Book: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Publishing Info: Published by Simon Pulse; 370 pages in paperback

Goodreads Summary: 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.

Pretties is the 2nd book in the Uglies series, and I really liked it.  I thought it was a good continuation of the series, and it is another one that can stand on its own, but also adds to the series and the overall story.

It is hard to believe that a lot of the characters are 16 to 18, because they seem so much older than that, but they’re still really easy to relate to.  The use of bubbly wasn’t annoying, which was surprising considering that it was used somewhat frequently.  I love New Pretty Town, and I continue to be amazed by the world and the characters that Westerfeld has created.  He has a way of making you think about what’s going on in the world, and he does it in a way that’s not obvious.  I think he understands his audience really well, and portrays all the different friendships and possible romantic relationships realistically.

It was really nice to see what it was like to be pretty, and Tally was really interesting.  It seems like Tally managed to retain some of her “ugly” self, and struggled to remember what it was like to be ugly.  It seems like the lesions can be overcome, and don’t need an actual cure, but I’d really like to see how it plays out in the next book.

And the ending!  Definitely a cliffhanger, and I really want to know what happens, so I can’t wait to start reading the next one.  I do like that you’re wondering what happens next…but could stop reading after any book and be fine.  He really is good at wrapping things up and not making me feel like I’m reading 1 or 2 books that are split into 3 or 4.

It gets a 4 out of 5.