is awful and it's not just that I'm sick (which I am. I mean, with bronchitis.) So do it! Read this! And tell me it is bad!! ("Ew, this is awful! taste it!")
Anyway, i'd say 2 stars just because i feel guilty giving only 1 star and I *did* finish it. So, 1.5 stars. Because you know something is wrong when "It Was Okay" sounds way too generous...
Whe ...more
Is this book really as bad I as I think it is? I need more friends to read this, to reassure me that it really is awful and it's not just that I'm sick (which I am. I mean, with bronchitis.) So do it! Read this! And tell me it is bad!! ("Ew, this is awful! taste it!")
Anyway, i'd say 2 stars just because i feel guilty giving only 1 star and I *did* finish it. So, 1.5 stars. Because you know something is wrong when "It Was Okay" sounds way too generous...
Whe ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Nov 11, 2014
rebecca ɤ
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
don-t-even-waste-your-time,
read-2014
*Sing to the tune of Blank Space*
"Reading this book felt like torture. Don't say I didn't say I didn't warn ya."
Angst. The angst is everywhere. I tried with this book, I really did but the plot just got even more muddled after the Uglies. I could not stop myself from rolling my eyes and suppressing the urge to fling this book across the room every 5 minutes.
Let's take a moment to look at this synopsis:
Tally Youngblood is popular and Prettyville boyfriend Zane leads the Crims gang. But Croy ...more
"Reading this book felt like torture. Don't say I didn't say I didn't warn ya."
Angst. The angst is everywhere. I tried with this book, I really did but the plot just got even more muddled after the Uglies. I could not stop myself from rolling my eyes and suppressing the urge to fling this book across the room every 5 minutes.
Let's take a moment to look at this synopsis:
Tally Youngblood is popular and Prettyville boyfriend Zane leads the Crims gang. But Croy ...more

"Pretties" suffers from middle-of-a-trilogy-itis. It has to move the story forward, setting up things to come in the final installment, but it can't necessarily push things too far ahead for fear of losing audiences in the next installment.
"Pretties" picks up a few months after "Uglies" ended with Tally having undergone surgery and become pretty. We're treated to glimpses of her hedonistic lifestyle now, but a lot of the first third of this story had me wondering when the real plot would kick in ...more
"Pretties" picks up a few months after "Uglies" ended with Tally having undergone surgery and become pretty. We're treated to glimpses of her hedonistic lifestyle now, but a lot of the first third of this story had me wondering when the real plot would kick in ...more

5 Words: Beauty, freedom, pressure, popularity, friendship.
One day it was sunny outside, and a girl wanted to read a book. She was already currently reading SEVEN BOOKS but, decided that as great as they were she didn't want them. She wanted some nostalgia for a better/worse time when she was in high school. And this was one of those books she had read all those years ago and it was still on her shelf. She remembered that it was pretty awesome. In fact, it was so awesome that despite reading it ...more
One day it was sunny outside, and a girl wanted to read a book. She was already currently reading SEVEN BOOKS but, decided that as great as they were she didn't want them. She wanted some nostalgia for a better/worse time when she was in high school. And this was one of those books she had read all those years ago and it was still on her shelf. She remembered that it was pretty awesome. In fact, it was so awesome that despite reading it ...more

If you take the first book and add some slight differences, annoying slang, a more unlikeable Tally, a complete assassination of Shay's character, and a forced love triangle, you basically have this book.
The plot of Pretties really is very similar to the plot of Uglies. Tally starts out living in the city, not questioning anything about her life until a new friend shows her there is more to it. She ends up escaping the city and living in the wilderness for a while and then meets up with the rebe ...more
The plot of Pretties really is very similar to the plot of Uglies. Tally starts out living in the city, not questioning anything about her life until a new friend shows her there is more to it. She ends up escaping the city and living in the wilderness for a while and then meets up with the rebe ...more

