Review - Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies #2)

Picture from Chapters.ca

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Format: Paperback (370 pages)

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: November 1st 2005

Rating: 4/5Source: Library Loan

Get it at: Chapters | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Author Website: http://scottwesterfeld.com/

Summary from Amazon:

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.

What I Think:

Right after I finished reading Uglies, I immediately started on Pretties. The beginning is intriguing as the heroine of the story has turned into a "pretty" like she always wanted before she met Shay (Shay is also a Pretty now; read the first book to find out what happen). But here's the catch, Tally's memories have been tampered with and cannot remember in detailed about the days when she was an Ugly. Now, with her new look, she is best friend forever with Shay and of course, Peris. Somehow, during one of her wild parties with all the new Pretties, she met up with an old acquaintance. From then on, she start to regain her memories of her betrayal and the real purpose why she turned into a Pretty. Zane, a "flawed" Pretty. just like Tally, is ready to help her with the mission. However, the Special Circumstances (soldiers of the strict society of the Pretties) are one step ahead of her as her friends all fell into the grasp of authorities.

Again, Scott Westerfeld did a marvelous job describing everything, yet not to put too much detail. He also emphasize the important points such as the dialect of the Pretties (which can be annoying at times). There were more character development focusing on Tally and Zane, but not so  much on Peris. I thought it was funny how Peris seemed to inserted in the story again, even though he seemed to disappeared from the face of earth in the first book (I have yet to figure out his purpose in the story). Shay, on the other hand, was exactly like in the first book, going from all giddy, friendly, mindless girl into a mean person. This time, she has a reason to do that so her personality change was not that annoying compared to her change in Uglies. Dr. Cable (leader of the Special Circumstances) came back to mess with Tally once again so she is still alive from the first book.

Pacing and plot wise, I thought it was a bit slow in middle of the book, but picked up again towards the end. Similar with the first book, it takes a bit of time to get use of the inconsistent pacing. Surprisingly, I really like the twisted ending. It's not opened but with closure that you just have to read the next book.

What I don't like about this book is the love triangle. Towards the end, the story re-introduced David and Tally made up her mind to be with Zane rather than David as she has more things in common with Zane. I felt the whole break up was rushed because in the first book she was super attached to David. Honestly, I don't think Romance is Scott Westerfeld's forte.

Overall, it seems like Scott Westerfeld is making this trilogy a very big cat and mouse chase. At first, I'm not sure what to make of Shay, other than hate her, but towards the end, Shay is like a big bait to lure out Tally and that Tally is a whole experiment thing designed by Dr Cable and her Special Circumstances. That is my guess so far. I think everyone that read the first book should read the second book. There are so much twists and turns that would surprise you!

I am definitely rushing to the library tomorrow morning to grab the last book!

Rating: ★★★★

Review - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies #1)

Picture from Chapters.ca

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia
Format: Paperback (425 pages)

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 8, 2005
Rating: 5/5
Source: Library Loan
Get it at: Chapters | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Author's Website: http://scottwesterfeld.com/

Summary from Amazon:

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. 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 the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
 
What I think:

A friend of mind recommended this book way back in high school (to help with an essay), but back then I was not interested in dystopia genre. But when I saw this book at the library I just HAVE to borrow it.

The story follow a young girl, Tally Youngblood, about to turn sixteen, a moment she's been waiting forever. Ever since her best friend, Peris, turned sixteen and received his "pretty" surgery, Tally is more anxious than ever to join her friends in The New Pretty Town where all the new "Pretties" live. However, she met a girl, with the same birthday as her and befriended her. As the summary says, will she risk her new founded friendship for a simple, selfish dream?

I really love how Scott Westerfeld describe everything vividly without telling too much. The character development was impressive as most protagonists and antagonists were describe with appropriate details. Even those who are not mentioned as much, there are various subtle hints scattered in the book so the readers can pick out the clues to figure out. However, my biggest peeve about this story is how Peris is introduced with full detail at the begining, he seemed to be disappeared from the face of earth after Tally set up her mission to find Shay. Also, Shay seemed to be a nice girl at first, but after that, she was mentioned much after Tally found her. I absolutely despise her when Tally found her. To me her change was so drastic that that the author doesn't need to describe her. I just hate her until the end when something happened to her AGAIN. Oh and the romance thing between Tally and David is way too sudden.


What I love the most about the story is that, even though Uglies is a trilogy, Scott Westerfeld still managed to put closure at the end to set up for the next book. In some series that I have read in the past, the ending of any book of a series tend to be too open or a frustrated cliff hanger.

Somehow, I connected to this story more than other dystopian novels I have read so far. Perhaps the theme goes so well with what is occurring today with teenagers all over the world undergoing plastic surgery (although, not as extreme as described in the book) to become the ideal image of what the public perceive as "beauty". The whole cosmetic surgery process symbolize the coming of age, similarly to a new beginning and to make everyone equal. 

I could NOT put this book down once I opened it. It was just that entertaining even with the inconsistent pace!

Rating: ★★★★★