Uglies (Book 1), Scott Westerfeld
Thursday, January 28, 2010 10:14 AM /
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In a world where everyone is movie-star-gorgeous, normal people are so not pretty. In short, they're ugly.
Set in a dystopian future where new technology ensures safety and luxury, weapons of any kind are largely illegal, and at the age of sixteen everyone undergoes a series of extreme surgeries to better conform to society's standards of beauty. The logic being that, since humans are preconditioned to respond to certain visual cues in each other already (big eyes are non-threatening, a clear complexion and good teeth indicate that a person is healthy), applying these beauty standards will reduce conflict and create a more harmonious society.
Since then, young girls and boys are told they are ugly by their parents and the government, they think they are too fat or skinny; they have big noses and squinty eyes.
Up until their 16th birthday they are considered an Ugly, go to ugly schools, live in ugly dorms, reside in Ugliville all the while dreaming that one day they will become pretty and get to live the good life in Pretty New Town. All they have to look forward to is that day when they turn sweet sixteen and get to shed their Ugly skins to be normal and pretty.
But what exactly lies in Pretty New Town that every Ugly finds divine?
Maybe that's because they have better stuff to do than kid tricks. Maybe having your own hovercar and new clothes is way cooler than the normal micofiber dorm jacket. Maybe partying all night is better than looking out the windows at the towers of New Pretty Town. Maybe when they do the operation - when they grind and stretch your bones to the right shape, peel off your face and rub all your skin away, and stick in plastic cheekbones so you look like everyone else - maybe after going through all that you just aren't very interesting anymore.
So when Tally's friend runs away to a place called The Smoke, where all the people who don't want to turn pretty go, our heroine is given a risky choice; she can find her friend and turn her in, or remain forever ugly. She also learns something about being pretty, and it is not very pretty at all.
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