Pretties

By Scott Westerfeld

The second installment of Scott Westerfeld’s international bestselling Uglies series – the global phenomenon that started the dystopian trend.
 
In Tally’s world, looks are all that matters. And now that she’s finally undertaken the surgery to become a ‘Pretty’, everything seems perfect: her looks are flawless, her clothes are cool, her boyfriend is totally gorgeous, and she's completely popular.

But beneath the fun of non-stop parties, high-tech luxury and apparent total freedom, Tally can’t stop a nagging sense that something is wrong. Something important. Then a message from her ‘Ugly’ past arrives, forcing Tally to remember the truth she learned before her transformation, and the fun stops cold. Because the true price of this perfect world is more than Tally is willing to pay…
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Mar 4, 2010
• ISBN: 9781847389107

Scott Westerfeld

Scott Westerfeld is the author of ten books for young adults, including Peeps, The Last Days, and the Midnighters trilogy. He was born in Texas in 1963, is married to the Hugo-nominated writer Justine Larbalestier, and splits his time between New York and Sydney. His latest book is Extras, the fourth in the bestselling Uglies series.

Reviews for Pretties

[alcarinqa_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked Pretties much better than Uglies for a multitude of reasons, but mainly because of the changes in Tally's character. In Uglies, she lacked the ability to see the consequences of her actions and was pretty self-centred. Although she is a Pretty in this book, Tally matures very quickly once she realises the truth about the operation and makes some very difficult decisions which I admired her for. Her friendship with Shay finally begins to crack under the pressure of the events of the previous book, and it was nice to see Tally and Shay shaken out of their usual roles and grow into fuller characters. I also liked the introduction of Zane, I think he's a great addition to the cast and compliments Tally well - he takes risks and has a lot of fun, but is a lot more mature and guides Tally through the book.Pretties builds well on the foundations of Uglies and reveals more of Scott Westerfeld's dystopian world, and for the first time we get to see life from the Other Side. As a Pretty Tally is sort of annoying and shallow, but it's easy to see the lure of living such a simple life where everything is provided and your only job is to have fun. However, when the truth is revealed to her about the operation and she begins to see clearly again, the world is revealed to be false and full of dangers. The reappearance of the Special Circumstances people was expected in the book, but they still freak me out! Dr. Cable is, once again, flawless in her role of villain. One of the most significant developments in the world building is a certain discovery that Tally makes - which in hindsight makes a lot of sense but I wasn't expecting it and it took me completely by surprise.With Tally in the Pretty world, I found myself a little confused at the vocabulary used by the New Pretties - everything is either bubbly (good) or bogus (bad), and things are crazy-making, dizzy-making etc. It gets a little tiring to keep reading the new words and speaking style, but I think it brings home the alien nature of the Pretties very well. In her moments of lucidity Tally tends to revert to normal speech patterns, but continues using bubbly and bogus, which I believe highlights how even if she were to be cured, she would retain some of the characteristics she has picked up as a Pretty. I was amazed at the lengths the Pretties would go to feel bubbly once they realised it also gave them clarity. It seems that adrenaline has a large role to play, with kissing and facing (and surviving) dangerous situations contributing to the bubbly feeling, but once some characters started cutting themselves to feel the same I became concerned.This is an increasingly compelling series that I recommend to all my readers - read one of the original dystopian worlds in modern YA and revel in the brilliance that Westerfeld serves up! I can't wait to read the final volume of the trilogy, Specials, and am also looking forward to the stand alone companion novel, Extras.You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.

