Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - Review

“In a world of extreme beauty, anyone normal is ugly.”

Tally Youngblood is almost 16 and in her world turning 16 means turning pretty—supermodel pretty. And she can’t wait, has been counting down the days since her best friend Peris had the makeover operation and turned pretty. Then Tally meets Shay, who isn’t sure she wants to be pretty, has met someone called David who says there is a place you can live outside the pretty world. Then Shay runs away.

Tally then finds out there is more to her world than she thought. She finds out about Special Circumstances. And is offered a choice: lead them to Shay or stay ugly forever. And Tally can't imagine life as an ugly forever so follows her friend to The Smoke, the city of the rebels, with a heavy heart.

Westerfeld’s world feels incredibly real — detailed, thoughtful, scary. And Tally is a heroine you cheer for in this well-written action-packed adventure. But no fair, this is the second and final book I’ve picked up for the Scott Westerfeld mini-challenge but I can’t possibly end here. How can I not follow Tally’s journey into Pretties?