Book Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Uglies (first in a series of 4)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publication Date: February 2005
Publisher: Scholastic
Page Count: 425 pages
Genre: Young Adult / Science Fiction

From Goodreads.com
Playing on every teen's passionate desire to look as good as everybody else, Scott Westerfeld (Midnighters) projects a future world in which a compulsory operation at sixteen wipes out physical differences and makes everyone pretty by conforming to an ideal standard of beauty. The "New Pretties" are then free to play and party, while the younger "Uglies" look on enviously and spend the time before their own transformations in plotting mischievous tricks against their elders. Tally Youngblood is one of the most daring of the Uglies, and her imaginative tricks have gotten her in trouble with the menacing department of Special Circumstances. She has yearned to be pretty, but since her best friend Shay ran away to the rumored rebel settlement of recalcitrant Uglies called The Smoke, Tally has been troubled. The authorities give her an impossible choice: either she follows Shay's cryptic directions to The Smoke with the purpose of betraying the rebels, or she will never be allowed to become pretty. Hoping to rescue Shay, Tally sets off on the dangerous journey as a spy. But after finally reaching The Smoke she has a change of heart when her new lover David reveals to her the sinister secret behind becoming pretty. The fast-moving story is enlivened by many action sequences in the style of videogames, using intriguing inventions like hoverboards that use the rider's skateboard skills to skim through the air, and bungee jackets that make wild downward plunges survivable -- and fun. Behind all the commotion is the disturbing vision of our own society -- the Rusties -- visible only in rusting ruins after a virus destroyed all petroleum. Teens will be entranced, and the cliffhanger ending will leave them gasping for the sequel.

My Review:
I read this book with an open mind. I had a vague idea what it was about. I would never have purchased this book on my own. I got it as a Christmas gift from my sister. She said, "this seems like the kind of book you like to read." She was right in some cases, and wrong in others. This book was similar to what I enjoy to read by way of the characters, but it was also radically different by way of the subject matter. I am not a science fiction reader by any means. I have read a few in my day, Ender's Game being the one that I liked the most. (I recommend this to anyone, science fiction reader or not) The science fiction of Uglies was not difficult to understand and I was able to follow what was happening without getting caught up in what certain terms mean (which can happen very easily in science fiction).

My overall impression of this book was good. I enjoyed the characters and found myself rooting for them in the end. I liked the main character, Tally, even though I thought I wouldn't at first. In the beginning she seemed vain and desperate. I changed my mind about her when I started to see her growing up and coming into her own outside of the confines of Uglyville (yes, where they live when they are Uglies.)

A couple of times, while I was reading the book, people would ask me what it was about. In explaining to them, I felt very silly. Talking about a land of 'Littlies,' 'Uglies,' 'Pretties,' 'Specials,' 'Middle-Pretties,' 'Rusties,' and 'Crumblies,' made me sound like a crazy person. But when reading the book, I knew the culture, so it didn't seem as silly to me since I was reading about them. (Note: I fully realized how silly I sounded, when people looked at me funny mid-explanation).

I don't think it is a coincidence that Westerfeld chose to create a world where you were classified as an Ugly when you were ages 12-16. This is a time when most everyone in our world feels this way at some time or another.

I also found it interesting that this world was evolved from the world we live in now. To this new world we are the 'Rusties,' we use too much metal, we rely too heavily on oil. We fight; we dissent. In the land of the Pretties, these issues don't seem to arise. They have found new ways to produce and to build, there is no war, no dissent, everyone is compliant.

Becoming "Pretty" was made into a rite of passage. When you turned 16, your birthday was spent under anesthesiology, making you a Pretty. Without giving away too much, when Tally discovers a secret about becoming a Pretty, there is definitely more reasons that the 'government' wants them to do this. I think that the 'Pretty' piece was/is all just a reason to get people to submit to the procedure. Food for thought.

If any of this review has intrigued you, I would suggest picking up the book. It is a quick read, not a major endeavor at all.

I look forward to reading the other books in this series as soon as I can get my hands on some copies.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Book Review: Hot and Bothered by Annie Downey

                                     From Goodreads.com

She’s offbeat, off balance, and at times off-the-wall, a late-thirties mother of two living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and trying to figure out who she is now that her husband has left her. He’s a rat, anyway, and currently attends Sex Addicts Anonymous. He still comes by the house, though, as do her hippie, macrobiotic mother; her feisty, alcoholic best friend; her God-fearing grandmother; and that Perfect Guy, the one with the beatific son who plays with her daughter, the one who happens to have a winning smile, wild black hair, a professorship at Harvard—and (drats!) a gorgeous doctor girlfriend.

Told in short takes that perfectly mimic the frantic nature of our busy lives, Hot and Bothered follows its heroine through the streets of Cambridge, where she spends far too much time staring into space and sipping mocha lattes with extra whipped cream; to church, where she prays for a little salvation; to Alaska, where she believes a rugged outdoorsman might just be that salvation; and to Cape Cod, where, in a little house by the sea, she might finally see the light. Annie Downey has written an updated Cinderella story for all single moms. 

I picked this book up at the local "Friends of the Library" book sale last April.  Not sure what to expect, it has taken me a long time to decide to read it.  I finally picked it up to read because I am trying to read my older books first and was surprised by the story.

I found myself intrigued by the main character (we don't learn her name until the last line of the book.) Through most of the book she is unstable but I was able to connect with her. Does that mean that I am unstable? I have questioned the things that she questions. I have felt insecure as she feels insecure. I have felt happy as she feels happy.  Granted, there are times when she is a little more wacky than I am, but this character is believably written and I grew to love her. Having read some other reviews of this book, I notice that other readers too have the connection with the main character even if their life did not parallel hers. That is a major accomplishment by the author as far as I am concerned. To be able to connect with your reader even if their lives are not similar speaks volumes for the writing style and the story.

