UGLIES by Scott Westerfield

Uglies is a great dystopian fiction novel and the first in a series of four. Scott Westerfeld writes about a world where people have an operation done at the age of 16 that turns them from an “Ugly” to a “Pretty”. When the main character, Tally, meets a girl who doesn’t want the operation things start to go out of control. The girl runs away to a place called the Smoke, and Tally is forced to go after her by a secret organization called Special Circumstances. She then has to choose between betraying her new friend to the government or becoming a Pretty.

Scott Westerfeld writes this book from Tally’s third-person limited point of view. He does an amazing job at developing not only the main character, but many of the side characters as well. As you read the book, you will be able to see how Tally changes drastically through her opinions of people and how she sees each of them in a new light. You can also see the subtle changes or, in some characters, how quickly they can go from the good guy to the bad guy and vice versa.

            What really made this book good was the structure. Special Circumstances is a government organization that no one knows if they are just legends or if they really do exist. The presence of Special Circumstances just makes this book more intense, as if they are in the shadows the whole time, watching Tally. Dr. Cable, the head of Special Circumstances, is the main antagonist and is the person who forces Tally to travel to the Smoke and betray her friend. I think the way Westerfeld develops this organization and makes them a looming figure throughout the book is a great aspect of his writing.

Another good thing about Uglies is how Westerfeld uses imagery. The way he describes scenes in the book makes you feel like your right there next to Tally getting sprayed by a waterfall or nearly burning to death in the forest.

“Billowing clouds of smoke surrounded her, blotting out the sky. A ragged wall of flame moved through the flowers, giving off a wave of blistering heat. She stumbled down the hill and away from the fire.”

His great use of words will make you feel the heat, cold, or wherever Tallys’ travels lead her.

I would rate this book a 9 for its concrete plot line and the authors’ strong structure and character development. Overall, this is a great book and I recommend the sequels’ to it, which are Pretties, Extras, and Specials.

Reviewed by Blake Beal

8th Grade