Pretties - Scott Westerfeld

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.

4/5 - Enticing

I love this book almost as much as the first one, Uglies, which says a lot.

It was very fresh and set itself aside from the first book, , with a new and interesting plot and loveable new characters, all the while keeping the integrity of the original characters despite the fact they'd undergone dramatic changes from the first book. Fresh characters, fresh setting, and diving even deeper into the concepts of beauty in this futuristic world that is driven by appearances. It kept the same page-turning-intensity that I loved in the first book and progressed the storyline of Tally and Shay very effectively. 

The hope represented by the Smoke and the suspense created by the conflicts presented simply makes it a masterpiece. It ended with a total cliffhanger that left me scrambling to get my hands on the next book. I really love this book. Westerfeld keeps me falling in love with these complex characters and keeps me intrigued with the world that he has created. These books have everything - adventure, romance, suspense, philosophy, and that simple fact that you just can't put it down. Pretties is a book that I think young readers everywhere can, and should, enjoy.

See Also: Uglies, Specials