[phoenixterran · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretties is the second volume of the Uglies Trilogy, and takes up the story right where the award-winning Uglies left off. Tally has gotten everything she has always wanted: to be Pretty--to have a hot boyfriend, lots of friends, parties and fun all the time, to be free to do whatever she wants and not to be responsible for anything. At least, that's what she used to want when she was Ugly. But that is before she found the Smoke, and unintentionally betrayed the community that lived in secret outside of the system. Of course, she doesn't remember most of that now that she's been made Pretty; being Pretty isn't just a physical change, the brain is deliberately altered as well. But she does have a sense that something is just not quite right with her carefree world. And she's not the only Pretty who's uneasy. When someone from her Ugly past crashes a party to get her a message her world suddenly becomes more dangerous because she begins to remember what she's learned, and there are some people who will stop at nothing to protect their secrets. Tally and her friends develop a daring plan to escape the confines of New Pretty Town and run away to the New Smoke. But with the authorities watching more closely every day, anything could go wrong and their time is running out. Scott Westerfeld delivers yet another piece of great dystopian fiction for young adults with Pretties. I'm not sure which I've enjoyed most so far, but I will definitely be picking up Specials to finish off the trilogy. Experiments in Reading

[wordsampersand · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I genuinely enjoyed this, there was a point — maybe 3/5 of the way through — where I said, "Wait, this book has the same plot flow of the first." Not a bad thing, especially for YA fiction, but...I hope this isn't the case for the third.

[faith_murri · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Writing and Worldbuilding

It builds on the world Uglies established, expanding and giving insight into the behind the scenes of the society. I was annoyed with the whole ~love cures all~ thing, as well as aspects of the love triangle, as, at this point, they're very old tropes, but since this came out over ten years ago, before The Hunger Games even, I'll give it some free passes. The slight glorification of Zane's undernourishment and gaunt appearance wasn't okay, though. I understand why he was gaunt, but I don't understand why Tally thought it was attractive.

The Characters

Tally: My sister warned me that she is very annoying as a Pretty, but honestly, she wasn't really, and if she was, it wasn't for very long. She was just as proactive as she had been in book 1, and I still really liked her.

Zane: I'm not a fan of love triangles, but he was a super nice and I loved him. He was distinct from David and lovable in his own way.

Shay: I'm so sad my hyper, lovable Shay is gone forever :(

Fausto: I loved him! He wasn't super important, but he was funny and even in his few appearances, I got a good feel for his character.

Andrew Simpson Smith: My lovable caveman! ❤❤❤ I don't care that he's stereotypical and a sexist, I love him.

Conclusion

I read this in almost one sitting and in less than 24 hours, so I think they gives a general idea of how engrossed I was in this, and how much I generally really liked it, but I didn't totally love it or anything. To put it in pretty speech: It wasn't totally love-making (which sounds dirty, but I swear it isn't)

[tiffanyak_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a good sequel, which continues directly off of the previous book. While I enjoy the storyline, I continue to have a bit of trouble actually getting pulled into the world. Nonetheless, I will continue to read the series, and am truly hoping for a strong continuing storyline.

[kingrat_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't enthusiastic about the ending, which more or less results in the whole book being a noop.At the start of the book, Tally is newly pretty and her former ugly friends are on the run from the specials. There's a whole lot of plot about how she's going to escape and re-join them, which she does. But then the Specials show up to break up the Ugly party, and the Uglies are back on the run with Tally and her boyfriend in Pretty hands.I don't see a whole lot of growth from the protagonist either.It's a pretty interesting journey to get to that final point, but now I'm worried that the next book is mostly going to be a repeat of what's in this book.

[hollishter · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read Uglies in print and really enjoyed it, so I decided to listen to the audiobook for Pretties. The story wasn't as compelling as Uglies, but what really made this book average for me was the narrator. I could not stand the way she read the story. She was nasal-y and her character voices were not age-appropriate. I'll likely read Specials, but I'll stick to print.

[jennysbookbag.com · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed book #1 more than this one, but still worth reading.

[joem0601 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Just as enjoyable as the first book. Recommend it .

[erinster-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not as impressed by this one as the first one. The part I found the most interesting was the reservation, but I feel like the plot's gotten too far away from the original concept (everyone being made the same), and despite that there's this pretty vs ugly social commentary there's still a lot of emphasis on good guys = attractive, bad guys = ugly or creepy.

