Book Recommendation: Uglies

[dangermousie]

While in an airport, I made an impulse book buy which quite paid off: I bought Uglies by Scott Westerfield.

A YA dystopian novel, Uglies is the first part of a trilogy (Pretties and Specials are the other two), and I plan to read both. After all, I need to tide time over until the third part of Quantum Trilogy by Justina Robson (yup, the one about Lila the metal bionic girl and Zal hald-demon-half-elf) comes out.

Even though the cover promised that this was a NY Times bestseller, I have never heard of Uglies, and basically went in with a blank slate, buying it because it was a measly $8 and because I am a sucker for any dystopia.

Plot: In a society a few hundred years in the future, a compulsory surgery procedure at 16, wipes out any physical differences and makes everyone beautiful. Those people, known as "new pretties" play and party, while those younger, still called "uglies" can only look on enviously, anticipate their own transformation and play tricks. Tally, our heroine, is one of the most enterprising uglies, clever and rule breaking, and about to turn 16. Despite her rebellious streak, she doesn't think twice about turning pretty: she yearns for the day. But her new friend Shay isn't quite so sure she wants to and runs away on the eve of her birthday. That is when Tally's world is shattered. She is brought into the sinister "Special Circumstances" run by the grown-ups known as "middle pretties" and given a choice: either she tracks Shay down to the small rebel settlement that SpecialCircs have been hunting for years (and activates a tracking devise to bring them there), or they will never do the surgery and she will be ugly forever.

So, why is the book so good? Give me a great female heroine (believably 16 and yet also believably heroic), add in an intriguing dystopic world with hints of what happened to make it so. Add in a lot of adventure and a bit of quite touching (but never overtaking the rest of the plot) love story, a cliffhanger ending, and of course, in the way all dystopian stories must be, a very dark secret underlying the seemingly perfect world, and we are set.

So yeah, if you haven't yet, go read!

Comments

[joonni.livejournal.com]

thanks for this great rec!!!!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Hope you enjoy!

[equustel.livejournal.com]

Scott Westerfeld is a wonderful YA author; Uglies was my introduction to him as well. But as much as I enjoy that series, I'm an even bigger fan of his Midnighters trilogy - awesome characters, fantastic concept, and an OTP I like to draw little black hearts around (Rex/Melissa FTW!)... it's like Roswell, but with less cheese, more darkness, and higher concepts. If it ever got made into a TV show (which it almost did make the CW's lineup a couple years back, IIRC) I'd be a total sucker for it.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, like Roswell? I'll check it out.

[muffinkath7.livejournal.com]

This is a great book. I loved it. :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It was very very good.

[angerfish.livejournal.com]

I've seen that book around for a couple years, but never looked at the summary, You make it sound great! Maybe I'll get it for my loooong drive back to college. :P

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It's fun. It's not the best book ever to exist but it's enjoyable.

[katranna.livejournal.com]

I heard of this before... you can download the whole trilogy online you know! For instant gratification.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heee. I like the old-fashioned paper feel :)

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

That sounds really fascinating! I'll have to look it up at the library next time I go.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Hooray!

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

I think there's a 4th book, too. Called Extras?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think so, but I think it's only tangentially related.

[animeshon.livejournal.com]

Sounds interesting. I shall have to add it to my list to keep an eye out for :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay!