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Pretties

(Uglies #2)

Scott Westerfeld (Goodreads Author)

3.85 · Rating details · 216,456 ratings · 9,886 reviews

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

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Kindle Edition, 275 pages

Published November 1st 2008 by Simon Pulse (first published November 1st 2005)

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3.85 ·

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· 216,456 ratings · 9,886 reviews

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May 08, 2018 Miranda Reads rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, ya-series

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

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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

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May 24, 2008 Rachel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 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 turn 20 and aren't a teen anymore. I still find myself tempted to read the covers of the gossip magazines at the grocery store, to watch another cookie-cutter, uninspiring chick flick or to read the mindless quick-read books. It's harder to choose the book that I'll struggle through but that will make me think and maybe even change, or to turn off the tv when a couple of beautiful people are on the screen, no matter what kind of dumb things they're saying. When Peris chooses the promise of blissful ignorance and laxity of the Pretty society, part of you can't really blame him. Who wants problems? Who wants to have to think and to work when we can just be entertained instead? We have to consciously choose to resist that pull, and teens are just being introduced to it.

Another issue is our treatment of the environment. I think that Westerfeld isn't advocating the pristine, sustainable development of the Pretty society, or the wasteful stupidity of the Rusties (our present state), but something in between that Tally gets a glimpse of with the Smokies. A reverence and appreciation for nature, but an understanding that nature is to provide for our needs, and so cutting down a tree is not a sin (some tree-hugging extremists today might take the Pretties side on this, don't you think?).

When the Rusties come along, he's again attacking our tendencies for senseless violence, adherence to illogical traditions (women's subservience) just because "it's always been that way," and even religious piety. "Question authority!" he's saying all throughout the book. That's what teens do naturally, but he's targeting an authority that they don't always recognize - the media. Teens now can't live without their iPods, they go to the movies every weekend, spend hours and hours online and are basically overloaded by the media. All of this keeps them from thinking on their own. This book makes you think and hopefully can encourage some teens to think on their own and pull themselves away from all of the media that tries so hard to tell them what to think.
In addition to all of his preaching, Westerfeld writes a captivating series with convincing characters and and draws you into his intriguing world as you read his books.
...more

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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.

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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

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Apr 30, 2009 Tatiana rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, ya, dystopias-post-apocalyptic

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

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Nov 10, 2007 Beth rated it liked it · review of another edition

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 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 quite remember what happened in the first book, anyway. My own stunted recollections made for a rather authentic read. :-)

Actually, I found myself identifying all too well with the emptyheaded, “pretty-minded” section of the book (aptly nameed “Sleeping Beauty”): if you’ve ever zoned out in front of the TV or computer, wasting away your time and losing some sense of reality all in the name of entertaining yourself, you’ll understand exactly the sensation Westerfield is trying to recreate. (Being sleep-deprived helps with this perception, too.)

The futuristic society that so intrigued me in Uglies continued to fascinate throughout this sequel. The Pretties, made beautiful through an operation at age sixteen, spend all their time amusing themselves and no time thinking — that is, until Tally Youngblood (flawed heroine of Uglies) arrives in New Pretty Town. Through the help of new friend Zane, Tally’s memory of her ugly past is reawakened. She and Zane search for a cure for pretty-thinking by staying “bubbly” — which is basically to be hyped up on adrenaline — all the time. (I loved the Pretties’ distinct dialect that infused the first chapters, and I loved that Westerfield taught it to his readers simply by using it repeatedly.)

Of course, as Tally slowly remembers the events of the first book, things get increasingly more complicated. And as hard as she tries, Special Circumstances (the almost-mythical enforcement agency of this rigid society) always seems to be one step ahead of her. Pretties concludes it a most cliff-hanging fashion, much as you’d expect the sandwiched part of a trilogy to be (think Star Wars or Lord of the Rings … isn’t the end of second part just about the most depressing, lowest point you can sink?).

