Uglies by Scott Westerfield

  So this one is actually a trilogy (and an extra), but today I'm just going to focus on the first book, Uglies. The first time I read this book, I was probably 10 years old. I loved it then. I love it now. I've read that book at least four times. It's the kind of book that's suitable for a lot of age groups, and still maintains its gravitational pull. At this time, I will describe the book in my own words:

  In a futuristic world where you are ugly until you aren't, a surgery has risen that can cure your "ugliness." When you turn sixteen, you go from a plain, boring Ugly, to a stunning, breath-takingly beautiful Pretty. Being a Pretty means living in New Pretty Town (until you reach a certain age), being pampered, having no bed time, no rules, and always having fun.
  Tally Youngblood is on the verge of turning sixteen. She can't wait to turn Pretty, and leave her Ugly body -and life- behind. But then she meets a strange girl named Shay (hey, look!), who doesn't want to become Pretty. She tells Tally of a place called the Smoke, where people stay Ugly forever. When Shay runs off to the Smoke, leaving Tally encrypted directions, the frighteningly cruel people called Specials (Special Circumstances) collect Tally right before her Pretty surgery, and tell her that if she doesn't find Shay and bring her back, she can never turn Pretty.
  After a few close brushes with death (Shay's directions aren't very clear), Tally finally stumbles upon the Smoke. She starts out on a mission, but as time goes on, she comes to feel like the Smoke is home. And David (the boy who told Shay about the Smoke, and who has never lived in a city), makes her feel something she's never felt before. Could it be love? Torn between her friendship with Shay, her relationship with David, her love of the Smoke, and her want to become Pretty, Tally must decide whether or not she will betray her friends, or refuse to obey Special Circumstances.

  This book is a great read, and I recommend it to anyone who likes...well, pretty much any kind of writing. It appeals to all (at least I think it does). It pulls you in from the start with an extremely interesting and puzzling conflict, and keeps you in its grip until the very end -and further- with its well-written, well-presented plot. Tally is a lovable character with many flaws (flaws make us more human, correct?). She tries to do what she thinks is right, even if it gets her in trouble, but it often goes very wrong. We're in Tally's mind for the whole story, and I think Scott Westerfeld does an incredible job of making her just the right amount of lovable, annoying, frustrating, and everything else that makes up a good character.

  Overall, great book, great series (I may get to the other ones later), and I give it my awesome-sauce stamp  of approval.

Thanks for reading~
~Shay~