Name: Uglies
Rating: 3.701291711517761 (929 reviews)
ISBN: 0689865384

Scott Westerfeld

Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.

Uglies

Uglies, Pretties, Specials

Uglies (Boxed Set)

Kellie Davis

This series was pretty good. Very different from my normal reads. It's great for a quick read. I really liked the idea behind the story.

A fresh repackaging of the bestselling Uglies boks...the series that started the whole dystopian trend!

Doreen Zhao

Macy Johnson

this was a really fascinating dystopian and I liked the way that the idea of beauty was manipulated and twisted around in cool ways that shed light on our society's values.

Korinna R

I read these in junior high I think. I was obsessed with them. One of those series I wish I could completely forget and read all over again for the first time. I wanted so badly to be a part of this world. I've always had a thing for dystopian utopia type situations. Those are always the best stories to me.

Jeannette Ordas

It would have been nice to get sucked into a gripping story, but this book wasn't it. It took me until I was halfway through to start to find this dystopian world interesting and a true page-turner. I don't think I'll read the rest of the series.

I found the concept and cover interesting. The first sentence of the first page was: "The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit." ~ That was when I was hooked.

Jacalyn Boggs

In a world filled with breathtaking beauty, what is there for a normal person?

Set several hundred years after a major shift in life as we know it, the world hides from nature in large cities segregated into two major factions. Uglies and Pretties, the names speak for themselves. 

Around the time of puberty, children set off for Uglyville to continue their education as well as await the blessed day they turn 16. No longer does this bring coming of age things we know like driving or dating. At sixteen you get initiated into the Pretties, leaving your ugly self behind forever.

A series of operations intended to not only make you beautiful, but to also bring everyone into the visual norm. No differences to set people apart means no differences to make people feel superior or inferior to others.

The society at large seems pampered in their lifestyle. Uglies have their needs met, Pretties give the appearance of vapid lives of ease.

However pretty the world seems from the outside, though, there is an ugliness hidden just below the surface. 

Follow the story of Tally, an Ugly anxiously awaiting her sixteenth birthday so she can join the ranks of the Pretties in New Pretty Town. Her friend runs away, spurning the usual desired Pretty lifestyle. Tally, given an ultimatium, sets off to find her friend lest she suffer the worst punishment the society could inflict... left ugly forever.

The first in a series of novels for young adults, this sets the way we look at things on its head. Causes one to reflect on the way we treat the world around us, our own dependence on technology, the way society views one another, and the lengths people will go to maintain the status quo.

The author channels George Orwell and Ray Bradbury in a Judy Blume-esque book quite well. You take aspects from a Twilight Zone episode and mix in a little 1984 and just about any Bradbury book I can think of and you get yourself Uglies. Best of all, the social commentary follows a vein that not only speaks to youth in a way they relate, it also takes on the question of beauty which is so hot right now. 

Shows like What Not To Wear and Extreme Makeover combined with America's Next Top Model along with websites like Hot or Not glorify the shallowness of a person's physical beauty. I once heard a quote, "Be your own kind of beautiful", that goes against the grain of modern society. In the society created within the pages of Uglies, the last thing desirable is a person to find their own inner beauty or uniqueness.

Engaging and quick to read, the story grips at your heart. Especially good for teens suffering through the pains of adolescence where so much of the world around them focuses on Uglies and Pretties, I highly recommend this book to all.

Abrianna

Ok so I have tried this book so many times. Like and insane amount of times. Almost Every time, I got 3/4 of the way and stopped because of boredom. This is a great concept and I like some of the characters, but the writing made it seem longer than it really is, taking me a month when I fly through books way faster. I will not be continuing this series but I did not completely hate this one.

Ofelia

** spoiler alert **
           Così finalmente il tuo desiderio sarà esaudito.


Non credo che andrò avanti a leggere questa trilogia, non mi ha affascinato particolarmente fin dalle prime pagine ad essere onesta. L'idea di base c'è e secondo me non è neanche male, il problema è come è portata avanti. Tally di per sè è un altro problema completamente diverso. Io tendo ad immedesimarmi tantissimo con i protagonisti delle storie, che la cosa mi piaccia oppure no. Ad esempio posso trovare incredibilmente antipatica una protagonista, può darmi fastidio come parla, come si comporta, più o meno tutto ma comunque finirò per immedesimarmi lo stesso per tutta la durata del libro e magari riprendere ad odiarla una volta letta l'ultima pagina. Il problema con Tally è proprio questo, perché Tally parte come un personaggio debole e ancora peggio è una traditrice.
Non dico che il suo personaggio non si evolva durante la storia, parte da debole, che desidera solo essere perfetta e invece diventa un personaggio molto migliore nel finale. Resta il fatto però che il suo cambiamento è dovuto prima di tutto alla paura che il suo cervello sia veramente mandato in pappa dall'operazione, e poi anche dal fatto che si innamora di David. Senza David cosa sarebbe diventata lei?
La storia poi si evolve in maniera davvero troppo lenta, e con l'unica eccezione del vero e proprio finale tutto il resto era facilmente prevedibile. Diciamo subito, chi avrebbe tirato il congegno nel fuoco a parte Tally? insomma, lo vuoi distruggere? Bene, appena arrivata su Fumo ti hanno giusto trovato una cimice addosso e l'hanno attaccata ad un povero pennuto di passaggio così che quello se la portasse a spasso chissà dove e allora come mai non sei abbastanza furba da fare lo stesso?
Il modo di scrivere di Scott Westerfeld non mi dispiace, ovviamente è uno young adult quindi è la storia che conta e non il modo di scrivere del suo scrittore e non posso aspettarmi miracoli. Di lui avevo già letto i Diari della Mezzanotte e comunque non mi ha delusa, almeno non nel modo di scrivere ma nella storia in generale sinceramente io non ho trovato niente di speciale. Mi ha lasciata insoddisfatta diciamo, neanche troppo incuriosita di sapere come andrà a finire la storia di Tally, cosa che non mi aspettavo proprio succedesse.

Ashley Wendt

I think the commentary on how societal beauty standards is interesting if somewhat interesting. However, as most dystopian written at the height of its craze goes, it is still very formulaic.

Irene Alegre

Ok, so... there are four books (I think it's a trilogy plus some extra novel). I don't have it in me to go through the entire series. The writing is just not good enough.

Overall, the idea was good but it could have been done much better. The plot is a bit confusing, or maybe the sequence of actions is. Either way, I think it needed some revision before printing, but oh well.

annie

Stuck between 3.5 and 3.75 stars— I re-read this because it was one of my favorites in middle school. You can tell by the writing that it’s written for young readers (esp. tweens) so sometimes I couldn’t help but laugh at the word choice and dialogue. But it was still a fun read— the premise and world-building were interesting, elaborate, and thought-provoking.

Callie Anna

It got better. I wasn't expecting it to be phenomenal, and it wasn't, but it had good qualities! I also liked how it dealt with the past, as it was dystopian.

Uglies

Reviews

Highlights