Uglies (Uglies Quartet) (edition 2006)

by Scott Westerfeld

Series: Uglies (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
13,714	637	378	(3.9)	514
Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.

▾Book information

Member:	littlebookworm
Title:	Uglies (Uglies Quartet)
Authors:	Scott Westerfeld
Info:	Simon & Schuster Children's (2006), Paperback, 448 pages
Collections:	Read but unowned
Rating:
Tags:	borrowed, read 2009, ya, sci-fi

Work Information

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

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352
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (elephantshoe, liberlibri, electronicmemory)
elephantshoe: futuristic world again, but the teens have to compete and fight to the death in a televised reality show.
220
The Giver by Lois Lowry (KamTonnes)
KamTonnes: Uglies and The Giver both portray societies that limit conflict by having very specific rules, roles, and expectations for everyone. Also, in both stories, the main characters slowly start to question the values of their respective communities.
90
Matched by Ally Condie (kqueue)
kqueue: Another story about a 'perfect' society that is deeply flawed once you look beneath the surface. Both feature strong heroines who fight against the powers in control, and both have themes of independence and free will.
80
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (TheBentley)
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The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (goodiegoodie)
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Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder (flemmily)
flemmily: Very similar heroines in similarly closed-off, oppressive worlds. Similar emphasis on an unknown "outside." Similar environmental emphasis, although Westerfeld focuses more on nature, whereas Snyder deals more with issues of population control.
70
Delirium by Lauren Oliver (LauraT81, BookshelfMonstrosity)
LauraT81: Very similar dystopian societies where an operation is meant to subdue the members.
BookshelfMonstrosity: In these intense dystopian novels, teenage girls start to question the life-changing operation their oppressive government mandates for teens. Both girls redefine their values and grapple with the possibility of escaping to a rebellious colony in the wilderness.… (more)
71
Specials by Scott Westerfeld (ysar)
60
Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien (PamFamilyLibrary)
PamFamilyLibrary: An intelligent, quickly paced YA dystopia.
71
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (ysar)
40
The White Mountains by John Christopher (KingRat)
KingRat: The White Mountains contains issues similar to those of Uglies: secret control of a society, "mind control", induction into that society, and rebellion against it while pretending to be a member. There are obvious major differences too. Still, enough similarities in style and substance that I suspect people who enjoy one will enjoy the other.… (more)
51
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Gamers by Thomas K. Carpenter (terriko)
terriko: Great teen fiction! Gamers posits a world where everyone competes using games to define their future, while Uglies posits a world where everyone becomes pretty at 16. While these are pretty different worlds, both books chronicle stories of heroines not going quite where their society expects them to go...… (more)
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JoriPie: Similar Plots
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2Mu: Similar theme: A girl lives in a brainwashing, conformist society. A group of rebels knows the truth and is trying to break the control of those in power. The girl must choose between what she's been raised to think and the people she cares about/what she knows to be true.… (more)
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English (628) Swedish (3) Spanish (2) French (1) Portuguese (Portugal) (1) Danish (1) German (1) All languages (637)

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Showing 1-5 of 628 (next | show all)

I got really tired of the language, it sounded very middle grade as opposed to YA and many of the plot points were really reaching for belief. Not a favorite. (

)

muffinbutt1027 | Apr 26, 2023 |

Uglies has been a book I have been wanting to read since it came out, I just never got round to it because other books were bought first. So after weeks....maybe months of not reading because I just couldn't find anything worth reading I picked up Full Tilt by Neil Shusterman which sort of got me back into reading....So I decided to go for Uglies while I was book free.

First off I am introduced to a girl named Tally, left alone in Uglyville (or whatever you call it) because all her friends were older than her and have been made Pretty. So she befriends a quirky girl named Shay whilst snaking about Pretty town looking for/spying on her old friend(s) and soon Pretty town isn't the centre of their attention, instead the place where the previous generations of humans lived becomes their daily visiting place, and its called the Rusties.

