UGLIES {1}
In a world full of extreme Beauty anyone normal is ugly.
Set in a futuristic world hundreds of years after the 'Rusties' civilisation has died out, Uglies is the first of four books in a series written By Scott Westerfeld. With 425 pages, this book contradicts itself by being an intense, yet simple read.
Immediately we are drawn into the world of Uglies and Pretties with the unique concept of a futuristic world without the extremes of discrimination, jealousy and general ugliness that provokes and haunts society in the world we live in today. It is in this world that we meet Tally Young blood, an Ugly awaiting an operation, not only to change her appearance, but her behaviour and attitude to.
I loved the concept and the plot of this story. It was like nothing I have read before and I immediately felt the connection between their era of living and our era of living. Not much has changed when it comes to discrimination in my opinion, but the idea that life is about being beautiful, acting beautiful and having beautiful things made my stomach churn and the world and way of living that these characters are brought into made me feel such a variety of emotions that it was difficult at times to want to go on, and yet Uglies is so addicting that I had to continue.
The change of landscape from reading fantasy was a refreshing and uplifting change and reminded me a lot of the outback and country and the beauty that nature can hold in our souls and hearts that is often forgotten now that the city life has become more prominent. Almost as much as the characters and the plot of this story I loved escaping to Ugly and Pretty Town and to the ruins and landscapes outside of Tally's hometown and the Smoke where she Travels to.
The only real troubles I had with this novel was that the dialogue was vague in some sections and it read plainly to me, an example was the overuse of ' I guess so' after a while I felt that the writer was being a tad lazy and it annoyed me that the characters weren't more engaged. It also made the reading a lot slower and in some parts the book dragged on a little to long even in action.
The frightening cult like world that Scott has created is the one thing that is going to stay with me after reading this book, and urge me to continue reading the series [I have the box set.] It made the book feel like a thriller in some parts and really did a take on my head how cruel humanity can be and what society and the government will do sometimes to protect their secrets.
I really felt for the characters in the book, even though Tally and Shay really frustrated me in the beginning and near the end. It made me want to burn down several cities and send them all into a life of smoke.
This is a book about finding a home not only physically, but in your heart and the truth that beauty will not always reign. I am a firm believer in the beauty within a person despite what flaws they have on the outside, which makes this a great book for Young Adult readers and I would strongly recommend that anyone who hasn't sought out this series, please do so. Uglies is a brilliant novel and start to what I hope to be a challenging read.
**** Stars.
