'Pretty' isn't just skin-deep
I reviewed the first book, Uglies, about two years ago. I enjoyed it very much because I don't read a lot of science fiction, so the futuristic society setting and the emphasis placed on maintaining peace at all cost was exotic to me. Having read The Hunger Games, published a couple of years after Uglies, I'm more familiar with the post-apocalyptic subgenre. While that presents opportunities to compare the aforementioned series, the fact remains that Scott Westerfeld's book have their own flavor.
Tally is a Pretty: she's beautiful, popular (thanks to a rebellious phase), and gets to have anything her heart desires instantly. At first, all she wants is to gain acceptance to an exclusive clique, the Crims, which her best friend Shay has already joined. She also wouldn't mind impressing Zane, who, like her, got into some major trouble as an Ugly in his younger days. But suddenly Tally receives a message from the recent past and two pills that will make her stop thinking like a Pretty. When she's cornered, Zane helps her out, and the two begin plotting a way to escape New Pretty Town. Tally remembers that she has friends beyond the city limits - friends who long ago decided not to undergo the operation that turns an immature Ugly into a sophisticated Pretty. She remembers David, the guy that made her Ugly self feel beautiful. And, unfortunately, she also remembers a major betrayal that led to a death and to a spurned Shay. As Tally schemes to contact the world beyond Pretty Town, she must avoid the clutches of the Specials, a super police force who know where Tally's loyalties ultimately lay.
Much like Tally, I was thrown back by the change in plot direction in this sequel. Tally's awakening from Pretty-minded to firing on all cylinders requires patience on the part of the reader. As opposed to the first book, here it's at first uncertain that Tally will make it outside of Pretty Town at all. The set-up is slow, but once the action gets going, it continues at a nice pace. The foundation is laid for two important relationship dynamics, one of which pays off enormously well, the other a little less so. It's mildly frustrating to read about the capable and engaging Tally when she's a class-A ditz, but her instincts for searching for the truth and righting wrongs shine through. An unexpected development is her growing relationship with Zane, this book's love interest and a M.V.P. in his own right. Although I hope I'm not in for a Team Zane vs. Team David face-off a la Twilight.
Many themes are tackled here: the importance of beauty, the horrors of violence, betrayal, manipulation, complacency, and free will. It's all skillfully done, with one possible exception, and nothing is overwritten - in other words, it doesn't feel like an anvil falling on the reader's head. One idea that is touched on is how much of humanity we should sacrifice for the sake of protecting the environment. It's also explored how far Pretties' society has gone to study the extremes of violence in humans, which adds a further layer of disturbance. There is definitely imbalance in Tally's world, and she's just beginning to realize to what extent. Going along with that, there is some imbalance in Tally's struggle to do what's right, which results in a complex look at how betrayal - and betraying - can shape a person. She is extremely flawed in that respect; she is undone by her stubbornness and naivete more than once. Her fate here mirrors the first book, but with a crucial difference, which invites our empathy more than our judgment.
Initially slow-going, this sequel eventually lives up to the first book's spirit and energy. And more hoverboard action, yay! Rating: 4 swirling tattoos out of 5.
Much like Tally, I was thrown back by the change in plot direction in this sequel. Tally's awakening from Pretty-minded to firing on all cylinders requires patience on the part of the reader. As opposed to the first book, here it's at first uncertain that Tally will make it outside of Pretty Town at all. The set-up is slow, but once the action gets going, it continues at a nice pace. The foundation is laid for two important relationship dynamics, one of which pays off enormously well, the other a little less so. It's mildly frustrating to read about the capable and engaging Tally when she's a class-A ditz, but her instincts for searching for the truth and righting wrongs shine through. An unexpected development is her growing relationship with Zane, this book's love interest and a M.V.P. in his own right. Although I hope I'm not in for a Team Zane vs. Team David face-off a la Twilight.
Many themes are tackled here: the importance of beauty, the horrors of violence, betrayal, manipulation, complacency, and free will. It's all skillfully done, with one possible exception, and nothing is overwritten - in other words, it doesn't feel like an anvil falling on the reader's head. One idea that is touched on is how much of humanity we should sacrifice for the sake of protecting the environment. It's also explored how far Pretties' society has gone to study the extremes of violence in humans, which adds a further layer of disturbance. There is definitely imbalance in Tally's world, and she's just beginning to realize to what extent. Going along with that, there is some imbalance in Tally's struggle to do what's right, which results in a complex look at how betrayal - and betraying - can shape a person. She is extremely flawed in that respect; she is undone by her stubbornness and naivete more than once. Her fate here mirrors the first book, but with a crucial difference, which invites our empathy more than our judgment.
Initially slow-going, this sequel eventually lives up to the first book's spirit and energy. And more hoverboard action, yay! Rating: 4 swirling tattoos out of 5.
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