Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

18 reviews

loddaline's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I think, it is a very nice Dystopian Novel for YA readers, who at this age probably especially struggle with their appearance. It is a good way to reflect on the differences we as humans have and that every person looks unique. 
However, I felt like it was a bit dumbed down for the recommended reading age being 12-17. Some of the characters' actions or the overall plot were pretty predictable. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Death and Death of parent

permanme's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Eating disorder

tania_mybookishsecret's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death and Eating disorder

book_snail's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed parts of this book, however found it didn't fully live up to the expectations I'd gone into it with. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Fatphobia

Minor: Death of parent

helhas3letters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Eugenics: the YA novel.

WARNING: this book ends with a cliffhanger!

I enjoyed this book and raced through it as it was easy to read. The plot is interesting - especially Westerfeld's futuristic ideas - and moves quickly, so plot points get their payoffs in a satisfactory way.

The characters were a little clichéd in the typical YA way. The main character was not likeable, but as a reader you can forgive it because she's admittedly been brainwashed her whole life, and she grows as the story goes on. However, I felt that towards the end of the novel, the main character's instincts about an event revealed them to be incredibly self-involved, regardless of the brainwashing. (I'm talking about

Spoiler

Tally's reaction to David and Maddy being alone together after he'd just found out his father had died. Her narration makes it all about herself - I couldn't believe what I was reading!

)

Yes, unfortunately there is a

Spoiler

totally unnecessary romance plot

, as often is the case with these YA dystopic novels.

I do wish that the author had delved more into the racial aspect of the eugenicist regime. It is frequently stated that, after the operation, people's eyes become bigger, their noses become smaller, and their lips more full. Wouldn't it be interesting for Tally to learn about the implications of this? Especially from a futuristic perspective. There is also a brief mention of the fact that people's skin tones get evened out, and even a moment where she thinks about how weird it was that people used to kill each other over their skin colour. I'd have just liked this to be explored a bit more. What if Tally starts to learn about her family's lineage, and discovers that she is of a certain heritage, the defining characteristics of which have been wiped out by the operation?

My biggest critique, however, is that I found it very hard to follow Westerfeld's descriptions of space, direction, and travel. I felt that, when characters' physical journeys were described (which was often), the author could have been more detailed and clear. Unfortunately, it became increasingly difficult to orientate the characters in my mind and I ended up giving up on trying to do so, ignoring the geographical comments, and just enjoying the action instead. (Neueodivergent problem?)

I'll probably be reading the sequel, because I'm interested to see where the story goes.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Moderate: Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Death of parent, and Body shaming

Minor: Confinement, Death, Police brutality, War, Classism, Animal death, Colonisation, Grief, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

cow_inthe_closet's review

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Spoiler

tally and shay had more chemistry in this book than tally and david/zane ever did

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent and Confinement

Minor: Medical content and Death

kstericker's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Eating disorder

sallytumbler13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Dysphoria, Classism, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Medical content, Police brutality, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Violence

tomnoor's review against another edition

3.5

Spoiler

Slow build with a really unlikeable main character. Didn’t love the Instalove or really the love interest at all, it felt like as soon as he was introduced Tally stopped caring about her friend Shay at all. Hoping for more critique of the Pretty surgery in the next book bc this book didn’t really critique why those beauty standards were harmful in and of themselves, Tally only became anti surgery when it turned out being pretty also included a brain surgery to make you compliant with the distopian government.

Spoiler

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming

Moderate: Death of parent and Medical content

froggydanny's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Concept was interesting, but I just wanted more. More world building, more character development. Felt very surface level, and I wanted a richer story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming

Moderate: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Eating disorder