Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies (Uglies, #1) by Scott Westerfeld
Published: Februrary 8th 2005 by Simon Pulse
Pages: 448

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not fer 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.

"What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful."

I don't know what happened. It started out really well and I suddenly found myself having high expectations. It really became interesting. The interesting part did not last long enough to give this more than three stars. There were definitely parts I needed to struggle through. Kind in a lazy mood today, so I'm just going to make a "list" to clear my thoughts.

Positives:
As far as I know, not many book have a dystopia where everyone above the ago of sixteen is physically "perfect" because of plastic chirurgery as their subject. First of all: I think plastic chirurgery is such an amazing idea to write about. The many possiblities one can have! No matter how your book turns out, it's original. Maybe even interesting. I mean, in this book, no one knows what an ugly above the ago of sixteen looks like. The idea seemed so cool that the first half was very entertaining to read. Also the end, with you-know-what-if-you've-read-the-book... I finished it so quickly.

Negatives:
I did not connect with the characters at all, nor the story. It felt plain at most times. This book being set hundreds of years in the future has nothing to do with the story not being believable. What did, was - like I said - the lack of connection.
Also names and places in general could have been a lot better. A book with towns like 'New Pretty Town', 'Crumbleville' and 'Uglyville' made it seem as if I was reading a children's book. Not a YA novel. Okay, I understand that the author may have wanted it like this, yet that does not mean I'm love with it.

I'll probably read the second book "Pretties" out of pure curiousity what might happen. Somewhere deep inside, there's a little part of me screaming Pretties won't dissapoint. Now I wonder if I'll follow my instincts, or simply ignore it.