Pretties

Pretties
Scott Westerfeld
2 1/2 Stars

Well, I don't think that it is a spoiler to say that Tally becomes a Pretty, because it is the title of the book.

Tally is now a Pretty and I find her really annoying. She gets a message from her ugly past and all the pretty fun she is having starts spiraling downhill. With her boyfriend Zane she starts finding more and more about her past and the plot thickens. Is there more to life then being a Pretty?

I did not like this book. I wasn't sure after reading this that I even wanted to continue the series, but darn Scott Westerfeld knows how to write cliff hangers. If it weren't for that I would have stopped reading this series. Why did I dislike it so much? There were a few major reasons.

One. This is a young adult book. I know it is set in the future, but as soon as the characters turn Pretty, they are allowed to drink and party as much as they like. Hangovers are mentioned a few times, but their Pretty bodies are not allowed to get sick - therefore there are no serious consequences for all this binge drinking. I really had a hard time with that. Only a mature young adult reader would know that binge drinking - like portrayed in this book - is very bad for a persons health. I only hope that mature young readers read this. Uglies I would recommend, but I'm not sold on the idea of telling any of the youth at my church about this book quite yet.

Two. Cutting. This gets worse in the third book, but this is a serious problem with many people today and I wish that Scott Westerfeld could have found a different solution. I don't have much to say about it - just that I wish he would have used some other form.

Three. I think Tally was horribly mean to David when she met him again. I know this is a small reason to not like the book and it had all to do with her being a Pretty, but I just was sad for him. I like David.

Four. I think Pretty town reminded me of a lot of Biblical cities that were destroyed. If you are LDS it reminded me of the great and spacious tower refered to in the Book of Mormon. It was not a good place to live.