Book Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Synopsis:

Like every other teenager, Tally Youngblood can’t wait to turn 16. In her world, 16 is a magic number: it is the age at which every undesirable, “ugly” teen undergoes surgery to become their true, “pretty” selves. Remaining an ugly is unthinkable, or so Tally thinks, until she meets fellow ugly Shay, who reveals to her that the business of becoming pretty is not all it is cracked up to be. Tally must decide whether to embrace her childhood dreams or give them up, and face a new reality where appearances no longer matter.

General Thoughts:

Uglies has always been in my general periphery; my friends and I read Scott Westerfield’s Leviathan back in middle school, and I have vague memories there being quite a buzz about Uglies at the time. I realize I am very late to this particular party, but I have to say I’ve definitely enjoyed the experience.

The premise alone is a fascinating one, but I believe it’s what Westerfield does with it that really brings it to life. I was also pleased by the lack of forced romance, as well as the overall characterization and pacing of the story.

Liked:

-The worldbuilding, for sure. The futuristic setting never felt forced or cliche, and I loved the ominous but never fully explained fate of the society preceding this one.

-The Smoke. I won’t spoil anything here, but I almost cried when I reached the part about what happens to it. There’s just something fascinating to me about a society living off the land, away from the cities and off the grid.

-The lack of romance: While there was that whole thing between Tally and David, the build-up to it felt slow and natural, and I don’t think there were any points in the story when I had to stop and go “ugh, why?” in regards to the romance.

Disliked:

-Anxiety: I’ll admit this one was my own dang fault. I skimmed a few pages towards the end of the book, and was very unhappy to read the last few words on the last page. I spent the entire rest of the story trying to figure out on earth the author was going to build up to that and not have it be an entirely hopeless story.

-Tally’s decisions: While I get that the decision between betraying the smoke and being pretty was such a hard one, it still drove me crazy that Tally took so absurdly long to decide what she wanted. When she agreed to take the locket and go to the smoke, internally I was screaming “NO!!” the entire time.

Writer’s Notes

The most fascinating thing to me about Uglies is the idea that it may have very well heralded the dystopian novel craze of the last 15 years or so. I may not remember much about Uglies when it came out, but you bet I remembered the hunger games, divergent, and all the other books that came after.

In terms of personal writing, I think the main thing I would glean from Uglies is the world building, and how elements established early on (i.e., hoverboarding) become critically important to the plot later on.

Overall Rating:

I would give Uglies 6.5/10. Loved the worldbuilding, the premise, and the characters, did not love the never-ending anxiety said characters created. Bonus points for letting me be part of something very cool, and giving me a topic of discussion about societal standards of beauty.