Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Paperback, 448 Pages
Published February 2005
Book #1 in the Uglies series

In case you guys haven't already noticed, a book usually has to be really good for me to give it five stars on this blog--I'm verrrry picky about which books deserve the highest rating I can give.

Looks like Uglies is one of them!

A quick synopsis for you guys:

"Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait for the operation that turns everyone from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to party. But new friend Shay would rather hoverboard to "the Smoke" and be free. Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The "Special Circumstances" authority Dr. Cable offers 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."

As for this book, I really, really liked it. I devoured it in just over 24 hours! (Yeah, you read correctly--I took out the book on Tuesday afternoon and finished it on Wednesday night.) The plot is definitely something different, and it really makes you think about society's views on "pretty" and "ugly." I mean, who is the person that decides these things?

There was one part in the story where Tally and Shay were looking at old magazines, which were apparently filled with "uglies"...but those "ugly" people were the stars and athletes and singers and such that society nowadays deems perfect, beautiful, and amazing. It made me think--if they view Channing Tatum as an ugly (*GASP*), what the heck is their version of pretty?

You cannot get prettier than Channing Tatum. The laws of the world will not have it.

Alright, as much as I love Channing Tatum...this is a book blog. *Sigh* Let's hope that one day Channing Tatum decides to write a book. Maybe then it'll become socially acceptable to gush about him on this blog.

Enough of that.

I definitely think that everyone should read Uglies, and hopefully it'll make you think. And if you're feeling up to it, try the other three books in the series as well!