Uglies

by Scott Westerfeld

Book Overview

Soon to be a major motion picture streaming on Netflix The first installment of Scott Westerfeld's New York Times bestselling and award-winning Uglies series--a global phenomenon that started the dystopian trend. Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. In just a few weeks she'll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty. And as a pretty, she'll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1442419814
• ISBN13: 9781442419810
• Release Date: May 2011
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

This series!

I read this book when I was a teenager (at least 15 years ago) and it still sticks with me. The writing was beautiful and kept you interested. Fantastic book and well worth the read 🙂

Uglies is a interesting teen/young adults dystopia novel.

A fun adventurous book that challenges the main character perception of reality and comfort. And begs readers multiple virtuous life question along the way through the series and many good twist ending.

Teen Sci-fi

The first book in the teen Sci-fi series keeps you engaged. I was assigned this book in one of my college english classes a few years ago. I liked it so much that I bought myself a copy. It's a suspenseful novel with strong messages about individuality, going against the masses, and fighting for change.

When I first read this book I was in high school and completely enraptured. I can't even explain how good it was I guess it was just the plot and his use of language wrapped up in one that really drew me in. His writing is unique and refreshing. I also loved the general concept of the novel and I'm now thinking about reading it over again. I never got to the other books in the series but lately I've been motivated to read more often.

Funny and Frightening

What makes "Uglies" great, besides how it looks at cultural values, is Westerfeld’s use of language. The novel is not pretentious or brash. Instead, Westerfeld creates a narrative voice that is really unique—especially for a sweeping sci-fi saga like the Uglies trilogy. The novel opens with Tally observing that “The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.” That is not, it is fair to say, a typical opening for any novel. Yet Westerfeld moves from that observation seamlessly into the story.

Couldn't Put it Down

I am a middle school English teacher and enjoy reading Young Adult literature. I also have seen the Twilight Zone episode, with a very similar story line, and it was an episode that has lingered hauntingly in my thoughts....so when I heard of this series, I was very eager to read it. I don't frequently write reviews, but I had to react to the negative reviews that I saw on this site. Though the story line may not be original, the author writes beautifully, using specific vocabulary and beautiful similes, without, at least in my opinion, holding back the story line. Tally is a well-developed character, thoughtful and fully understanding the consequences of her actions. I saved this book for a three-day weekend but read it all last night and this morning. I was unable to put it down and am planning to read all three books this week. I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy thinking about what our future will be like. I plan to share the first chapter with my Junior Great Books class. I think it will be great fodder for intellectual discussion.

LOVED IT!!!

In this futuristic world, when you turn 16, you get an operation that turns you beautiful. Everyone pretty gets a new house in the glamorous part of town-New Pretty Town. This is where Tally Youngblood wants to be. How can she help it, when all anyone learns in school is how much better life is when everyone is beautiful, and when all the people you know don't call you by your name, they call you by your main imperfection? Tally's best friend Peris has just turned pretty,too. After a daring escape into New Pretty Town(no Uglies allowed-after all, why would the plastic -surgeoned people want to look at a real face?) she meets Shay, who shares Tally's birthday. This means neither will have to leave the other for a single day while she becomes pretty,which makes Tally happy. But Shay is a little unusual. She hates the operation, and wants to keep her own face. Despite tally's protests she runs away to a mysterious place called The Smoke, where runaways can be safe, and stay ugly forever. Repulsive, at least to Tally, who Shay begs to come. But she won't. In just a few days, it's Tally's birthday, her ticket out of the Ugly dorm and gazing out the window at New Pretty Town. She'll be a Pretty. Then, on the long-awaited day there's a problem with Tally's operation. A barely believed group called the Special Circumstances takes the reins, giving Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find Shay and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. And Tally wants to be pretty so much... I could not put this book down. It's not pure unbelievability like some sci-fi, giving good reasons for why society is like this, but it's not boring either, fraught with hoverboard chases and things exploding. I'm totally hooked on the trilogy, and will definitely be reading more of Scott Westerfeld's books in the future. Uglies should be recomended reading.

Uglies, anything but

I bought this book on the recommendations I found online and I'm really glad I did. The synopsis has already been well described here. I just want to add my "thumbs WAAAY up" to all the other glowing reviews. As I read this book, I kept thinking of how the concept of beauty changes so much over time. I wonder what will be considered beautiful in 300 years (about the time this series is set). I was also wondering who got to decide what was beautiful when the operations started, and had it evolved over time. Interesting things to ponder as you read...but making you think is what really good fiction should do.

I'm not a science fiction reader, but....

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that sci-fi isn't my thing. However, when I took some quiz that supposedly picks the "perfect" summer read for you, I ended up with Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. I thought the quiz was pretty much bogus, since I DON'T read sci-fi. Well, I went to the bookstore a week or so later and saw this novel on the shelf, so I read the back of it and thought it sounded decent. Well, Uglies is far more than decent! It's a roller coaster ride of entertainment. I read it in two days, since I really couldn't put it down. Tally's world isn't far from what ours could someday be like, since we already have made plastic surgery a very acceptable thing. Bottom line? Even non-sci-fi lovers will love this book. I can't wait for the other two in the series (Pretties and Shadow) to come out! I'm a new fan of Scott Westerfeld and I look forward to other novels. And who knows? Maybe sci-fi isn't as horrible as I orginally thought.