Book Review - Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld
Hello fellow YA dystopian readers,
So, I’m kinda late to the party on this series. I actually had the first book, Uglies, as assigned reading in 8th grade (my teacher tried to assign popular contemporary books, Ex. Lord of the Rings). But, I was always terrible at reading assigned books, and at the time, I loved contemporary fiction – not fantasy or dystopia. (Completely flipped from my preferences today) However, I did remember trying to read this series and not really getting into it at all, I remember not relating to the characters in any way. Fast forward about 10 years (oh my gosh), I thought that I ought to give the book another try – remembering that it was quite the sensation “back in the day”. So, off I went, reading The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld, during my downtime at work.
NOTICE: Watch out for some light spoilers in the following review, I’ve tried to conceal them as well as possible while still getting my point across. However, if you’re a stickler for not knowing anything that happens in a book, maybe don’t read the review. Just know that I gave both Uglies and Pretties 3/5 stars on Goodreads. I don’t have a desire to read more books in the series and I am more than content to read the Wikipedia synopsis of the final two books (Specials and Extras). Westerfeld’s writing style was just not my cup of tea.
Setting
This series is set about 3 centuries in the future. Our generation is referred to as the “Rusties”, we destroyed the planet with our desire to strip the earth of its resources. So, in the future, people live in extreme socialist/communist style societies, running exclusively on renewable resources. This sounds fine enough, except for the fact that the society tries to use “science” and “medicine” to solve all of humanity’s problems, like war, hate, racism, illness, and anger. One of the ways which they have achieved this is to make everyone “pretty”, scientifically modified creatures that are superior than their old selves. People become “pretty” on their 16th birthday and life is pretty much perfect from then on out, leaving their “ugly” selves behind as distant memories. However, this isn’t as transparent as it seems, the story builds with revelations of true government intentions, renegade groups, and budding dystopian themes.
Originally written as a trilogy, a fourth book came out, Extra, as a supplement to the series.
Uglies Review
Immediately, I didn’t particularly like the writing style. I just didn’t feel like I was reading an account of the future and it hindered my belief in the possibility of the story, made the book more of a satire than a dystopian novel. I started the novel relatively uninterested in this unrealistic society.
It wasn’t until I read onward that I realized that I would continually have thoughts about the lack of realism in this book.
Still, I found the book relatively engaging and an easy way to pass time. I tried not to delve too deep into the world building and found it to be an easy read.
One thing that severely hindered my liking of the novel was the lack of connection to the characters. Most characters seemed very two dimensional and implausible. I didn’t really think any of the characters could have been one of my friends, and that made my interest in the book nose dive.
I didn’t believe in the sanctity of the relationships between characters. I cannot stress enough how bothered I was that characters simply became friends because it was stated that they would be friends, regardless of the blatant lack of chemistry between the two. I disagreed with some of the things that Westerfeld decided to focus his time writing on instead. Often, he chose to skim over periods of time by saying something like “this is what we talked about” – but actually having those conversations in the book would have helped with characterization or chemistry between characters.
The story picks up about half way through and gets a little unpredictable. The plot twists that decorate this book were very welcomed – as I was unsatisfied with reading unlikable characters in an unrealistic world.
Over time, Tally develops more of a personality and depth, which I wildly fond of. She developed both desirable qualities, like bravery, thoughtfulness, empathy, and quick wit, while having undesirable ones as well, like naivete, poor decision making, vanity, and selfishness. I could see her character growing more and having an interesting character arc in the series. I appreciate that and wish I would see more development in other characters, still, I don’t necessarily think Tally and I would be very good friends.
(…And then Tally goes and says something like “Which was worse: a friend with brain damage, or one who despised you?” … Seriously? SMH – when you think that the main characters have grown and then they swing right back)
A large gripe that I had with this book was its dedication to building a society based on half thought out science and nitpicked facts that support the plot. Little tidbits of science were tossed into the story to coax the reader into believing in the potential validity of the society. Yet, the bits that were used could be easily contradicted by additional scientific facts. It just wasn’t thoroughly researched or thought out. With “scientific proof” that can be dispelled so easily, the world feels even more unrealistic.
The pacing of this book was not good. (Not to say that my review is much better, but here are my thoughts regardless) Big moments lacked build up and fell flat, action sequences lacked description and were hard to follow, and too much focus was given on repeated descriptions of the same places.
