Skip to main content

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Post-apocalyptic world where everyone has a surgery that makes them perfectly pretty when they turn 16. Tally is one of the last of her year in school to turn pretty. When she makes friends with Shay she learns about a group of people who have refuse to have the surgery and run away to live in a place called the Smoke. This knowledge turns Tally's whole world upside down and Tally must make some hard decisions about moving forward. 

Category: YA

Why I chose this book: Had started the series before and wanted to give it another try. 

My personal opinion (the review): In our modern world where sometimes it seems that beauty is everything, who wouldn't want a surgery that would make everyone beautiful, slender, and muscular for the rest of their lives. However, it's so scary to think what we might be willing to give up for the price of beauty. And the lengths that some might go for control. Overall not a top favorite, but an interesting read. 

Warnings
Language: None
Violence: Very mild
"Adult" situations: Mild kissing, nothing intense. 
Death: Only one minor character

Movie rating equivalent: PG-13

Protagonist description: At first Tally seems whiny and a bit boring, but as the story progresses we see that there is more to her than we originally see. She thinks quickly on her feet and is able to piece things together in a way that not many of her peers can do.  

Point of view of story: First, Tally

Book length: Short

Story flow: Started out slow, but got better as it went

Grammar and spelling issues: A few weird things in the way they talk, but nothing that is hard to understand. 

Character connection (no spoilers): I'd love more backstory on David. 

For series:
Independent or integral: Independent as first in series

Series review as a whole: Still deciding

If you only have time for one, read: Uglies

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Game by Terry Schott

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) What if this life is just a simulation? What if our bodies are in another world, plugged into a virtual reality game, and our entire life is just one play in that game? What would our real life be like, if we could experience several full simulated lifespans, in our teen years, and then enter adulthood? That is the premise of this story. Category Sci-Fi Why I chose this book It was either free or discounted on Amazon, and sounded interesting My personal opinion (the review) Too many inconsistencies. For example: The real world is able to view the players in the game in "real time", but time in the game is sped up, so that a week in real life is worth a decade in the virtual world. How do real world people have enough time to experience the virtual world, in real time, while still being accelerated? Danielle enters the game 3 days behind Trew, but she only ends up being 1 year younger. If a week is a decade in the game, then 3 days should have be...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mark of Fire by Richard Phillips

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Two main stories: Carol, the daughter of Lord Rafel, wants to be a magic wielder. As she learns magic and grows in strength, she is unaware that she is being hunted by the greatest wielder in the world. The second story is about a ward of Rafel's, named Blade, who becomes an infamous assassin and works for the king. The king sends Blade to kill Rafel and Carol, but he warns them to flee instead. Blade wanders, to escape the king's justice, but finds himself in his own adventure. Category : Fiction, fantasy, possibly YA Why I chose this book : Kindle First My personal opinion : I really enjoyed the story line, the world the author created, and the depth of the characters. It was easy to lose myself in the story. I also really appreciate that the story is "clean" - no bad language, no sexual situations, etc. I feel comfortable recommending this to my teenage children. Warnings Language: none Violence: fairly frequent fighting "Adult...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Keeper by Suzanne Woods Fisher

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Story follows the Lapp family, an Amish family in new England, their challenges, growth, and relationships developed with the new housekeeper and beekeeper who have become part of their household, especially the relationship of Julia with Rome (the beekeeper), a traveling unattached "drifter" that resides in stony ridge part of each spring/summer. Category Christian fiction Why I chose this book It showed up on the suggestions page of my library digital borrow/lend site, and it looked like a love story. Other cultures (like Amish) interest me. I knew it would be a safe read love story. My personal opinion (the review) I really enjoyed the love story. It was also interesting to read about an Amish family. It had a lot of spiritual references in the thoughts of the characters and I liked that.  Warnings (language, violence, "adult" situations, death, etc.) No "bad" stuff, but yes death. (I was grateful for the ...
Post a Comment
Read more