Uglies (The Series) by Scott Westerfeld

Over the last month I’ve read all four books of the Uglies Trilogy (?).  The books in this series are Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras.  I plan on including my individual reviews of these books at the end of this short introduction, but I have a few observations to make about the series as a whole.

First I’ll start by saying that the series was very readable … in fact, almost too much so.  It was written simply, and parts got quite a bit annoying with the slang thrown about.  Think about reading a book and hearing “dude” “totally awesome” “groovy” over and over throughout the story.  That was what it was like for me everytime someone talked about being “bubbly” or “icy”. A little too over the top.

I have more to say, and I’ll be including it in italics at the end of this post.  WARNING: There will be spoilers in what I have to say, so read at your own risk.

Uglies #1

I blazed through this book in about 2 1/2 hours. Once I started reading I was immediately sucked into a fantastic world of hovercrafts, dried foods and the adventures of a “Bad girl”. So why didn’t I give it four, or even five stars?

A few things. First, you can definitely tell that this book is written for young adults. Even more so than other young adult novels out there. It’s simplistic and full of moral preaching. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and “Don’t pollute” being two of the biggest messages being told. There’s arguments for (or against, if you take the Pretties side) eating meat, thinking for oneself, etc. It’s almost overwhelming and makes the story a bit less enjoyable for me, so.. take away one star.

The second is the quick resolution. Seriously? Just.. boom, a confession and then everything gets turned around? It just felt all too neat and tidy. So much so, it feels like the cliffhanger at the end is more like.. a downwardhill-hanger. Sure, I’m interested in getting to the bottom of the story, but I’m not propelled to the next book like I was for say, the Harry Potter books or The Hunger Games novels.

Is this a bad book though? Not at all! It’s an enjoyable, fun read with lots of adventure, interesting characters and a vibrant world. Just nothing I feel like I need to run out and by like the other books I’ve mentioned.

Pretties #2

Not a big fan of this second installment of the Uglies series. Unfortunately the entire book made me feel as if I was listening in on the stereotypical cheerleader group. All the “bubbly” was overwhelming and I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes. It seemed dumbed down and severely over-simplified.

I really hope Specials has something more to offer. Pretties didn’t have the same amusement factor as Uglies and it really should have kept the momentum going throughout the book – not just the last portion of the story

Specials #3

Specials was, in my opinion, the best of the trilogy. But the things bugged me in the first two books continued to bug me here.

I spoke to my 17 year old sister about the trilogy fairly recently. She called it “over-rated”. It’s easy to see why kids would gobble up the story. Rebellion, lots of action, a strange world (and an incredible one, I found myself wishing for a hoverboard more than once). So why did she call it over-rated?

While not as bad as the Twilight saga, the series still seems a bit more juvenile and simple than the Harry Potter series, or Hunger Games (I know, I know.. I talk about these a bit). Even the Eragon series had more substance to it. Instead, with these books I felt like skated along the surface of a story. I don’t know how else to explain it other than saying it felt a bit like “fluff” to me.

Entertaining? Definitely. And yes, I’d recommend it to teenagers – especially those that don’t enjoy a lot of reading and have a harder time getting into the more heavy books.

I’ve still got Extras to read and will be interested to see if it carries on the pattern. Oddly enough, I really enjoyed Westerfeld’s Leviathan and I’d rate it over this series any day.

Extras #4

Nothing particularly new here from the other books – I did have hope though, the first half of the book was different and unique and I was enjoying the arc.

It felt like halfway through though Westerfeld copped out by giving Aya “permission” to break the story. The story could have gone in a completely different arc and redeemed what the issue had been with the trilogy, but he decided to go the same path – predictably so.

Not a bad read, just a tad disappointed.

