clarissep's review against another edition
2.0
As seen on my blog.
Well I'll tell you one thing: at the beginning I found myself immensely enjoying this more than the first book. I started this thinking I would take a break from all the heavy reading I've been doing lately. I wanted to read something light, fast and entertaining at the same time and this was what I came up with. The only problem is that you would have to had read the first book in order for you to even have the faintest idea of what is going on in Pretties, and that could be a challenge for some given that the first book was just in the middle spectrum of okay. Admittedly, I couldn't remember even half the things I read in Uglies because it didn't leave much of an impression on me, so most of the time I felt like Tally, piecing events together and remembering things as I went.
As the story goes, since Tally's procedure, she's been busy living the high-society life of a New Pretty. She can't remember most of the things that went on during her time as an Ugly, not even her *gasp!* first love David. All she cared about was getting into her clique of choice, nursing hangovers, and well, being pretty. I think Westerfeld succeeded in vividly portraying what life as a Pretty is like, even creating "Pretty-speak" to highlight the airheads Pretties become in contrast to their previous Ugly self. The language goes something like: 'That is so fashion-missing, totally not pretty-making! Make it bubbly, not bogus!' (I came up with that myself. It was challenging.)
Basically the vocabulary of Pretties involves adding -making or -missing into adjectives to express disdain or excitement, plus the overusage of "bubbly" and "bogus". At first it made me dizzy, but I soon began to appreciate how much it adds to the feel of the Pretties world. It also beats using "like" over and over, which quite frankly annoys the bejesus out of me. I don't think I would have been able to stand it!
While I appreciate that there seems to have been quite some time devoted to making sure the world-building is solid enough, I feel again that Tally seems to be floating along with the story rather than being the center of it. It's a little like the narrator overpowers everything. Tally is pretty much just responding to whatever the circumstances dictate, and she doesn't really do anything that strikes me as protagonist-worthy. Again I am having the same kind of problem I had with the first book-- no emotional connection to the characters. That said, I find my experience reading parts of this book involving Zane rather pleasant, mostly because:
In case you didn't know, I am obsessed with ABC's The Lying Game. Awesome show and awesome cast! Using their faces while reading about these characters made it a bit more redeemable somehow. Zane is oddly the only character I "like" somewhat in the book, and in the Uglies series really.
That said, I liked the flow of the story better this time, even though after the middle portion, I started skipping through some parts because it didn't seem all that important. The lack of any reflection or realization on Tally's part also convinced me that maybe it really wasn't. If you try to analyze this book, it has quite a few underlying themes. Aside from tackling to a certain extent the societal ideals and obsessions about beauty and thinness (I felt it was more apparent in the first book though), this book seems to focus more heavily on the issue of mankind's blatant disregard for nature's well-being. One of the major reasons why people in the Uglies-verse are turned into mindless Pretties is to keep them in check, stopping them from natural human tendencies of destroying the planet like their predecessor, the Rusties, did.
However, there were quite a few things that bothered me too, such as the fact that while there seems to be a lot of focus on issues regarding nature and vanity, the book spends the first half showing us:
1. underage drinking
2. major food deprivation so that one could stay "bubbly", which I don't get by the way. Based on my experience, it's difficult to think straight when one is starving
3. some self-inflicted bodily mutilation here and there
4. underage "elopement"
Basically, there is a weird sort of balancing act in terms of which issues are more important compared to the others, and in the process everything got mixed up in the blender. A lot of characters were doing all the things that would normally land teenagers in jail. But like I said, I read this for "fun". It would hardly be fair for me to be nit-picky at this point.
Although I feel like Scott Westerfeld managed to take one step forward in building the momentum coming off the first book, there was still something that was lacking for me here just like when I read Uglies. I just didn't find myself caring for the characters enough to motivate myself to continue with the third book. I did skim through Specials because I wanted to know what happened- to Zane specifically- and I was pretty disappointed with what I saw. I feel like it didn't really go anywhere; like we were all just walking through a mostly physical story of Tally transforming from an Ugly to a Pretty to a Special. Tally, despite undergoing all those surgeries, was still the same old Tally, not even acquiring any real ability to make decisions on her own. Though she learned a couple of new words throughout the books, such as "bogus" or "bubbly" during her days as a Pretty, and "icy" in her days as a Special, she maintained a fairly flat personality throughout. I didn't feel her enough to even be annoyed by her, but boy was I annoyed with Shay. In the end, I just feel bad that Zane had to go through all that for someone like Tally. I mean, look at how he ended up! :(
My Rating:
1/2. This book was bubblier than I expected, but when it came to holding my attention enough for me to go through with the third book, it fell short. Half star up from Uglies, at least, because the first half of the book kept me entertained.
Well I'll tell you one thing: at the beginning I found myself immensely enjoying this more than the first book. I started this thinking I would take a break from all the heavy reading I've been doing lately. I wanted to read something light, fast and entertaining at the same time and this was what I came up with. The only problem is that you would have to had read the first book in order for you to even have the faintest idea of what is going on in Pretties, and that could be a challenge for some given that the first book was just in the middle spectrum of okay. Admittedly, I couldn't remember even half the things I read in Uglies because it didn't leave much of an impression on me, so most of the time I felt like Tally, piecing events together and remembering things as I went.
