From the Bookshelf of 2015 Reading Challenge [Closed]…

Uglies (Uglies, #1)

Scott Westerfeld

Discussion: . Week 2: Romance

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. Week 2: Romance

* Week 2: Introduction
By Jessica · 43 posts · 618 views

last updated Feb 03, 2015 01:13PM

* Week 2: Progress Post
By Jessica · 54 posts · 221 views

last updated Dec 30, 2015 12:26PM

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What Members Thought

Mar 25, 2015 M.M. Clem rated it liked it

Shelves: own

***Taken from my book blog at http://booknerd0116.blogspot.com/2015...***

Uglies is set approximately 200 years in the future in a sort of dystopian world where everyone is "ugly." Everyone waits for the day they turn 16 because then they get to have an operation to finally turn them pretty. Pretties live in another part of town where they have parties all the time, have loads of fun, and everything in life is just perfect, including their looks. The only problem is that the main character, Tally ***Taken from my book blog at http://booknerd0116.blogspot.com/2015...***

Uglies is set approximately 200 years in the future in a sort of dystopian world where everyone is "ugly." Everyone waits for the day they turn 16 because then they get to have an operation to finally turn them pretty. Pretties live in another part of town where they have parties all the time, have loads of fun, and everything in life is just perfect, including their looks. The only problem is that the main character, Tally, meets a new friend, Shay, shortly before her 16th birthday who puts some doubts into her mind about whether being a Pretty is all it's cracked up to be.

When Shay runs away before her own operation, Tally must choose whether to go out into the Smoke to find her and turn her in or risk staying ugly forever.

I really liked this story and how the author developed his Tally character. She goes back and forth, and back and forth yet again like any teenager would in trying to figure out what to do. She deals with real teen problems like love and best friends, loyalty and authority. Westerfeld does a nice job portraying her as the average teen and makes her a very real and believable character.

Although the concept behind the plot at times seems a little too "easy," I still think there's a lot behind it. What we as a society feel is perfect and pretty isn't always so great behind the scenes. There's something behind all that beauty that often times isn't so pretty at all and that's what the author is trying to get across. He also tries to show us that being ugly is all a state of mind. For instance, when David tells Tally how beautiful she is, she can't fathom that he could even think that because she's been told she's ugly her entire life. David, however, never having lived in "Uglyville" knows and understands the true difference between being ugly and being pretty.

This is a great book and I could see it being a mandatory reading for high school literature classes. I think a lot of teens could relate to this story and learn from it as well. ...more

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Mar 12, 2015 Dawn Husted rated it it was amazing

Wow! This book is SO good! Adventurous, unexpecting twists, and believable characters. The plot is set in a futuristic time-period, where everyone receives a "pretty" surgery on their sixteenth birthday. Before this time, they're called Uglies, and they live in a dorm with other Uglies until they "graduate". Before the main character, Tally, turns Pretty, she finds out about a mysterious town called The Smoke. Once this happens, the adventure begins. If you enjoy YA SciFi, read this book! I boug ...more

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