—————————– SPOILER ALERT——————————–

The other thing I wanted to mention was that my biggest issue with the book is that Tally always gets what she doesn’t want.  Normally this wouldn’t bug me, but in a book teaching that pretty isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, why is Tally made pretty?  In a book where the Specials are an elitist society within the society, why is Tally made into one?  For all his speaking out against the inane silliness of being popular, of looking just right, of fitting in, Westerfeld doesn’t practice this with his main character.  She would have been much stronger of a character, in my opinion, had she accepted her “ugly” self – much like David did.  But, this didn’t happen.  Perhaps this won’t bug you as much as it bugged me.

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Dear Delta…

Dear Delta Air,

Today I flew home on one of your small, four seat wide planes.  I am a plus-size woman.  On all of your other planes the seatbelt fits me fine.  On this tiny plane, your seatbelt is one inch too short.  So today, I asked for a seat-belt extender.

Now Delta, I know that you might be quick to point out that my size is my fault. Trust me, I know.   But my faults gives your flight attendants no excuse for what they did to me today.

I am a tall woman, 5’10″ or a bit more.  I chose to occupy the exit row seat.  This is normal for me. I’ve done it with you in the past, especially on these itty, bitty planes.  But my issue isn’t with your code or manual which states I cannot have an exit row seat with a belt extender. My issue is with the attendants that enforced it.

I watched as they passed me four times, twice each – one of whom was the one who gave me the extender in the first place.  She looked me directly in the eye and asked me if I could handle the duties of an exit row seat.  I informed her I could.  Your other attendant stopped and looked at me in disbelief saying, and I quote, “You got the seat belt fastened?” in a loud voice which prompted everyone’s heads around me to swivel to look at her.

After the door was shut, a total of five trips made past me checking on things by the attendants, the woman who gave me the extender made her way to me, and raising her voice above the noise of the plane, informed me that they did not believe me capable of being able to fulfill the duties of the exit row and it was against policy to allow someone with an extender to sit there.  She went on further to say that they had arranged for me to switch places with the man in the back of the plane, and the row where he sat was empty so there would be room for me to, and I quote, “spread out”.

Do you know what it feels like to have this conversation taking place in full hearing of everyone? And to see pity and distaste on people’s faces as you walk down the aisle to take your new seat?

Furthermore, your other attendant proceeded to inform me that she would show me the code and that the attendants on the other flights I’ve taken weren’t “doing their job” if I had been allowed to sit there before.  I told her twice to stop her confrontation with me (she was seated next to me in the aisle seat she folded out) and twice she ignored me.  When she continued I turned my back on her.

So yes, as I exited the plane and was on the receiving end of yet more excuses and a pathetic attempt at an apology, I was … less than polite in response.

You’ll be receiving my letter of complaint in the next few days.  I don’t expect you to do anything about it, but all of my faults aside, no human being deserves the humiliation that your attendants caused me today.  A simple, polite, quiet request for me to move while people were still being seated would have sufficed.

- An incredibly angry customer.

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Fay by Larry Brown

I did not like this book, I didn’t really like it. It’s no slight against the author, because Fay was well written and interesting. It’s just impossible to like this story.

My sister handed me this book and asked me to read it because she wanted some insights from me for a paper she needs to write about it. If it had not been for this, I never would have read this book as I tend to steer clear of dismal stories. And make no mistake, this is a dismal, gritty story. Do not look here for redemption, you will come away sorely disappointed.

This is the story of 17 year old Fay. She’s a poor country girl, “white trash” by label, but her actions are sweetly innocent and endearing, in spite of the horrifying things she does. This book puts into perspective how uneducated the poor can be and how easy it is once you get to know them to feel sympathy and the urge to help them. I do congratulate the author on successfully portraying this girl as someone I ached to just whisk away from it all. She was polite and well-mannered (as well as she could be), but also a murderer and capable of doing horrifying deeds.

If you are interested in reading about just what circumstances can cause a girl to turn to using herself as a means to earn money, then this is definitely the book for you. But please, don’t expect any sort of good and happy feelings to come out of the experience.

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