Book Review - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Let me start off by saying that I give this book a four with the expectation that I will more than likely give the entire series as a whole a FIVE! However, this being the first book in the series, there were some things missing that I need for a five star book.

So this book is dysotopian. It is set hundreds of years in the future. The author doesn't really get into specifics about continents, countries, states, cities, etc... so there is no way to know where exactly this story is taking place in relation to the world as it is now. But the setting begins in Uglyville, where Tally (the main character) is impatiently waiting for her 16th birthday. She is very unhappy with her life as it is now, because all of her friends, including her best friend Peris, have moved over to New Pretty Town and are all now "pretties" except her.

In this society, people start out as "littlies" and they live with their parents. Then at some unspecified age, they become "uglies". They are then moved to Uglyville, where they live in conditions that are something similar to boarding schools. They go to school and learn about the fall of "the Rusties" (society as it is now). When they turn 16, they are given a surgery that makes them a "pretty" and they move over to New Pretty Town, where life is one big party and everyone is equally beautiful. They have been taught that this surgery was created to rid society of issues like racism and unequal treatment due to appearances.

Tally has to wait 3 months until she turns 16 and will be able to become a "pretty". In the meantime, she sneaks over to New Pretty Town to see her best friend Peris and almost gets caught. She makes a daring escape. When she returns back to Uglyville, she meets a girl named Shay. Shay is very impressed by Tally's story of her slim escape from New Pretty Town and the two girls quickly become friends.

Shay takes Tally exploring in the "Rusty Ruins", which is the remains of a city that exists in our current society. As the two girls spend time exploring these ruins and pulling pranks in Uglyville, Shay begins to share with Talley that she doesn't really want to get the surgery to become Pretty. Talley doesn't understand this, because becoming Pretty is the ultimate dream of all Uglies. Eventually, Shay shares with Tally that there is another society of people living out in the wilderness who have not had the Pretty surgery. Shay runs away to live with them. She asks Tally to come with her, but she chooses to stay. Shay leaves Tally a cryptic note giving her directions to find her if Tally changes her mind.

After Shay's disappearence, Tally goes in for her Pretty surgery. But, rather than getting the surgery, she is brought in to speak with Dr. Cable, who works for a department called Special Circumstances... which is comparable to the FBI or something like that. Dr. Cable blackmails Tally into helping them find Shay and the society of runaway Uglies. Tally will not receive the Pretty surgery until she helps them.

That's pretty much where the story really takes off from. Tally goes on a big adventure... and lots more happens. The book ends with a MAJOR cliffhanger that pretty much makes it impossible for you to not read the next book, called Pretties.

I really liked this book. It is very reminsicent of The Hunger Games to me. So if you enjoyed that book - you should like this one too!

There is a small love interest/love triangle... but it is not explored very deeply at all. Usually for me, if a book is going to skip out on the love interest/love triangle plot... then the story has to be pretty darn good for me to like it! And I can say that I did not miss the lack of focus on the love story plot in this book at all! The storyline definitely holds its own without it. But I'm certain that the later books in the series will quench my thirst for a good love story! =)

I really enjoyed reading about all the different ways technology and society has changed in this futuristic setting.

I highly recommend this book and hope you will give it a try!!!

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Book Review - If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

If I Stay by Gayle Forman


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


If I could give this book a 3.5 stars with Goodreads rating system, I would. I definitely liked this book. It's different from the books that I've been reading lately. It was a quick read and kept me interested pretty much through the whole thing.

This book tells the story of Mia. She is 17 and a senior in highschool. She's not one of those superficial "silly" girls. She comes across as a very grounded person. Mia plays the cello. She is very good at it. She has a best friend named Kim and a boyfriend named Adam. He is a freshman in college and plays in a band that is starting to take off. Her parents are not the typical parents. Her dad used to be in a band that had some notoriety... I believe they put out several cds. Her mom was a kind of punk rock wild child back in the day. So the whole family, including her boyfriend Adam, are heavily involved in music. Music plays a big part in this book... which certainly adds an interesting aspect to it.

So basically the premise of this story is the Mia and her family (mom, dad, and little brother) stay home from work and school for a snow day. They decide to get out of the house and end up in a bad car accident. Mia then finds herself in an out of body experience. She is like a "ghost". She can see everything that is going on, hear everything that people are saying, but her actually body is in a coma. It's kind of cool because Mia gets to see the reactions of her boyfriend, best friend, grand parents, extended family, and friends. You know everyone always wonders how people would act if they were seriously injured or died... and she kind of gets to experience this for herself.

The book consists of flashbacks from Mia's memories which really help you to get to know all of the characters and love them. Then it goes back to present time, where all of these characters are dealing with the reprecussions of the car accident. You experience all of this from Mia's perspective.

This book centrally deals with death. So it's not really a warm, fuzzy feeling book. But it is good. It tells a good story, makes you fall in love this little family and group of people, and you will cry for them. =)

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