Blythe's Books 37-39: Uglies, Pretties, and Specials

Scott Westerfeld's Pretties sat on my bookshelf for a good year or two before I finally got around to reading it. I'd had several students recommend the book, but just hadn't gotten around to reading it. The cutesy terminology in the novel annoyed me early on, but the plotline was interesting enough to keep me going in spite of it. All three books are about the residents of a futuristic city who are turned "Pretty" at age 16. Being turned "pretty" means having massive cosmetic surgery and moving across the river from Uglyville (see what I mean?) to New Pretty City (ugh!) where you get to party, party, party for a few years before you turn Middle Pretty and enter the workforce. Obviously, none of the Uglies (adolescents) are bucking the system because, hello, they're about to get turned into beautiful, desirable party animals. This is all in response to a time long ago where everyone was unequal in looks and abilities, which caused a lot of hurt feelings and ultimately, wars (and there are lots of little "Harris Bergeron"esque observations like this). However, there are a few people who have rebelled, forming a secret, hidden colony called The Smoke. Occasionally, a few Uglies run away before their surgery, hoping to find this mythical place where they can live by their own standards. The main character of the novels, Tally, is a relatively independent-minded teenager who gets pulled back and forth (through all three novels) between her desire to be Pretty and her desire for autonomy. As she interacts with residents of The Smoke, and with dissatsified Pretties, she has to figure out what it is she really wants out of life, and how we are truly meant to live.

This series is definitely young adult fiction-- and while I love a lot of books written for this age group, these were not my favorite. I enjoyed reading about Tally's relationships with her friends and boyfriends, which I thought seemed pretty realistic, but the social commentary was a little too obvious, the lingo was cheesy, and I found myself skimming through the action scenes to get back to the main story line. I rushed through the first one, realized there was a second and thought, "Damn. I want this to be over but want to find out what happens..." My feelings were the same when I finished the second and discovered there's a third. After the third, the story takes a new and only loosely related twist, and so I excused myself from reading Extras, the fourth and final novel. Phew. Reading this series was a good way to pass a weekend, and I definitely wanted to find out what happened to Tally and her friends, but if you haven't started the series already, just don't.