Uglies by Scott Westerfeld... A Review

Sometimes Beauty isn't just Skin Deep...

What could be more important to a teenager raging with hormones, acne, and all the awkwardness that the teenage years are filled with?... Fitting in maybe?... Welcome to the world of Tally Youngblood, where at age 16 you are turned pretty and everything is wonderful... or so you would think...

Scott Westerfeld has created a future filled with Hoverboards, Interface rings and crash bracelets... Uglies is a future that is different, but strangely recognizable and believable.

Uglies is set in the future after society picked itself up after almost total annihilation and created a world where the errors of the past would never be part of the future... The world was different back then when the "Rusties" built the cities they lived in from metal, oil was the main source of fuel, and they lived like 'animals' among the trees and open lands. The new society was better... Everyone was beautiful, life was easier, food was plentiful. The children were protected by checkpoints and curfews, invisible barriers and finally by becoming 'Pretty'. In Uglies you're considered 'Ugly' until at the age of 16 EVERYONE goes thru a surgical procedure to conform to what society deems 'Pretty'... acceptable. From a "Littlie", you are taught that you are ugly... because your features are not perfect, your lips might be too thin, your hair might be frizzy, or you might not be curvy enough. Talk about helping a teenager's self esteem! But there is an answer, and that answer happens at age 16, when you are made drop dead gorgeous. There are parties every night, you are accepted by everyone, and life is easy... But what if you like being who you are? What if you don't want to be like everyone else? Is happiness really just a pretty face?

Tally Youngblood is 15 waiting for her birthday to become Pretty. Her best friend Peris, who she has grown up with, already became pretty and she is lonely and desperate to join him in New Pretty Town, where he lives now. As she sneaks over to New Pretty Town to talk to Peris, causes an amazing bit of trouble, and tries to get back over the river to where the Uglies live, she meets Shay... and all Tally knows about life and her future is turned upside down...

Tally is young, adventurous, and full of life. Shay is her equal in all of that, except she looks at becoming a Pretty differently... She questions societies forcing this conformity and looks at the values that the Pretty's have as shallow... But their friendship blossoms with late night adventures and mischief... Until one day Shay tells Tally there is another choice besides becoming Pretty... there is another place... The Smokes...

Friendship & Love, Loyalty & Betrayal, Regret and Redemption are all words I think of in describing this story. What makes a person beautiful? What are the important things in life? What is special about being your own person? This YA story touches on all these important questions and will make you sit back and think. As the story unfolds, Scott Westerfeld creates a history we can follow, shows us how things aren't always quite what they seem on the surface and what an amazing adventure life is, especially when Tally looks outside the box to see a world she could never have imagined and one in which the "authorities" take great measure to try and destroy. The friendship between Tally and Shay is believable & wonderful! There is plenty of action and thrills as Tally makes a journey to find her true self! Scott Westerfeld has created a world you can step inside and explore. You'll be turning those pages to find out what happens next! The characters are rich and the writing is compelling. This is a YA novel, but adults will enjoy reading it as well. I know I really enjoyed reading it! There is a cliff hanger at the end of the story, but the book stands on its own and you will enjoy it even if you don't read any further. The Uglies is a 4 book series... (originally it was suppose to be a trilogy, but there was one more story in Scott!)... I just ordered the rest of the series... and I can't wait! If you were ever went through the angst of being a teenager and had a BFF you will appreciate Uglies!

I read this as part of my DystopYA Reading Challenge. Dystopian fiction is generally fiction about a world that is attempting to be perfect but contains a fatal flaw, and you'll soon find out what that flaw is in Uglies!

Have you read this series yet? What did you think? Do you think being 'Pretty' is the answer to societies problems? Share your thoughts! I'd love to read them! Follow this link to Chapter One! And Scott Westerfeld has written a great selection of discussion questions for Uglies! Here is the Link! The questions illustrate what a thought provoking book this really is...

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

Memoir Mondays... We start the Jane Austen Birthday Week with The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James!

What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen's memoirs

were discovered after hundreds of years?

What if those pages revealed the untold story of a life-changing love affair?

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James... From the Publisher, "The premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen's life, gives us untold insights into her mind and heart. Jane Austen, her sister Cassandra, and their mother are left homeless and nearly penniless when Jane's father dies. Although Jane's brothers pitch in to offer financial support, Jane still lacks privacy and a settled place in which to live and write. She has long since give up her dream of becoming a published author.

On a fateful trip to Lyme, Jane meets the well-read and charming Mr. Ashford, a man who is her equal in intellect and temperament. The two fall deeply in love. Inspired by the people and places around her, and encouraged by Mr. Ashford's faith in her, Jane begins revising Sense and Sensibility, a book she began years earlier, hoping to be published at last.

Written in a compelling and witty style that echoes Austen's own, The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen stays faithful to the facts of Jane Austen's life, while revealing the untold story of Jane's impassioned, life-changing love affair. At the same time, the novel showcases Jane's struggle with her own talent—and offers a possible scenario for the inspiration behind some of her most beloved romantic tales."

This book has gotten so much positive buzz! And since it is Memoir Monday, Jane never wrote really wrote her memoirs, and we are celebrating Jane Austen's birthday this week, I thought we could all enjoy this "memoir" that is written so convincingly in Jane's style! Syrie James did extensive research to truly understand all things Austen, and writes,

"I felt a great responsibility to remain true to Jane Austen's known history, and to accurately represent not only her, but her real-life friends and family members. It was a challenge to interweave my love story with the known dates, times, places and facts of Jane Austen's life. When I was finished, I hoped it would be difficult for even the most discerning Jane Austen scholar to determine where fact ended and fiction began."

Read more about her research at her website HERE. There is even a Reader's Guide HERE, for book clubs interested in reading The Memoirs of Jane Austen as a group! Would you like to read an excerpt? Here's a link to CHAPTER ONE. And this book is Kindle Ready too!

Stop by the rest of the week for more books based on the writings of Jane Austen! And Celebrate Jane this week- her birthday is Dec. 16th!