As the story goes, since Tally's procedure, she's been busy living the high-society life of a New Pretty. She can't remember most of the things that went on during her time as an Ugly, not even her *gasp!* first love David. All she cared about was getting into her clique of choice, nursing hangovers, and well, being pretty. I think Westerfeld succeeded in vividly portraying what life as a Pretty is like, even creating "Pretty-speak" to highlight the airheads Pretties become in contrast to their previous Ugly self. The language goes something like: 'That is so fashion-missing, totally not pretty-making! Make it bubbly, not bogus!' (I came up with that myself. It was challenging.)
Basically the vocabulary of Pretties involves adding -making or -missing into adjectives to express disdain or excitement, plus the overusage of "bubbly" and "bogus". At first it made me dizzy, but I soon began to appreciate how much it adds to the feel of the Pretties world. It also beats using "like" over and over, which quite frankly annoys the bejesus out of me. I don't think I would have been able to stand it!
While I appreciate that there seems to have been quite some time devoted to making sure the world-building is solid enough, I feel again that Tally seems to be floating along with the story rather than being the center of it. It's a little like the narrator overpowers everything. Tally is pretty much just responding to whatever the circumstances dictate, and she doesn't really do anything that strikes me as protagonist-worthy. Again I am having the same kind of problem I had with the first book-- no emotional connection to the characters. That said, I find my experience reading parts of this book involving Zane rather pleasant, mostly because:
In case you didn't know, I am obsessed with ABC's The Lying Game. Awesome show and awesome cast! Using their faces while reading about these characters made it a bit more redeemable somehow. Zane is oddly the only character I "like" somewhat in the book, and in the Uglies series really.
That said, I liked the flow of the story better this time, even though after the middle portion, I started skipping through some parts because it didn't seem all that important. The lack of any reflection or realization on Tally's part also convinced me that maybe it really wasn't. If you try to analyze this book, it has quite a few underlying themes. Aside from tackling to a certain extent the societal ideals and obsessions about beauty and thinness (I felt it was more apparent in the first book though), this book seems to focus more heavily on the issue of mankind's blatant disregard for nature's well-being. One of the major reasons why people in the Uglies-verse are turned into mindless Pretties is to keep them in check, stopping them from natural human tendencies of destroying the planet like their predecessor, the Rusties, did.
However, there were quite a few things that bothered me too, such as the fact that while there seems to be a lot of focus on issues regarding nature and vanity, the book spends the first half showing us:
1. underage drinking
2. major food deprivation so that one could stay "bubbly", which I don't get by the way. Based on my experience, it's difficult to think straight when one is starving
3. some self-inflicted bodily mutilation here and there
4. underage "elopement"
Basically, there is a weird sort of balancing act in terms of which issues are more important compared to the others, and in the process everything got mixed up in the blender. A lot of characters were doing all the things that would normally land teenagers in jail. But like I said, I read this for "fun". It would hardly be fair for me to be nit-picky at this point.
Although I feel like Scott Westerfeld managed to take one step forward in building the momentum coming off the first book, there was still something that was lacking for me here just like when I read Uglies. I just didn't find myself caring for the characters enough to motivate myself to continue with the third book. I did skim through Specials because I wanted to know what happened- to Zane specifically- and I was pretty disappointed with what I saw. I feel like it didn't really go anywhere; like we were all just walking through a mostly physical story of Tally transforming from an Ugly to a Pretty to a Special. Tally, despite undergoing all those surgeries, was still the same old Tally, not even acquiring any real ability to make decisions on her own. Though she learned a couple of new words throughout the books, such as "bogus" or "bubbly" during her days as a Pretty, and "icy" in her days as a Special, she maintained a fairly flat personality throughout. I didn't feel her enough to even be annoyed by her, but boy was I annoyed with Shay. In the end, I just feel bad that Zane had to go through all that for someone like Tally. I mean, look at how he ended up! :(
My Rating:
1/2. This book was bubblier than I expected, but when it came to holding my attention enough for me to go through with the third book, it fell short. Half star up from Uglies, at least, because the first half of the book kept me entertained.
courteneykenyon's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
inareads1587's review against another edition
4.0
Mr. Westerfeld. At the beginning of this book I was very annoyed and almost stopped reading. I understand the character went through changes but they were so drastic I no longer felt any connection to her. I’m happy I stuck it out. There are so many interesting takes from this story. The character journey of learning all the truths of the world she thought she knew. I am enjoying this series way more than I expected. I hope the third book continues to surprise me.
cpenny124's review against another edition
3.0
All I have to say about this is... I love David... and if I have to read the word "bogus" or "bubbly" one more time I swear to gO-
wandereaderr's review against another edition
5.0
This was definitely my favorite book of the series!
kirstennicole's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
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
4.25
limheat's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5