Obviously, I can’t wait to get my hands on the final book of the trilogy, Specials! ...more

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May 31, 2009 Christina rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-reads, dystopia, source-library, young-adult, fiction

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

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Apr 18, 2013 Ariel rated it liked it · review of another edition

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

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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?)

description

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

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Mar 20, 2012 Diane rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-read, dystopian, kindle, post-apocalyptic, young-adult-fiction, 1-star

(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

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Jun 14, 2008 Mary rated it it was ok · review of another edition

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

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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

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Oct 08, 2008 Michael rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2008

"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

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Jun 06, 2016 Cora Tea Party Princess rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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

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Jul 25, 2015 Daphne rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ab, badly-written-romance, dystopia, read-in-2015, reviewed, science-fiction, lost-interest-in-series, young-adult, 2-star

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

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Jan 10, 2014 Andrea ❤Ninja Bunneh❤ rated it did not like it

Shelves: no-bunnehs-for-you, do-not-pass-go, hack-slash-boom, u-likey-me-no-likey, series-series-series, wtf-were-you-thinking, seems-familiar

*******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

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Oct 04, 2008 Railee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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

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Oct 21, 2009 Valerie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

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

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May 29, 2012 will rated it it was amazing

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

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Mar 02, 2018 The Red Lipped Reviewer rated it liked it · review of another edition

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.

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Sep 09, 2011 Amelia rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-did-not-like, protagonist-drives-me-insane, perfect-love-interest-guy, unrealistic-love-interest-guy, absolute-crap, abandoned, dystopian-books, craptastic, didn-t-even-finish

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

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Sep 02, 2008 Violet rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, 5-stars, favorite-authors, dystopia-utopia

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Love, Love, Love!!! I totally love it. And here are some of my coments:

You learn more about the "Rusties" in this one. It was kind of creepy. They refer to us as stupid....Maybe we are. I mean look at what we are doing to the planet that we live on. We are killing the planet. And you know what they say, that there is going to be more and more of us in the future. And she said that the oil thing, killing most of the "Rusties", saved the planet. Well, I don't like the "killing most of the popuatio ...more

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Dec 01, 2015 Casey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy

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

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Jun 11, 2014 Olivia (Оља) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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

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Apr 28, 2015 Tabetha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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

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Oct 14, 2010 Ashley Oxford rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: teen-fiction, favorites, dystopian, re-read, on-my-bookshelf

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!

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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

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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

Shelves: owned, young-adult, science-fiction, megan-recommendations, dystopia, 4-stars, read-2018

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

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Jan 21, 2011 Airiz C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, science-fiction, dystopian, alternate-histories, romance, humor

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 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 important thing a Pretty can do is to party, and you are required to do nothing (until you become a middle Pretty, when you finally have to find a job) but to be lazy, vain, and vapid. Tally seems to be content with her Pretty life until a message from the past brings back Ugly memories. With vague flashbacks surging in her head, she remembers why she has agreed to be surgically altered, and now she and some members of her Pretty clique—the Crims—embark on a journey to escape from the controlling city….and to be cured.

Apparently I enjoyed Pretties more than Uglies for several reasons.

The themes that are explored in book 1 are continuously revisited, sometimes providing additional information that gives more light to the topics, answering questions I haven’t even formed when I was reading Uglies.

Also, this time, I felt the characters more. Tally as a Pretty is something more palpable than her Ugly self, where it’s supposed to be the other way around (maybe it’s only just me, though). It must be noted, however, that Tally still has this ‘Ugly’ heart and mind, and she hasn’t really changed completely. So what’s done here’s her character is given more weight for being a Pretty on the surface and still a real Ugly on the inside. There are times where she treads lightly on the Mary Sue grounds, but maybe only it’s because she and a majority of characters in the book are beautiful—I’ve been a bit wary of very pretty characters since the first time I wrote fanfiction. Mary Sue is a big no-no. Still, I liked Tally-wa. :p

Zane is a good character as well. It’s a shame that I liked him more than David.

What I liked the most about this book? The twists. The latter part, where Tally finally arrives to the New Smoke, contains a chock-full of those. The twist about the cure, the location of the transmitter, Shay’s and the Cutters’ fates, you name them. I loved being surprised.

A good read all in all—I’m glad I decided to continue with this series. It’s still a YA book, but a good one at that. ...more

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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

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About Scott Westerfeld

Scott Westerfeld

17,091 followers

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.