I recently read the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld.
This is what wikipedia has to say about it:
Uglies is a 2005 science fiction novel by Scott Westerfeld. It is set in a future post-scarcity dystopian world in which everyone is turned "Pretty" by extreme cosmetic surgery upon reaching age 16. It tells the story of teenager Tally Youngblood who rebels against society's enforced conformity, after her new found friends Shay and David show her the downsides to becoming a "pretty". Written for young adults, Uglies deals with adolescent themes of change, both emotional and physical, and dealing with the revelation that "some of what you’re taught isn’t true, your parents are flawed human beings and the world isn’t constructed for your benefit.” The book is the first installment in what was originally a trilogy, The Uglies series which includes Pretties and Specials and Extras.
This is what I have to say about it:
I liked this series okay. Obviously I liked it enough to finish the original 3 books of the series. I did not read Extras because I heard it didn't really have a lot to do with the storyline of the other books, and I was just done with reading these books for a while. Anyway the point is I liked the books. I would probably give them a 3 out of 5 stars rating. The thing I didn't really like about the book was all of the slang and made up words they had (i.e. "pretty-making" "bubbly" (which I realize is a real word, but Mr. Westerfeld invented a new definition for it) and others that I currently can't remember). Anyway, it bugged me to read those and to listen to them (I listened to the last 2 books of the series on cd, which also could have contributed to my hate of the slang and made up words because the reader was ANNOYING to the max) to the point where I have made it one of my new year's goals to start cutting slang and annoying words out of my own daily vocabulary out of fear of me causing this pain on the people that surround me.
So yeah, overall 3 out of 5 stars. They kind of reminded me of The Hunger Games series, but were written a little too juvenile for me (which says a lot :) )
4 comments:
It sounds like it has a good message. Hopefully the age of people it's directed at would pick up on that message. I've heard of these, but don't know much about them, so thanks Kate!
The kids at Heritage were obsessed with these books, so I read them right after I had Ryan. And I completely agree with you. They were good enough for me to finish, but not so smart-making, katie-la. The slang is annoying, but I did like the story line.
Agreed. I liked the Uglies the best, but then i thought it went a little down hill...just got a little long. I was kind of done by the Specials. I think the message was good. I think we should have smashed the Pretties and Specials into one book and cut some of the travel time. Ya the slang is annoying.
I was actually wondering about this series because I know a lot of people are into them right now, but they don't appeal much to me. I'm glad to know what you guys think of them.
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