*******Spoilers ahead******
In Pretties, we once again catch up with our heroine extraordinaire, Tally. Tally has now had the pretty making surgery and is drop dead gorgeous. But being pretty isn't enough for Tally. She wants to be in a special pretty group called the Crims. She and Shay are back in BFF land and all is well with the world.
Tally also meets Zane and insta-love is formed. I guess it was insta-love but, again, I didn't see any chemistry at all. All thoughts of David are out the windo ...more
In Pretties, we once again catch up with our heroine extraordinaire, Tally. Tally has now had the pretty making surgery and is drop dead gorgeous. But being pretty isn't enough for Tally. She wants to be in a special pretty group called the Crims. She and Shay are back in BFF land and all is well with the world.
Tally also meets Zane and insta-love is formed. I guess it was insta-love but, again, I didn't see any chemistry at all. All thoughts of David are out the windo ...more

Scott Westerfield has a tallent that I enjoy as equally as it annoys me- he can change my mind like a remote control! At the end of the first book in this series, Uglies, I thought that it was the end of the world and that the next book couldn't possibly go the way I wanted it to go! But as I read Pretties, I found that what I had so stubbornly wanted while reading the first book dissolved and I suddenly wanted something else. At the end of this book the feeling of "Oh no! It's the end of the wo
...more

I liked this book better than the first. Maybe it’s because I'm more open to sci-fi or maybe it’s because it was just better. *shrug* Either way I liked it better. And I'm not a big sci-fi reader but I think the world Westerfeld creates is unique and things are explained well without it feeling like an overload of information. I didn't much like how the rusties (being us) are considered stupid but then again in the 1900s people took tape worm pills to lose weight, we know better now.
Anyways, get ...more
Anyways, get ...more

Congratulations Mr. Westerfeld, you managed to impress me, amaze me, and convince me to read the third book.
When I finished "Uglies" (the first book in the series), I was really impressed and looking forward to reading "Pretties". 20% into the book, I was starting to feel depressed. What I had hoped for wasn't happening. There was no strong female protagonist, there was nothing new. Well, nothing new except for a new relationship with another boy. Aaaargh! I was worried that I was going to end ...more
When I finished "Uglies" (the first book in the series), I was really impressed and looking forward to reading "Pretties". 20% into the book, I was starting to feel depressed. What I had hoped for wasn't happening. There was no strong female protagonist, there was nothing new. Well, nothing new except for a new relationship with another boy. Aaaargh! I was worried that I was going to end ...more

Really enjoyable until Tally finds the (view spoiler)
It's a cool concept, but I'm ready to be finished with the series and move on. These books are so repetitive.
It's a cool concept, but I'm ready to be finished with the series and move on. These books are so repetitive.

I am beyond dissapointed with this sequel. Uglies was intriguing, making it's society around our world's obsession with apperance. This book was just 350 pages of dull "action". I didn't even read most of the book: I just skimmed it so I could move onto Specials.
Where did the strong Tally that had developed so well go?
She turned into a brainless idiot, never to be seen for the majority of the book.
And, worst of all, she's attached to her new boyfriend like glue.
Yes, her new boyfriend.
THUS, Wes ...more
Where did the strong Tally that had developed so well go?
She turned into a brainless idiot, never to be seen for the majority of the book.
And, worst of all, she's attached to her new boyfriend like glue.
Yes, her new boyfriend.
THUS, Wes ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

I was going to give this 3 and a half stars because I found it to be a bit dull but when I actually think back at what happened in the book it wasn't that dull, it was just me not being connected to the story
I don't connect that well with Tally, I had hopes she'd grow up a bit more in this but she still stayed the same, this made me a bit annoyed as most the book was just tally.
The storyline was great but all the fun exciting stuff really happens towards the end, I hated new pretty town and not ...more
I don't connect that well with Tally, I had hopes she'd grow up a bit more in this but she still stayed the same, this made me a bit annoyed as most the book was just tally.
The storyline was great but all the fun exciting stuff really happens towards the end, I hated new pretty town and not ...more