[omrythea_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A compelling sequel. Worth the read.

[philipshort · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A brilliant sequel to an already fantastic series. Gripping and suspenseful with a twister plot than a swarm of New Smoke.….

[kayla.krantz · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I hope to never hear the words "bubbly" and "bogus" again.

[toast.x2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

ok. so on top of all the other stuff i have been reading lately, i became thoroughly engrossed in a series which has not let me down in the slightest. this is a bit long winded, but keep in mind it is in reference to reading three books.. and i am trying REALLY hard not to give away spoilers..

it is hard to write about this book because in the context of the review, the keywords and mannerisms of the characters society seems like nothing but grammar and spelling errors. bear with it though, in the books, you are so washed over with the word use and logic that it actually makes sense in the proper frame.

the Uglies trilogy (now a quadrilogy?) was very engrossing. Book one, Uglies, describes a world where there is no war. there is no famine, hatred, or turmoil. 200-300 years in the past over population, strip mining, clear cutting, genetic engineering of plants and animals laid waste on everything in the world. humans have rebuilt from the ashes after we destroyed ourselves. our generation is referred to as “the rusties” since everything left from our world is covered in rust and falling apart.

Tally Youngblood is 15 years old, and only months away from becoming one of the “pretties”. in this world, to remove all of the dangerous human habits of destruction, you are born and raised by your parents, once you hit a certain age (8 or 9 from what i could tell) you are shipped off to school as an ugly. at the age of 16 you are taken from school where you will be put under the knife and remade as a better person. your bones are ground down and or elongated, you have new muscle tissue added to your body, and you have full facial re-constructive surgery. all “pretties” have a choice on how they look, with in the guidelines of the governments rules of morphology. they effectively remove all extremes in height, hair color, skin color, etc. everyone is similar and there is no need for hatred.

Tally, in waiting for her 16th birthday meets a new friend, Shay, who has no desire to become one of the pretties. a week before their shared birthday/graduation from being uglies, Shay decides to run off to a rumored group of rebels who have shafted the system and stayed ugly, and foregone all efforts to work within the system. Tally however has no desire to join her friend and sticks around for her surge (surgery). her only desire is become pretty and join her friends in New Pretty town, where she can dance and play and enjoy the life she has been programmed to want since birth.

Unfortunately, Tally is roped into a game of social change. she is scooped up by the fearsome and dangerous police force that acts as bogeymen for the government. Special Circumstances (the Specials) only comes forward when needed, generally letting the local police force take care of everything. This being a “Special circumstance” Tally is forced to follow her friend to the encampment of rebels (the Smoke) and betray her friend, and everyone who has escaped so far. if she does not, she will be denies surge and will forever be Ugly. and in this society, this is the worst thing that could ever happen to you.

Book one was so good, that i had an itch to move on to book two immediately. i hate doing that. i love to stretch a series out if possible, and draw out the enjoyment from the story line. so when book one was finished, though i really wanted to move on to the second book, i ramped myself down and read the Real Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja book. Book two immediately followed and when finished i lost all self control and my fingers and eyes forced me to read book three next.. it took about two days with my schedule.. two lousy days.. why couldn’t it last longer… i wasted a great book by reading it too soon..

well, not a waste. damn. it was so good, i had no choice really.. it was in my best interest to read the book. or so i keep telling myself. there is a fourth book. it was written after the trilogy was announced, so it is a bit of an anomaly, thus the trilogy quadrilogy notation above. unfortunately, the book Extras is still in hardback edition, so until it hits paperback, i will have to force myself to wait.. this sucks..

these books, written by Scott Westerfeld, fall into the teen-fiction category. they are written for teens, but the story line and books themselves do not lend themselves only to teens. being thirty years old, i literally could not stop reading these books. if you need a good break from your normal reading schedule, i would throw these in the mix and read them. they all rank around 300 pages of single space small print, so they are not some little read you would use to sturdy the kitchen table. instead, they are full of vibrant ideas, technology, tattoos that i wish were a reality. there were no obvious plot twists that made me think “why am i reading this” or “how predictable” instead, i was often surprised and left feeling “bubbly” as they state in the book.

