In a world where supermodel gorgeous is the norm, natural beauty is considered ugly. Such a world is the setting of the “Uglies” trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. The three books in the trilogy are Uglies, Pretties, and Specials. Each title is the next step in the social hierarchy of the city.
The books take place in the not-so-distant future. After today’s society, known as “Rusties” for their incredible wastes and high metal structures, destroy themselves a new way of thinking arises: If everyone is equally beautiful and kept under control, the wars and wastes of the Rusties could be avoided.
Their system was simple. Until a child turns 16 they are referred to as an ugly. Slight imperfections in any part of one’s physical appearance are seen as ugly. The people of this civilization do not see natural beauty. They separate uglies and pretties into their own separate cities. But at age 16 everything changes. Teens undergo an operation that surgically modifies them to the concept of “perfect beauty.”
The main character of the trilogy, Tally Youngblood, starts out like any teen in Uglyville. She cannot wait for her sixteenth birthday and the operation. A few months before she is to turn sixteen, Tally meets Shay and they find they have the same birthday. But Shay could not have been more unlike Tally. She, for some reason totally incomprehensible to Tally, did not want to undergo the operation. Shay wanted to risk her life outside of the city.
Problems arise when Shay runs away. The city officials offer Tally a terrible choice: Either go into the wild and find Shay or never turn pretty, ever. Tally embarks on a life-changing journey through nature as it has evolved naturally in an attempt to find “The Smoke,” a colony of people who have chosen to remain ugly.
Each book leaves you on the edge of your seat, craving more and thankfully all three books in the trilogy are now available. Pretties deals with Tally’s life in New Pretty Town. Now mesmerizingly gorgeous from the high-tech surgery that everyone in this dystopian future receives at age 16, Tally and her friends have no obligations beyond partying. Being pretty includes being pretty-minded: 'empty and lazy and vapid,' pleasure-focused, with everything seeming 'vague and fuzzy.’ But just when she thinks her life cannot get any better, she is reminded of her ugly past and a promise forgotten, and everything seems to come crashing down.
Specials, the trilogy’s conclusion, brings an abrupt end to Tally’s innocence. She has undergone another operation that has transformed her into a wolf-like super-fighter. Her and many of her friends from her pretty days have become the “Cutters,” a younger division of “Special Circumstances” that cut themselves to bring the world into sharp focus. Their only mission is to bring down the runaways who have chosen to stay ugly. Tally finally has the chance to destroy the Smoke forever, but will she listen to the faintest instinct of her past or go along with what she’s been programmed to do?
This book series is one of the best I’ve read in awhile. It provides a fictional story that ties in some themes that are very important to high schoolers. The message is that natural beauty should never be underestimated. Love yourself for who you are. I give the “Uglies” trilogy by Scott Westerfeld 5 out of 5 stars.
"In dark corners cast, you have time to look at the one who put you there and decide if it is really worth all of the cobwebs and soot." -Alicia (C) 2004
"In dark corners cast, you have time to look at the one who put you there and decide if it is really worth all of the cobwebs and soot." -Alicia (C) 2004