Pretties (Uglies Trilogy, Book 2)

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•	Specials (The Uglies)
•	Uglies (Uglies Trilogy, Book 1)
•	Extras (The Uglies)
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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
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.

Customer Reviews: Read 99 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

an exciting sequel January 22, 2006
29 out of 36 found this review helpful

Pretties is a pageturner. I stayed up late and woke up early to finish it, and immediately went to see if the third book in the trilogy, Specials, is available yet. (Sadly, no.)

Though it may not be quite as original as Uglies, this book does a better job of presenting moral ambiguities. Everything is not quite black-and-white good versus evil. The city that has become a prison, for example, was created for a pretty valid reason. The wardens are genuinely kind. Characters switch from ally to enemy and back again.

Start with the first book, Uglies, then read this one. The plot twists keep coming right until the very end, and the characters are dynamic. A swift, exciting read.

4 out of 5 stars

I read it in one night October 28, 2005
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I remember when I was first considering buying the book Uglies by Scott Westerfield, I was disinclined to purchase it. I thought the title was stupid and the book would get preachy, with a warmed-over, tweaked, brave-new-world feel. I bought it because I couldn't find anything better that I hadn't read. I was pleasantly surprised. While I found his characters shallow at first, the book sucked me in until I couldn't put it down.

Then the long wait for Pretties began. I checked Amazon regularly and ran out to buy it as soon as it hit the shelves, and I read the whole thing the night I bought it. It's not quite as exciting as Uglies, because all the really big revelations have already been unveiled. I liked the characters a lot better this time around. Their dialogue felt a lot more believable. There are some pretty thrilling close-shaves and a few plans that don't go perfectly, which is refreshing and real.

Westerfield uses this book to explore the other side of his characters' world a bit, not as much why they rebel, but a lot of why the powers that be made the world that way in the first place. I find the Pretties' lifestyle a lot more boring than the Smokies', but I now see that Westerfield's characters in the first book were so shallow because they had to be. In the world they lived in, there was nothing to encourage depth. Westerfield has turned out to be a much better writer than I originally thought.

I'm bursting to say more but I don't want to ruin it for people still reading. Just know that this book provided an incredible setup for the last book, Specials.

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good sci-fi story, or a story where kids actually accomplish things.

4 out of 5 stars

A worthy successor March 15, 2006
14 out of 20 found this review helpful

After seeing a couple reviews of Pretties I was beginning to doubt that it was going to live up to the first. I can see where the whole pretty talk can get annoying. But if you look beyond that, you see that the talk is just another aspect to some really dynamic characters that Scott Westerfield has created. I read it quickly and was not disappointed. The plot twists are original and real (the book doesn't feel contrived), and kept you intriguid from start to finish. I see that you can preorder the last one, Specials, already. I would not hesitate if you have been following the series!

5 out of 5 stars

An engrossing novel with an exciting plot, real characters, and frightful situations December 15, 2005
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

Tally's story continues from the previous book, UGLIES, in this second installment of Scott Westerfeld's futuristic trilogy. Tally is now a pretty who lives only for good times. While attending a party at which she is to be voted into the Crims clique, she is followed by someone appearing to be a member of the ominous Special Circumstances team.

Tally can only remember her previous adventures as an ugly outside New Pretty Town in brief disconnected snatches. She is shocked to discover that the person stalking her is Croy, an old friend from the Smoke. He has something for her, he tells her, but she must search for it later in a certain secret spot. She agrees, bemused by his repellant ugliness, including his big pores and tangled hair --- all the imperfections that the surgery to become a pretty transforms to beauty.

Tally returns to her pretty life, concentrating on the fun she has with her friends. Her peace is disrupted when gorgeous Zane, leader of the Crims, asks her about David, whom she loved when she lived in the Smoke. In fact, Zane once knew Croy and had been determined to escape to the Smoke before his surgery. He regrets that he didn't go into the wilderness then.

Zane is eager to accompany Tally in finding the mysterious object Croy has hidden for her. They must face strenuous, dangerous physical challenges in order to locate the gift, which is accompanied by a startling and eye-opening letter from Tally to herself, written before she underwent the pretty surgery and explaining to her future self her motive in becoming a pretty --- to save all the pretties. Zane and Tally also learn that the pretties' brains are altered during their surgery. When the two share what Croy left for Tally, everything in their lives changes, putting Zane's health at risk and infuriating Tally's friend Shay.

As with UGLIES, you cannot read this book without questioning values and mindsets prevalent not only in New Pretty Town in the future but also here and now. How much will people surrender in order to be pretty? What is the price of popularity and conformity? Can people who relinquish everything get a second chance? As in UGLIES, the plot pace is rapid and exciting, the characters are real, and the situations are truly frightening.

How good is this book? I read it in a day, unable to concentrate on anything else until I finished it. After the tantalizing ending, I'm filled with delicious anticipation for the third book in the series, SPECIALS. Bring it on!

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon [...]

5 out of 5 stars

A Fantastic Sequel to Uglies February 3, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Last time we left Tally, she was demanding the pretty operation so she could test the pills that theoretically remove the lesions from your brain. The Specials were only too happy to comply, and now Tally's a pretty, the world nothing but a drunken haze, a source of entertainment. Possibly worse is the fact that she has only the dimmest memories of David, Special Circumstances, or why she's a pretty at all. And if you ask anybody at New Pretty Town, Tally "rescued" Shay from The Smoke. Of course, none of this bothers Tally. She's having the time of her life being beautiful, perpetually happy, and one of the Crims, her new clique. Especially when Zane, Tally's new crush, is the leader of the Crims. After a few months of this, though, the fun stops. An old Smokie friend, Croy shows up at a party, giving Tally instructions to get to, "something important". Even though she has no clue what's going on, Tally follows Croy's directions, because, after all,"everything was always ultra safe in New Pretty Town. Otherwise pretties would be killing themselves left and right." Zane, who seems to have taken an interest in Tally, comes too. The important thing turns out to be a letter Tally wrote to herself back in her ugly days, and two lesion-killing pills. Tally's afraid of the possible psychological effects the pills might have, so she and Zane split, each having one. And for a while(alas, in the life of Tally Youngblood, happiness can never last longer than a while)everything is great. Life is no longer a blur, and Zane's physical abilities are greatly enhanced. That is, until he starts having headaches, crippling migraines that put him out for hours, racking him with unbearable pain. Shay's memories of what really happened at the Smoke are resurfacing, and she's cutting herself so she can be as clear as Tally. The Smokies might be able to help them out,but Tally can't seem to contact them. With no options left, the Crims, minus Shay, will have to find them themselves. Pretties is fast-paced and exciting, making for a worthy sequel to Uglies. I would recommend it to everybody. Even more appealingly, the book tells you more about the Downfall of the Rusties. I guarantee you will love this book, especially the real reason for Zane's headaches(not for the faint of heart) and the wonderful, fantastic, thought-provoking cliffhanger ending.

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