I thought this book was going to be a dystopian masterpiece of Ugly people vs Pretty people, in a generation where when you turn 16 you are made pretty to prevent judgement on appearances, I thought that perhaps there would be bitchyness and claws out hate between the two and realisation of Pretty town being nothing like they portray on the outside.

Unfortunately this book was crap.
Like why am I reading this shit at 200 pages in and still nothing has happened kind of crap.
It was overly predictable from early in. Which isn't usually an issue if the book has a good story behind it.
She is going to be bribed by government, perhaps her old friend is in on it too, she is gonna steal her new friends love interest even though he is ugly, and her new friend will retaliate and by the end of the book it will leave me on a cliff hanger meant to want you to pick up the next...well guess what it isn't happening.

I was really disappointed with Uglies, its description doesn't fit the story, the characters bored me and the only thing that kind of kept me interested was...... erm..... oh yeah, the slight hope that I could see Tally under go this fantastic operation in detail, which doesn't happen so if you are looking for a chick lit/ dystopian (because this book kinda sounded like this) Dont pick up this book.
In fact if you want a decent book to read, try skipping this and going for Pretties (I haven't read it but it has to be better than this waste of paper)

(

)

Enchanten | Mar 12, 2023 |

CW: Unhealthy body image

2.5 Stars (

)

Mrs_Tapsell_Bookzone | Feb 14, 2023 |

Somewhat predictable but still a great read. I'm a fan of dystopic literature so this one plays into my wheelhouse. I know I'm late to the party with this series but that's how it goes. Looking forward to reading the next one! (

)

Dawn.Zimmerer | Jan 9, 2023 |

3.5 super easy quick read, a little bit obvious but fun! (

)

nightnur5e | Dec 15, 2022 |

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Showing 1-5 of 628 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

1 review

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thingScore 100

The Uglies books are the perfect parables of adolescent life, where adult-imposed milestones, rituals, and divide-and-rule tactics amp children's natural adolescent insecurities into a full-blown, decade-long psychosis.

added by lampbane | editBoing Boing, Cory Doctorow (Jan 1, 2006)

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (14 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Scott Westerfeld	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Corral, Rodrigo	Cover designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Jaskoll, Yaffa	Designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Montbertrand, Carine	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Pelleteri, Carissa	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Tremaine, Emily	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

Uglies (1)

Is contained in

Uglies Boxed Set (Uglies / Pretties / Specials) by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies / Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies: The Collector's Set (Uglies / Pretties / Specials / Extras) by Scott Westerfeld

Has the adaptation

Uglies: Shay's Story (Graphic Novel) by Scott Westerfeld

Is abridged in

Swashbuckling Fantasy: 10 Thrilling Tales of Magical Adventure by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Was inspired by

Liking What You See: A Documentary {novelette} by Ted Chiang

Has as a reference guide/companion

Mind-Rain: Your Favorite Authors on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Uglies

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

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Special Circumstances

Important events

Related movies

Awards and honors

Golden Duck Award (2006.3 | Hal Clement Award for Young Adult, 2006)

James Tiptree, Jr. Award Long List (2005)

New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 2005)

South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee (2007-2008)

TLA Texas Lone Star Reading List (2007)

(show all 34 items)

Epigraph

Part I: Turning Pretty

Is it not good to make society full of beautiful people?

- Yang Yuan, quoted in The New York Times

Dedication

First words

The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.

Quotations

Part II: The Smoke

There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion."

- Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and Moral, "Of Beauty"

Part III: Into the Fire

Beauty is that Medusa's head

Which men go armed to seek and sever.

It is most deadly when most dead,

And dead will stare and sting forever.

- Archibald MacLeish, "Beauty"

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Uglies

▾Book descriptions

Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. In just a few weeks she'll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. And as a pretty, she'll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally's choice will change her world forever....

Haiku summary