A review by dmrains
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

Rereading this as an adult with my high school students, I noticed a lot of tropes I've come to really dislike among YA novels

"special girl" Tally instead of writing Shay as a more important character

fridging Shay by having her have the surgery against her will really did her dirty

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Racism, Torture, Blood, Car accident, and Alcohol

My students were really upset that

Tally & Shay didn't ride off into the sunset as a cute lesbian couple