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Loading... Uglies (Uglies Trilogy, Book 1) (edition 2005)by Scott Westerfeld (Author), Rodrigo Corral (Designer)This wasn't the best book I've read, but not the worst either. It did seem to drag in spots and I felt like every other page I was reading about a kid on a hoverboard. It got a bit repetitive. I didn't find myself drawn to any of the characters or even particularly liking any of them/caring what happened to them. The book has an interesting concept, but for me it didn't really get interesting until the "truth about being pretty" was revealed to Tally. That being said, since I already own the next two books, I'll read those. Otherwise, I wouldn't read them. Uglies was a science fiction novel taking place in a dystopian world. The main character, Tally is an "ugly" who waits her whole life to undergo the surgical change to become a "pretty" and live with her family and best friend in New Pretty Town. She meets a new friend who challenges the accepted norms and eventually makes Tally think about the world around her and her aspirations. This book was a wonderful sci-fi novel. I read the entire thing in a day! It would be a great book to read with a more proficient middle or high school class, and I would also definitely have this entire series in my classroom library. It would be great for talking about worldbuilding in fantasy novels, character growth/development, and plot tracking. There are so many different points throughout the book where we could stop and ask questions about what is happening and ask deep questions about what might happen next or what questions are lingering in the reader's mind. Th e only reason I gave it a 4/5 is because I like other science fiction novels a little better than this one (Rule of 3, Gone, The Hunger Games, Divergent). (K)(2006) A good science fiction tale that was released as a young adult novel. In a future time, everybody is required to go thru an operation that turns them into ?Pretties? so that nobody has differences that cause problems. Similar to the precept of a Twilight Zone episode. Tally is urged by another ?ugly? to rebel against the norm, which leads her to the Smoke where other uglies try to live a normal life. Fifteen-year-old Tally's eerily harmonious, postapocalyptic society gives extreme makeovers to teens on their sixteenth birthdays, supposedly conferring equivalent evolutionary advantages to all. When a top-secret agency threatens to leave Tally ugly forever unless she spies on runaway teens, she agrees to infiltrate the Smoke, a shadowy colony of refugees from the "tyranny of physical perfection." At first baffled and revolted by the rebels' choices, Tally eventually bonds with one of their leaders and begins to question the validity of institutionalized mutilation--especially as it becomes clear that the government's surgeons may be doing more than cosmetic nipping and tucking. Although the narrative's brisk pace is more successful in scenes of hover-boarding action than in convincingly developing Tally's key relationships, teens will sink their teeth into the provocative questions about invasive technology, image-obsessed society, and the ethical quandaries of a mole-turned-ally. These elements, along with the obvious connections to reality programs such as Miami Slice, will surely cause this ingenious series debut to cement Westerfeld's reputation for high-concept YA fiction that has wide appeal. My wife commented that this (audio)book moved very slowly. I hardly noticed until she mentioned it. I give [a:Scott Westerfield|163958|Scott A. Westerfield|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] credit for that. To fully realize the SF environment, he didn't feel compelled to compress or rush his narrative. To give his characters depth, he gave them time to express themselves. I have already checked the sequel out from the library. This was not as cool or original as I wanted it to be. But (as with many a popular teen novel) I couldn't put it down despite its flaws. The writing was kind of blah, the themes well-worn, and the plot predictable--but darn it all, I can't get enough. I want to read the sequel! (And one side note: Did anyone else feel like Westerfeld way overused the word "purchase"?) There wasn't books like this in my teen years. Hm. And I don't know if could understand it back then. Probably not. I liked the adventure part, I somewhat liked the hard decisions part, I got tired a little bit from constant doubting part. All in all, there is too much uncertainty everywhere. And I guess this is for good, because one really must think before act. Maybe that is the real lesson here. But I couldn't stop thinking about how cardboardy this world is... This was a wonderful first novel in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and a delightful, quick read. I was completely enthralled by the notion of a futuristic society wherein they've "resolved" the "problem" of physical unattractiveness. On top of that concept, inherently intriguing, is the rebellion that ruffles the feathers of these "perfect" societies. Although this is a YA book, it has a broader range of appeal to all ages. For all the crap reviews I'd read about this series, I have to say I loved it. Not only was it an enjoyable, fast-paced read, but it was incredibly entertaining and gave me more world and character-building than I have learned to hope for in dystopian trilogies. It isn't mind-blowingly deep or incredibly well-written, but it's a good, solid story that I blew right through... sure sign of something good! If you like dystopias and aren't super PC in your criticism, definitely give this one a go. Could it be deeper? Yeah. But it's supposed to be entertaining, not life-changing. I'll be lucky if I can write a book half as fun to read someday. I spaced this was a YA book when I began reading it and that really changed my expectations. Decent story and quick read. I think if I had read this when I was younger it would have been impactful but the big ideas and overall themes I have come across before. Not a bad story but I would have rated it higher when I was younger. It decent enough that I will likely continue the series at some point this year. Uglies has been a book I have been wanting to read since it came out, I just never got round to it because other books were bought first. So after weeks....maybe months of not reading because I just couldn't find anything worth reading I picked up Full Tilt by Neil Shusterman which sort of got me back into reading....So I decided to go for Uglies while I was book free. First off I am introduced to a girl named Tally, left alone in Uglyville (or whatever you call it) because all her friends were older than her and have been made Pretty. So she befriends a quirky girl named Shay whilst snaking about Pretty town looking for/spying on her old friend(s) and soon Pretty town isn't the centre of their attention, instead the place where the previous generations of humans lived becomes their daily visiting place, and its called the Rusties. I thought this book was going to be a dystopian masterpiece of Ugly people vs Pretty people, in a generation where when you turn 16 you are made pretty to prevent judgement on appearances, I thought that perhaps there would be bitchyness and claws out hate between the two and realisation of Pretty town being nothing like they portray on the outside. Unfortunately this book was crap. Like why am I reading this shit at 200 pages in and still nothing has happened kind of crap. It was overly predictable from early in. Which isn't usually an issue if the book has a good story behind it. I was really disappointed with Uglies, its description doesn't fit the story, the characters bored me and the only thing that kind of kept me interested was...... erm..... oh yeah, the slight hope that I could see Tally under go this fantastic operation in detail, which doesn't happen so if you are looking for a chick lit/ dystopian (because this book kinda sounded like this) Dont pick up this book. In fact if you want a decent book to read, try skipping this and going for Pretties (I haven't read it but it has to be better than this waste of paper) |
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