imagine a world full of barbie dolls being slowly destroyed by barbie’s cyber-punk kid sister that has been kept in the closet for years.

i was sad to come to the end of this series, but glad to know that i will have at least one more book to close it all up in the near future.

anyone who is interested should note that all three of the first books can be bought in a boxed set for under 20 bucks.. this is how i got sucked into them.. a really good price for a nice story line idea turned into one of the best purchases i have made on books in a while. now, i just have to hope that hollywood has not gotten their hands on the thought of movies. these would be thoroughly ruined and not done justice.. read them before someone fucks them up for you… thats all i have to say on the matter.

[phoebereading · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Dear Tarah:Well, I tried. You were surprised that I didn't like Uglies. It was so much fun, you said! And you told me that you liked the sequel, Pretties, even more. When we talked about it, I wondered if it all boiled down to one's tolerance for hoverboards. Hoverboards are so played out, I said! It was a well-worn trope back in 1989, when Back to the Future was first released, I whined. It's certainly a cliche now.You admitted that that might be true. But modern teenagers don't know from Marty McFly, you contended, and besides, hoverboards are awesome.But the problem is that I still don't think hoverboards are enough to carry a novel. And the truth is, hoverboards are far from the silliest thing I stumbled across in Scott Westerfeld's Pretties. His universe is filled with silly things. Clocks embedded in eyeballs. Tattoos that glow with heartbeats. Floating skating rinks and jackets and poorly explained nanotechnology. Painful slang. And a seriously silly main character who I found seriously unlikeable.With the exception of my dislike for Tally Youngblood, I may have been able to forgive all the goofiness of Westerfeld's world if it coalesced into something tangible, believable, and concrete. Now, don't get me wrong--I love sci-fi even when it's at its goofiest. I mean, I'll take a good ol' Ferengi episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 any day. But that's because I buy Ferengi culture. I believe it. And even a hundred and eighty pages into the second book in this series (which is the point where I gave up on reading closely, and just started skimming), I never believed in Tally's world. The technology seems fluffy--as if I'm meant to just find it wicked cool and ignore how utterly unlikely it seems. And the sociology is even worse. Adults in this society are either impotent or evil. Our rebellion is populated entirely by an under-twenty set with a strange dearth of participation from "Middle" or "Late" Pretties. There's exactly one adult fighting for "good," and she is completely unlikeable. I understand a young adult author's urge to dispense with parents or parental figures. However, I just didn't buy it--it violated my willing suspension of disbelief. Compare this universe with the one Suzanne Collins gives us in The Hunger Games. There, you also have self-sufficient teenagers who participate in exciting action sequences and are integral to a rebellion. However, they're bolstered and supported by adults even as they are separate from them. This created characters--and a world--which was much more human and much more believable. But maybe all of that wouldn't have bugged me very much if I liked Tally. But I really, really didn't.Because as Tally "progresses" in this series, going from Ugly to Pretty to "bubbly" to Special, she remains largely shallow in her motivations. She wants to be Pretty and she wants a powerful boy (though her preference for which powerful boy changes according to her situation) to like her. She lacks any real initiative. Any changes in her motivations are initiated and inspired by the boys she's involved with. Contrast this to Shay. I'm still not sure how we're supposed to feel about Shay--that is, how Westerfeld wants us to feel about Shay--but I can't help but like her. Despite her informed flaw of jealousy, not to mention her apparent scrappiness, she displays real initiative time and time again in this series. For all that David claims in Uglies that she's a follower, she still leaves for the Smoke without Tally. In Pretties, as a Pretty, she finds a means towards "bubbliness" without medical intervention or encouragement by a boy. Now, I know we're meant to view the cutting here as horrific, particularly in comparison with Tally's "natural" ways of achieving mental clarity. But Westerfeld breaks his Aesop by having Tally eat calorie purgers and starve herself. Her behavior is equally self-destructive, and something she does only with the support of a stronger man. Meanwhile, Shay acts independently, and is eventually able to find both followers and power through these actions. I couldn't help but feel like her story was the more interesting of the two--and I couldn't help but wish that Westerfeld had shown us more of it.I mean, there are a few times in this series where Shay confronts Tally, accusing her of going after the guys that Shay likes, of attaching herself to the cutest and most popular men. I couldn't help but just nod in agreement with everything she was saying, and that's a problem, don't you think? It's one thing if a character is realistically complex. It's another if you just start to hope that she'll be cut down to size by other characters.That's the major reason why I gave up on this book, only skimming to the end. And that's why I'm not even going to bother with the rest of the series. I just really didn't like Tally--and didn't want to spend another minute with her. No matter how cool hoverboards are.Yours even in diverging tastes,Phoebe

