Review: Pretties

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
3.5 stars

Reasons for reading: I read the first book in the series a couple of years ago and wanted to find out what happens; YA novel for the Young Adult Challenge

Description: "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."

First line: "Getting dressed was always the hardest part of the afternoon."

My thoughts: I was sick in bed for almost the whole week and couldn't sleep for coughing for at least three nights, so I managed to burn through a ton of books, this is yet another of them. The one good thing about being sick, lots of time to read!

To me this book felt a little bit thinner plot-wise than Uglies, but I guess that's because Uglies had to do all of the set-up, explaining about pretty-fication and how the world had gotten to think it was a good idea. But I still definitely enjoyed it.

I enjoyed learning more about New Pretty Town. It's quite the astonishing place - everything exists to be amusing. If it didn't require becoming incredibly stupid to live there, it would be paradise. And that Tally's friends wanted to overcome pretty-thinking really felt like a triumph, even if it's a small number. The vulpine mean Pretties from Special Circumstances continue to provide the chilling, controlling force beneath all of the surface glamour and endless parties.

The verdict: I definitely want to see what happens to Tally - if the title of the next book, Specials, isn't a fake-out, then she's in real trouble...