To end on a somewhat positive note, the big thought provoking message that I was left with after reading, and what I gathered as the big idea of the book was quoted nicely by one of the characters, ”Maybe they didn’t want you to realize that every civilization has its weakness. There’s always one thing we depend on. And if someone takes it away, all that’s left is some story in a history class.”
Pretties Review
Looking at the first point I made in the Uglies review, this story varies drastically. Instead of being written by someone from “Rusties” time, it’s written in an explicitly “Pretty” way. This jargon builds adjectives and adverbs simply by adding the suffix “-making” or “-missing”. Words like “pretty-making”, “crazy-making”, “dizzy-making”, “brain-missing”, “fashion-missing”, “face-missing”, and “food-missing” are difficult to read without gradually increasing my gnawing annoyance. These words are used to build a “Pretty” culture. This culture is purposely annoying to the reader, and it definitely worked on me.
I had a hard time reading the book because of this writing style. It felt mind numbing at times. Everyone was written to speak like an exaggerated, stereotypically dumb valley girl. I felt like this was much more a testament of what the author considers culture degradation than actual insight into the possibilities of the future.
I felt as though Westerfeld valued the annoying the reader with this world more than he did making the reader believe in the plausibility of its conception. However, a dystopian novel that is unrealistic to me doesn’t really count as a dystopian novel in my eyes. I just couldn’t envision the world this way, even with the explanations that were given to how the world got there. I debated putting the book down multiple times but felt compelled to finish, given that I’d dedicated myself to a review.
Just as I felt with Uglies, I still didn’t like the characters, although they did build some depth with this second novel. I didn’t feel connected to them, nor did I believe their actions and intentions to be genuine. People in the story don’t act consistently to their character’s desires and motives. For example, it’s hard to establish someone as domineering, frightening, and superior mentally and physically, when their actions don’t paint them that way. Overall, I just didn’t care about the characters and I didn’t believe in their relationships or goals. I just didn’t care if they succeeded or if the world got better for them.
I also did not connect well with Westerfeld’s setting building techniques, I felt as though he emphasized the wrong things in his details. I didn’t need to know more about how the same trees looked. Where I needed more were the action sequences that got quickly jumbled and confusing as settings were just skimmed over. I couldn’t build the world in my head at the big moments in the novel.
Finally, I wanted to note that the whole book seems to be filled with deus ex machina moments – when something gets difficult to explain (like how someone can make a medicinal pill in the middle of the woods with virtually no power system in less than a day), it either gets skimmed over or explained with luck. Situations play out just right and makes the story even less believable.
Random Note 1: I was very disillusioned that Westerfeld listed Rudolph Valentino as a “natural pretty from back in the Rusty days”. This really ruined the image that I had of the pretties in my head. I imagined a freak, by my interpretation, to be the outcome of the operation, as a testament to how beauty standards change over time, as they always have. This connection to “our time” just added to the lack of realism and future that I felt throughout the book.
Random Note 2: There are a few times in the novel where very atheist ideology is present. And I could really imagine some suburban folk being super mad about that. And that makes me laugh.
Overall, I think the concept of the series is interesting and I applaud Westerfeld for the unique idea and style. At times, he did make me think about how people tend to judge those of the past but forget that everyone is the result of their environment. And I think that’s an important piece of information to keep in mind – if you don’t consider yourself inherent superior to those in the past, it’s easier to learn from them.
Personally, I just wish it were written differently.
After Reading the Wikipedia Synopsis of Specials & Extras
I read the plot summaries of Specials and Extras on Wikipedia. To be honest, I’m even more cemented into the idea that I don’t really want to read those books. I can admit that the series has a lot of twists and turns, leaving me surprised often. However, I’m fairly certain I would have been similarly apathetic/annoyed at the writing. Overall, I’m good with ending my journey with the series the way that I did.
In conclusion, I didn’t hate the books, I know that the review makes it seem like I might have. However, my review lists points that I made note of throughout my reading, where I felt strongly. Often, I felt strongly about negative things. Regardless, my opinions do not define Scott Westerfeld’s novels or abilities, as I’m sure he is fantastic, and these books are great reads for other people.
PS: I love the German Covers (below)
Disclaimer:
I am no book reviewer. This is my relatively stream of consciousness style review of the book. On another note, I hope you have a good day.