[altheaann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

At the end of 'Uglies', the first book in this series, Tally Youngblood agrees to leave her new friends and go back to Prettytown, undergoing the operation that will make her happy and ditzy (as well as beautiful), so that her can be an experimental guinea pig for a cure. However, once she's back, she forgets all about her plans, falling into a routine of parties and fun - not to mention a new, gorgeous boyfriend. However, she's still one of the "bubbliest" (most daring and alert) Pretties, and her friends manage to sneak her the cure. Things don't go quite right though... and soon her boyfirend seems to be getting sick. They must try to escape Prettytown, avoid the scary Special Circumstances who are after tally, and get back to the rebels outside the city.
This is a fun series, but it does suffer from big gaping holes in its logical believability.

[pdbkwm-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not as good as Uglies. I'm not sure why it seems like every female character can't get along with Tally and why David, despite being the former love interest of Tally, still seems to not really be all there.

I did find it to be a bit more preachy than Uglies, which kind of dragged the story down for me. But I did like seeing more of the world, Andrew and his crew have me interested, and Zane does make for a better love interest.

I think my major gripe is how Peris was shafted in this novel. In Uglies, Tally couldn't wait to be with her best friend forever, but now that she's with him we still don't see him. I think he gets as much screen time as he did in Uglies.

So when Tally was disappointed with his choice and realized that things couldn't be the same with them anymore, I didn't really care. Despite this, I kind of like his non-bubblyness. I hope we get to see more from him in Specials. Not as a love interest, I hope to God that doesn't happen, but just something.

[melanielost · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favorite from the Uglies series for now. Loved it! Full of emotions that made me stay awake during the night.

[literaryperuser · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The language used by the characters was difficult to get through even though it accurately depicted the thought processes of being "pretty" and the implications of that societal structure. I am continuing to read the series as I hope that the series as a whole will be better than the sum of its parts. So far, I am not overly enthralled with the books as stand alone titles.Having said that, the premise is intriguing and could lead to great discussion about how systems, governmental or otherwise seek to control their populace. I also find this future society's versions of our current day destruction of the natural world fascinating and would love to debate which "solution" is more destructive.Although, I find it impossible to believe that anyone would die in their car because the oil caught a virus and they simply wouldn't get out and walk. That was just ludicrous! We "Rusties" are NOT that dumb! Obviously this society does not have the full story of what caused the collapse of the Rusty society.

[stormydawnc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pretties is in the middle of my least and least favorite book of the Uglies series, and that's fitting, since that's where my feelings towards is lie as well. Some of my favorite moments come in this book, though, which is why I still relatively like it. Enjoyable, but the ending is where everything started going downhill for me.

[csweder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

2nd in the series, it is very good. Westerfeld is very good at writing endings that make someone want to rush out and grab the next book in the series.

I am kind of amazed at how good this series is, considering it is a young adult novel. (Sometimes, YA novels have a 'watered down' plot. But I do not feel that way at all with these novels. Kudos!

I was absolutely in anguish over Tally's conflict between David and Zane....and despite the terms they ended on, I can't believe that we won't see him again....