Don't judge me, but the first time I have read Uglies, David was a character I didn't like at all, but I ended up having my mind completely changed about him. I honestly wanted more of him and Tally and I expected them to at least share a kiss (for the sake of my little fangirl soul).
On the other hand, Zane was someone I didn't enjoy reading about as much as I thought I would, and his and Tally's relationship was really boring for me in some parts.
Even though it was a good and fast read I more o ...more
On the other hand, Zane was someone I didn't enjoy reading about as much as I thought I would, and his and Tally's relationship was really boring for me in some parts.
Even though it was a good and fast read I more o ...more

I am a 40-something mom falling for YA fiction all over again. Pretties is not as fast-paced as Uglies, but this second installment in the series made me more emotionally involved overall, and made me care more for Tally and the other characters by the end of the book. Be patient with the slower parts--it will build soon and surpass your expectations. Scott Westerfeld is brilliant at creating this superficial world and characters, who have created their own future-language. The ending has the pe
...more

For me the Uglies series are the most under-hyped books I have ever read. This is one of my all time favorite series right up there with Harry Potter, Throne of Glass and the Hunger Games. I first read the series in high school and on this re-read I feel it really stands the test of time!

Jan 22, 2019
Alaina
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2019-ng-group-challenge,
contemporary,
dystopia,
fiction,
january-2019,
sci-fi,
young-adult
Wow, I feel like it has been 84 years since I read the first book of this series. After reading the synopsis for this one, I can see why I waited to dive into it. I'm going to be honest here, I was hesitant as fuck to read this because I didn't want to end up hating it. Mostly because I already started the spin off series and I actually liked that book.
So, here it goes.
Pretties is the second book of the Uglies series. In it, you will still be reading about Tally. However, there's just something ...more
So, here it goes.
Pretties is the second book of the Uglies series. In it, you will still be reading about Tally. However, there's just something ...more

May 04, 2018
Faith (BookSelf ~ You Are What You Read)
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Faith by:
Megan Murri
The Writing and Worldbuilding
It builds on the world Uglies established, expanding and giving insight into the behind the scenes of the society. (view spoiler) ...more
It builds on the world Uglies established, expanding and giving insight into the behind the scenes of the society. (view spoiler) ...more

A trilogy or a book series where the sequels turn out better than the first installment is a rather rare treat for readers; almost always, the first book is the best. After reading the second book of the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, I believe that this trilogy-plus-one is going to be classified in that category. :)
Pretties picks up where Uglies left off—Tally Youngblood has finally become a new Pretty and has joined her other friends in the city to live a not-so-bubbly life. The most impor ...more
Pretties picks up where Uglies left off—Tally Youngblood has finally become a new Pretty and has joined her other friends in the city to live a not-so-bubbly life. The most impor ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Team David or Zane? | 48 | 214 | Dec 21, 2018 05:49PM | |
Addicted to YA: Pretties | 10 | 197 | Nov 23, 2018 06:02PM | |
Show Dogs Full Movie Online Free | 1 | 2 | Jun 27, 2018 04:42AM | |
David or Zane?? | 147 | 585 | Mar 28, 2017 06:13AM | |
Shay vs Tally | 10 | 74 | Jan 19, 2017 07:50AM |
Scott Westerfeld is a New York Times bestselling author of YA. He was born in the Texas and now lives in Sydney and New York City. In 2001, Westerfeld married fellow author Justine Larbalestier.
He is best known for the Uglies and Leviathan series. His next book, IMPOSTORS, returns to the world of Uglies. It comes out September 11, 2018.
He is best known for the Uglies and Leviathan series. His next book, IMPOSTORS, returns to the world of Uglies. It comes out September 11, 2018.
Other books in the series
Uglies
(4 books)
28 trivia questions
5 quizzes
More quizzes & trivia...
5 quizzes
“What happens when perfection isn't good enough?”
—
319 likes
“Everyone in the world was programmed by the place they were born, hemmed in by their beliefs, but you had to at least try to grow your own brain.”
—
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More quotes…