Pretties

by Scott Westerfeld

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689865392
• ISBN13: 9780689865398
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Simon Pulse
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.0" x 7.1"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Pretties

This is the second book in the sci-fi young adult series. The order is Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras. These are great, adventurous novels with strong messages. I would recommend them to any fan of young adult literature, sci-fi, and suspense.

I stayed up all night and ended up reading it in 6 hours

Highly recommend, no cursing, it's a good size book, and I great cliff hanger!!

Beaward of having teenagers read this series

I loved this series, until the author had glamorized “cutting” as way dealing with the problems this society causes. I won’t let my teenagers read this series.

An exciting sequel to Uglies

This book picks up where Uglies left off - Tally and Shay were caught and made into pretties. While going to all kinds of exciting parties and living an outlandishly fun lifestyle, there are still some memories and nagging doubts in Tally's and Shay's minds about their past experiences with The Smoke. They hook up with a Pretty clique called The Crims, who are focused (as much as any pretty can be focused!) on becoming "bubbly", or clear-thinking, and do all kinds of stunts for the adrenaline rush that makes them able to think clearly for a few minutes or more at a time. Tally becomes involved with Zane, the leader of the Crims and the one most obsessed with becoming clear-headed, and when the couple remaining Smokies bring Tally a note from her past Ugly self, and some pills, she and Zane each take one right before getting caught by the city's wardens... This sequel to Uglies is a bit less action-packed than the first, but has more things to ponder, as we learn more about how their world and community works, the motivations behind the workings of the community, and the ways in which Tally, Zane, Shay, and the rest learn to take power back from the government and learn to think independently, even with the brain changes that are inflicted on pretties. I was fascinated by the book and it was well worth reading. Definitely don't bother with this if you have not read Uglies yet. You really have to read these in order.

A captivating sequel

Did Tally make the right decision to become pretty? In this wonderful book, Pretties, written by Scott Westerfeld he explores what happens when a person has an operation to make them gorgeous, but changes their mind at the same time. During Pretties Tally is finally pretty after 16 years and joins the most popular clique in town, The Crims, with her best friends Peris and Shay. She gets to know the cliques leader, Zane, very well. He seams to already know something is wrong with the operation and tries to keep Tally bubbly so she can remember what it is. When she finds out what was trapped in the depths of her mind she is astounded! Along her wild chase for what she believes is right Zane and her form a close bond. This science fiction book was very intriguing and a definite page turner. It was a great second book in the captivating trilogy, which includes Uglies, Pretties, and Specials. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it to all teen girls.

A Fantastic Sequel to Uglies

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.

Pretties

"Halfway down, it occurred to Tally that the bungee jacket might not catch them both," states the narrator as the main character, Tally, and one of her friends, Perris, "fell" off an enormous building during a party. Tally has awesome clothes, she is completely popular, and everyday it's basically just nonstop parties. But, only after a month of being a pretty, Tally's life will change forever. While at a costume party, Tally realized that someone she didn't recognize was following her. After a while of worrying about who it might be, she decided to find out. She follows the stranger onto the emergency fire stairs. Tally was shocked. It was an Ugly. But, somehow, she knew who it was. It didn't make any sense to her at the time, but it would soon. Before he disappears, he tells her that he will leave something very important for her in Valentino 317, and that she cannot forget about it. Little did she know that what the ugly had left would send her on the adventure of her life. Pretties is the second book in the trilogy. It is about a girl, Tally, and her boyfriend, Zane, finding a cure for what the doctors did to the Pretties during the operation that everyone got to become a pretty. This is a great book and I would defiantly recommend it to anyone who likes fiction and adventure. It takes place in the future, where everyone gets a new body when they become sixteen. They are the Pretties. If you choose not to change, you are an ugly. Uglies and Pretties are forced apart, living in two different places, pretties in new-pretty town, and Uglies in smoke, or somewhere else in the wild. I think this is a good book for boys and girls eleven and older. I've never read a book like this! It is funny and sad and there is more suspense in one chapter then there is in my life! This is a great book and I hope you like it as much as I did!

An engrossing novel with an exciting plot, real characters, and frightful situations

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 [...]