[thermopyle-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A well told adventure set in a future where the populace is contained in idyllic enclaves devoted to a luxuriant yet regimented lifestyle. This becomes a somewhat typical story of how the heroine learns more about the secrets behind those cities and how they work to subvert them. However, the story never lags and the use of cosmetic surgery to produce perfect faces and bodies (based on human evolution) adds a unique touch. Recommended if you enjoyed the Hunger Games (though it was written prior to that series).

[engpunk77 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

All of the excitement of a thriller but with the depth of a classic. It's not timeless literature, but I think it will last longer than a Christopher Pike novel. Timeless themes, certainly--gave me a lot to think about.

[narilka · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tally has finally become pretty! And it's everything she's ever dreamed of: living in New Pretty Town, amazing parties every night, awesome clothes, a totally hot boyfriend and she's completely popular. Yet the feeling like she's forgetting something won't go away. Something important. After being stalked at a party by someone from her ugly past she receives a letter. Reading it Tally starts to remember what's wrong and realizes just how much danger she and her friends are in. Pretties is the second in the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. The story picks up a few weeks after where book one left off. Westerfeld builds nicely on his world showing us the another facet of society. As a Pretty Tally is annoying and shallow, pretty much what you expect for a society that glorifies personal appearance. Once her memory starts to come back she starts to grow as a character again becoming more interesting. It's also interesting to read about her relationship with Shay, just how different it is from the first book.More characters are introduced. Zane is a fun addition as is the idea behind the Crims clique. Dr. Cable, shown to us briefly in book one, continues to be an excellent villain. This time around the Pretty slang started to grate on my nerves. Everything is always bubbly or bogus or crazy-making. I know it's part of the world building but it was almost hard to read. There are parts where they story tends to plod along while trying to explain things in Pretty terms. Still it's a good read and a good addition to the series.

[mariah21-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

In this book, a sequel to The Uglies, Tally has turned into a pretty, complete with brain lesions that make her personality change. She attempts to get her own personality back and has to overcome multiple issues to try and find her own self. Not a fan of this book.

[liveshipvivacia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"Face it, Tally-wa, you're special."

Perhaps it was because I read Pretties so much after I'd read Uglies, or perhaps it's just that Pretties is more engaging, but the book was actually pretty good. Unfortunately, we start again with the flat, two dimensional characters who aren't very compelling. They're prototypes and characters like Zane work best if you have another model you fit in.

Nonetheless, the plot was pretty fast paced and, in times, rather interesting. It's fun to see how Tally's actions in Uglies got her back and how her own selfishness played right now Dr. Cable's hands. The ending left me curious about Specials, although I've heard it's not as good.

There were times when the book deviated into uninteresting drivel, but it was much shorter than in Uglies. I enjoy seeing Dr. Cable manipulate Tally and everyone around her and perhaps seeing why Special Circumstances does what it does in the next book.

[rosa.mill · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Like Uglies this book was also very slow to get started. This one also ended on a cliff hanger. The ending was extremely fast paced and the story is interesting, although the characters seem weaker this time around. Maybe it's because pretties are supposed to be useless.

[charitybradford-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I still enjoyed all of the characters, but felt it took to long to get to something exciting. I was so aggrivated by the ending too! Will Tally ever get free?

[yogiboo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hmmm, well... Hmmm... Not really impressed! It's so slow and Tally and her stupid friends are really annoying. Not much happens in this book until right near the end. Also if the specials are so intelligent, why the hell don't they just map the areas outside of the city for life signs? I mean honestly these people are supposed to be smart and it's not like these morons are hover boarding for months, so they are obviously not that far away! Well I purchased the last two books and will read them but am not amused :(

[frozenplums · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This sequel to Uglies was definitely better in my opinion. We learn a lot more about the government's ideals and concepts in creating society the way it has, and uncover a lot of moral questions. I really enjoyed this book! Looking forward to the next one!