Review: Pretties

by Scott Westerfeld
publisher: Simon Pulse
date published: November 1, 2005
format: paperback
pages: 370
source: library
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N
challenges: Goodreads 2011 Reading Challenge; 2011 YA Reading Challenge



***SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't read Uglies yet, don't read any further! You have been warned.***








From Goodreads:

Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.

Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.

What I Thought

Pretties picks up mere weeks after Uglies left off. We meet Tally once again, although this time she has undergone the surgery to make her a Pretty. She has vague memories of her life as an Ugly and now spends all of her time partying with Peris, Shay, and Zane, leader of Tally's clique and her current love interest. For the most part, Tally is having the time of her life, though she has moments where her old personality seems to be trying to break through. It isn't until an unexpected guest shows up at a party that Tally really begins remembering her old life and how it felt to be an Ugly: free and full of adventure. What follows is Tally's journey to reclaim her freedom and find her way out of the life that she has been subjected to.

In many ways, Pretties was just as vivid in the storytelling as Uglies was. However, there was one addition to the story that made this book a bit less pleasant to read: Pretty slang. That's right, I said Pretty slang. From the first chapter to the last, the story was peppered with words such as "bubbly," "bogus," and "(insert adjective here)-making." By chapter three I truly thought I was going to start screaming if I had to read the word "bubbly" one more time. It was a bit much and I longed for the prose I so enjoyed in Uglies. Other than that, the plot was exciting and had tension in all the right places. From Tally's preparations for her escape to the state of Shay's mind, I was kept feeling nervous on Tally's behalf. The villains were extremely creepy and the fact that it was imperative that Tally get past them provided for further suspense. These things went a long way toward redeeming a story that was so nearly overwhelmed by vernacular.

I was a little disappointed with this installment in the Uglies series. It didn't wow me quite as much as Uglies had and I wasn't sure if I could continue with the series until the very end. However, what I saw at the conclusion of the book kept me on board with the series and helped boost the rating I gave the book. Based upon my frustrations with the vernacular within, I didn't feel that I could give the book a 4 like I would have had it not been an issue. Therefore, I give Pretties 3 hoots and trust that Specials will get the series back on track.