Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies Series, Book 2)

Books Completed: 43
Completion Date: February, 2009
Pages: 384
Publication Date: November 1, 2005

Reason for Reading: Next Book in Series, Sci-Fi Experience

Gorgeous. Popular.

Perfect. Perfectly wrong.

Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.

Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.

I have came to the conclusion that I love Scott Westerfeld. If all of his writing is like this series, I think we are going to have a long and lasting relationship! That being said, I was not as big a fan of this book as I was of Uglies. I think it is probably a good thing that all of the weapons are locked up. They say it is because they don't want to turn out like the Rusties (meaning us), but really, if I had to have a conversation with a Pretty I think I would end up blowing someones brains out! I really liked Tally in Uglies, but now that she is Pretty her talking hurts my head. This is just reading it! Actually hearing it spoken would be one of the worst forms of torture, I think. So, needless to say, not a big fan of Pretties. It's not really Westerfeld's fault, though, he was trying to make a clear picture of what life was like in Pretty Town, so if anything he just was that much more successful.

Once I got passed the really annoying speaking habits of the main characters, though, I was much better off. I think it took about 100 pages for me to get really captivated in the story, but that is often the case with the second book in a trilogy. It's all about character-building and there is not a lot of action. It wasn't so bad that I didn't rush right out and read book three, though. (I have read it while this book has been patiently waiting to be reviewed, actually). Joining Tally and Shay as main characters is Zane. He is a fellow Pretty who quickly comes to mean something important to Tally. When Tally's past follows her into the future, she suddenly starts to question just how she feels about her new life. She has been to the Smoke and knows the secrets of her society. Now that she remembers, it changes everything for her. Zane comes along for the ride, which has lasting effects. He has never wanted to be Pretty and has done everything in his power to keep his brain for himself. Tally offers him the next step in becoming 'unpretty', though.

Near the end of the book, everything that has been building up starts to come together. When I read the book I was annoyed with the ending, but I really liked Specials; so it has changed my thoughts on the ending. It just seems like the books are about taking one step forward and about two steps back. They get to what you think is what they want, and then things change all over again. Tally is a strong character, though. She finds it very important to be who she wants to be, so no amount of changing seems able to destroy that for her. I will be sad to see this series end! It is scary to think about the world 'ending' and this as our future! I hope that society can start to work to a place where events like the entire destruction of mankind is not a possibility. Westerfeld, through his characters, makes a lot of really good points about just how, well, stupid we are!

Miss my review of Uglies? You can read it here.