Uglies by Scott Westerfeld Series: Uglies #1
Published by Simon Pulse
Published: February 8, 2005
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Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. In just a few weeks she'll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. And as a pretty, she'll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world-- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally's choice will change her world forever...
Wow, wow, wow! A complete sit on the edge of your seat book. By reading the back I thought I had it all figured out but as the book progressed it got deeper and deeper and more uncertainty was formed and I love that.
Just like in The Hunger Games and Delirium, Uglies has a very strong female lead that you find yourself rooting for. Tally is just like any other 16 year old…she is desperate to turn 16 so she can be pretty. She is tired of being considered an ugly. She hates her eyes and her hair and her face and just wants to grow up and move to New Prettyville where everything is better and her best friend Peris lives now. But things don’t go as planned for Tally, she meets Shay and everything changes for her. She finds out things she never wanted to know, does things she never thought she would do and makes choices she never thought she would have to make. The book is a nonstop, action packed story about finding out what you thought was true may not be the case and figuring out how to live your life afterwards.
Westerfeld does such a good job in writing this that you feel every one of the characters emotions and the changes they go through. I’m seriously so ecstatic that I read this book as it was fantastic. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series. If you are a fan of The Hunger Games and Delirium, this book is for you.
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld Series: Uglies #2
Published by Simon Pulse
Published: November 1, 2005
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Gorgeous. Popular. Perfect.
Perfectly wrong.
Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.
But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.
Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.
Westerfeld has done it again. He took what was a great story in Uglies and made it into an even more complex one in Pretties. The twists and turns in the second part of this trilogy left me holding my breath and sitting on the end of my seat. Honestly the way that he wrote Tally was pure genius. I couldn’t stand her as a vapid pretty, but I could also tell underneath the smoke and mirrors that the Tally we all know and love was still there and just needed to be pulled to the surface. And for that enter Zane. Zane was a very very welcome addition to this story about control and restraints. He was caring and loving and just as much stuck as Tally was living a life they didn’t want but had no real option. Westerfeld managed to weave everything so well together it made me want more, more, more. I couldn’t stop reading. And Shay?!?!?! Oh my! Nicely done Mr. Westerfeld.
Specials by Scott Westerfeld Series: Uglies #3
Published by Simon Pulse
Published: May 9, 2006
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"Special Circumstances": The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor -- frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary.
And now she's been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.
The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.
Still, it's easy to tune that out -- until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.
What a fantastic end to the trilogy. Specials was so action packed I was holding my breath the whole time. The way that Westerfeld wrote Tally and Shay’s transformations was pure genius. He made you feel like you knew the characters, that you were a part of their lives. Watching Tally grow over these three very different parts of one story was an enjoyable experience. Her relationships with Shay, Zane, David and the dreaded Dr. Cable evolved as she did which made the story work all the more. Truly loved this series. Excited to read the final companion to the trilogy.
Extras by Scott Westerfeld Series: Uglies #4
Published by Simon Pulse
Published: May 10, 2006
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A few years after rebel Tally Youngblood takes down the Specials regime, a cultural renaissance sweeps the world. “Tech-heads” flaunt their latest gadgets, “kickers” spread gossip and trends, and “surge monkeys” are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. Popularity rules, and everyone craves fame.
Fifteen-year-old Aya Fuse is no exception. But Aya’s face rank is so low, she’s a total nobody. An extra. Her only chance at stardom is to kick a wild and unexpected story.
Then she stumbles upon a big secret. Aya knows she is on the cusp of celebrity. But the information she is about to disclose will change both her fate…and that of the brave new world
This book really bummed me out. I loved the Uglies series to pieces with each book being better than the one before. But with Extras I felt it was just that…it was extra. It wasn’t needed and it took away from the amazing trilogy instead of adding to it. It was said to be a fourth book in the series, but it really wasn’t. Sure Tally, David and Shay made appearances but that was the only connection to the Uglies. I honestly didn’t enjoy the main characters, the story or the new people we were introduced to. Tally and David were the only small bit of light in this one. I wish Westerfeld just stopped at the trilogy. It would have been so much better that way.
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