Anna S. (annapi) reviewed on 7/7/2010 + 334 more book reviews

In a future world, everyone is turned Pretty when they're 16, so that everyone is equal, and life becomes one big party. It's what all Uglies aspire to be. Tally Youngblood is 3 months away from 16 when she meets Shay. They become friends, and because they share the same birthday, they will turn Pretty together. Until Shay tells Tally of her plan to run away to find the Smoke, a mysterious hidden community where Uglies who don't want to be Pretty live together in the wild, and tries to persuade her to come along. Tally refuses to give up her lifelong dream, but Shay leaves her cryptic directions to the Smoke in case she changes her mind. On Tally's big day, everything changes - but not they way she expects. The Specials, whose existence Uglies and Pretties have heard rumors about that most don't believe, take Tally into custody and force her to make a choice - betray her friend or be Ugly forever.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. It was a fast read, as I expected a young adult book to be, but it was 1:00 AM when I finally decided I couldn't finish it in one sitting even though I wanted to - I never expected it to hold my attention that long. It has its flaws, the biggest being simplistic plot and language, which when you consider the genre are perfectly acceptable for the target age group. I wish I'd read this in my teens - I would have loved it then. As an adult, it's still enjoyable and though I won't spend money on it (I got a free promotional e-copy of this one), I'll probably look for the sequels in the library.

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