Pretties (The Uglies) [Paperback]

Scott Westerfeld (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 3, 2011 | Series: The Uglies

In Tally's world, your 16th birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellant Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is having a really good time. Just before her birthday, Tally discovered that turning Pretty comes with a terrible price. She vowed to accept the operation, but with the understanding that her friends on the outside would rescue her, and let her be the guinea pig for the experimental and highly dangerous cure they're developing.

But in the second book of the Uglies series, Tally's Pretty. And everything's changed. The new, Pretty Tally is totally happy right where she is. She doesn't think she needs any kind of cure at all. When someone from her Ugly life shows up with a message, Tally has a hard time listening. Did she really promise to give all this up? Is she bound by a promise she made when she was a different person? If there is anything left of the old Tally, how will she fight her way out to keep her word and help her friends?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–This sequel to Uglies (S & S, 2005) continues to provide a gripping look at a dystopian future, but does not stand on its own. Tally, the protagonist of the first book, has forgotten all that she did as an Ugly and has completely embraced the mindless life of a New Pretty, going to parties, drinking heavily, and thinking of nothing more than the next bit of entertainment. It is not until one of the Uglies from New Smoke comes and delivers a message for her that leads her to two pills, that she begins to remember the real reason she is Pretty: to see if the cure will work. Tally and her new boyfriend, Zane, each take one of the pills and both begin to stay focused for longer periods of time. Then he has a bad reaction to the pill, and Tally has to make a desperate attempt to get him to the only doctors who can help him–the ones outside the city. Westerfeld has built a masterfully complex and vivid civilization. His characters are multidimensional, especially Tally, who wrestles with what she has done in the past and what she will be forced to do in the future. Uglies and Pretties are both nearly impossible to put down. If you don't have the first one, make sure to purchase them both.–Tasha Saecker, Caestecker Public Library, Green Lake, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. In this highly anticipated sequel to the hit Uglies 2005), Tally Youngblood struggles to retain her mental acuity after undergoing the operation that transformed her into a Pretty. While in the renegade Ugly community, Tally learned that along with cosmetic enhancements, new Pretties are given brain lesions that leave them in a perpetual state of lazy vanity. Tally volunteered to take a drug developed to cure the lesions, but now that she is a Pretty, she has forgotten her promise. A coded message leads her to some pills and a letter that she wrote to herself before her transformation, and after swallowing the cure, she is catapulted into a dangerous new adventure, in which she discovers that the peace and happiness of Pretty society come with a terrible price. Riveting and compulsively readable, this action-packed sequel does not disappoint. Just as good as its predecessor, it will leave fans breathlessly waiting for the trilogy's final volume. Jennifer Hubert
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse; Reprint edition (May 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442419806
• ISBN-13: 978-1442419803
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (289 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Scott Westerfeld's teen novels include the Uglies series, the Midnighters trilogy, The Last Days, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and the sequel to Peeps. Scott was born in Texas, and alternates summers between Sydney, Australia, and New York City.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#11 in Books > Teens

#11 in Books > Teens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I read it in one night October 28, 2005

By AstraeaAntiope

Format:Paperback

I remember when I was first considering buying the book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, I was disinclined to purchase it. I thought the title was stupid and the book would get preachy, with a warmed-over, tweaked, brave-new-world feel. I bought it because I couldn't find anything better that I hadn't read. I was pleasantly surprised. While I found his characters shallow at first, the book sucked me in until I couldn't put it down.

Then the long wait for Pretties began. I checked Amazon regularly and ran out to buy it as soon as it hit the shelves, and I read the whole thing the night I bought it. It's not quite as exciting as Uglies, because all the really big revelations have already been unveiled. I liked the characters a lot better this time around. Their dialogue felt a lot more believable. There are some pretty thrilling close-shaves and a few plans that don't go perfectly, which is refreshing and real.

Westerfeld uses this book to explore the other side of his characters' world a bit, not as much why they rebel, but a lot of why the powers that be made the world that way in the first place. I find the Pretties' lifestyle a lot more boring than the Smokies', but I now see that Westerfeld's characters in the first book were so shallow because they had to be. In the world they lived in, there was nothing to encourage depth. Westerfeld has turned out to be a much better writer than I originally thought.

I'm bursting to say more but I don't want to ruin it for people still reading. Just know that this book provided an incredible setup for the last book, Specials.

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good sci-fi story, or a story where kids actually accomplish things.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Sequel to Uglies February 2, 2007

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

Last time we left Tally, she was demanding the pretty operation so she could test the pills that theoretically remove the lesions from your brain. The Specials were only too happy to comply, and now Tally's a pretty, the world nothing but a drunken haze, a source of entertainment. Possibly worse is the fact that she has only the dimmest memories of David, Special Circumstances, or why she's a pretty at all. And if you ask anybody at New Pretty Town, Tally "rescued" Shay from The Smoke. Of course, none of this bothers Tally. She's having the time of her life being beautiful, perpetually happy, and one of the Crims, her new clique. Especially when Zane, Tally's new crush, is the leader of the Crims. After a few months of this, though, the fun stops. An old Smokie friend, Croy shows up at a party, giving Tally instructions to get to, "something important". Even though she has no clue what's going on, Tally follows Croy's directions, because, after all,"everything was always ultra safe in New Pretty Town. Otherwise pretties would be killing themselves left and right." Zane, who seems to have taken an interest in Tally, comes too. The important thing turns out to be a letter Tally wrote to herself back in her ugly days, and two lesion-killing pills. Tally's afraid of the possible psychological effects the pills might have, so she and Zane split, each having one. And for a while(alas, in the life of Tally Youngblood, happiness can never last longer than a while)everything is great. Life is no longer a blur, and Zane's physical abilities are greatly enhanced. That is, until he starts having headaches, crippling migraines that put him out for hours, racking him with unbearable pain. Shay's memories of what really happened at the Smoke are resurfacing, and she's cutting herself so she can be as clear as Tally. The Smokies might be able to help them out,but Tally can't seem to contact them. With no options left, the Crims, minus Shay, will have to find them themselves. Pretties is fast-paced and exciting, making for a worthy sequel to Uglies. I would recommend it to everybody. Even more appealingly, the book tells you more about the Downfall of the Rusties. I guarantee you will love this book, especially the real reason for Zane's headaches(not for the faint of heart) and the wonderful, fantastic, thought-provoking cliffhanger ending.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Enough with the bubbly! March 10, 2009

By Mo

Format:Paperback

Pretties picks up where Uglies left off. Tally has been turned pretty and dull-witted. Tally loves the pretty life of partying, drinking, and doing whatever she wants. She has a lot of fun with it, until one day at a costume party, she sees someone in a specials costume, and she starts feeling like something's not right with her world. Together with Zane, another pretty, Tally must track down the clue to her past as an ugly. When she does though, the repercussions of her choices afterward will continue long into the book. As Tally remembers the truth, she tries to figure out a way to help the other pretties and to save herself and Zane as well.

Pretties was a little slow to start out, but turned out decent. It would have been good, had it not been for "bubbly." One word, repeated practically every page for the first two-thirds of the book, that drove me batty. You see, bubbly was slang for any number of meanings including, but not limited to: impressive, exhilarating, fashionable, cool, cute, interesting, smart, happy, buzzed, weird, daring, exciting, alert, rational, nervous, calm, thrilling, shocking, good, intelligent, trustworthy, rewarding, conscious, intense, riled up, cognizant, and aware. It was such a pain trying to figure out what bubbly meant in each situation, and it distracted from the story and grated on my nerves. Other than that, the story was good.