I enjoyed this book very much. It is a fast read and it keeps you turning to the page as the story develops quickly. I can't say a lot about the plot without giving away too much. While my life was not changed in reading this book, I would recommend this book to anyone as I am sure you could get something out of it that you were not expecting.

Book Review: Joy School by Elizabeth Berg

From goodreads.com

Katie has relocated to Missouri with her distant, occasionally abusive father, and she feels very much alone: her much-loved mother is dead; her new school is unaccepting of her; and her only friends fall far short of being ideal companions. When she accidentally falls through the ice while skating, she meets Jimmy. He is handsome, far older than she, and married, but she is entranced. As their relationship unfolds, so too does Katie's awareness of the pain and intensity first love can bring.


I didn't recall the premise of this book, so when I picked it up and read the description, I was excited to see that it was something that really was going to interest me.  I was disappointed at first to find out that this was the second of Berg's books about this character. When I find this out, usually I will put a book down until I acquire the first of the books so I read them as they were written.

I chose not to do this in this case (see Book Buying Ban), so I jumped in feet first to this novel. It was a quick read for me. Berg moved the story quickly, but I don't think she left anything out.  She was able to weave the characters and the story together very well.

I was surprised by the maturity of the main character, Katie, who is only 13 years old. But at the same time there were things she was very naive about. It made me wonder if Berg had difficulty writing from the perspective of someone so young. That maybe she sometimes slipped into the mindset of someone older and wiser, and then remembered that actually the perspective was a 13 year old.

In Joy School, Katie  finds her "first love" an older boy, age 23, who is married with a kid. She invest a lot of energy and mind space to the "future" she and Jimmy will share. How many of us have spent hours and hours dreaming of our "perfect love" and how great the future will be?  I got lost in Katie's imagination, and it was a nice refreshing read to be lost in the young love (read: crush) that she was experiencing.

Near the end of the book, she said, "No one will ever understand this feeling. No one would ever believe that he was the one." I found myself, even after having read the whole story, realizing that I too didn't believe that he was the one for her. I understood her feeling of hopelessness, but I knew she would have feelings for another later in her life. It is interesting to me to read a book, and get lost in the imagination of a young girl, but at the same time not truly believe that she is hopeless when even she says she is hopeless.

Katie's mom has passed away and her father is in the military, so Katie and he have moved around a lot.  What I know of military brats (which isn't a lot by any means) is that they are often less vulnerable and usually are more guarded of their emotions. Katie was completely opposite to this, and I believe Berg did this on purpose. We see a different side of someone who moves around a lot. She had a hard time making friends (typical), and the friends she made were not often the best influences on her (typical), but she shows a lot of emotion with them(atypical). She doesn't seem as reserved as I would expect of someone with her background.

I enjoyed this book, and enjoyed the characters and the story they told. I appreciate Berg's point of view. I have not read any of Berg's other novels, but I am intrigued to do so, and will most likely at least pick up the prequel to this book, Durable Goods.

Overall Rating:  7.5/10

Book Review: Necessary Arrangements by Tanya Michna

Necessary Arrangements by Tanya Michna

From goodreads.com

Asia has always been the serious, got-it-all-under-control Swenson, who protected her sibling from childhood scrapes. Lucy, six years younger, made up for her mishaps with her infectious smile and enthusiasm. Now, giddily in love and about to be married, Lucy has never been happier-until she learns that Asia's breast cancer is back. How can she get excited about planning her future when her sister is fighting for her own?

Friends and family mean more than they ever have to Asia, and lately, her charming co-worker Brandon Peters has been popping up wherever she goes. Talk about timing: could Asia be falling in love for the first time in her life? With Lucy's help, she's going to seize each day-losing herself in giggles and adventures, opening herself up to new relationships and deeper connections. And nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop her from walking down the aisle as her sister's maid of honor.

My review:

This book was not what I had expected. It, too has been on my shelf for quite some time. I hadn't picked it up for whatever reason, but I am glad that I did.  This book details the struggles of a woman with cancer and her sister who is feeling guilty for being happy that she is getting married. 

The book starts out with Asia learning that her cancer has relapsed and worse than before and Lucy getting engaged.

I found this book very heartfelt.  The writer did a good job of keeping the story very real and true.  She mixed humor in with sadness, very much like I think would be in real life.  Her story-telling was well done, and by the end I felt that these people were relatable and similar to people in my own life.

I wouldn't say that this was a life-changing book for me, and I often wonder why a lot of adult fiction deals with cancer in young women (this is the second book I have read with this theme in the last two months). But I think that the story was well written and I would recommend reading this book.  While the subject matter is heavy, I felt that the story had enough happy points and enough laughter that I was not left depressed and down by the end, but hopeful.

The story was told in third-person (not my favorite), but we were given multiple "viewpoints." The story chronicled both Asia (the sister with cancer) and Lucy (the sister who was getting married).  It was interesting to view the story from two different angles like that which would have been more difficult if it had been written in first person.

I enjoyed this book and I would be curious to see if Michna has written other books to see if she writes the same in all of her books.

Overall Rating: 8/10

And so it begins...

Bella from A Girl Reads A Book started a Book Buying Ban in the month of September. I decided to join, because I was seeing my bookshelf slowly quickly begin to fill to its capacity. I love books, and it makes me sad that I have so many on my shelf that I haven't read yet.  The titles mostly stay in the Chick Lit and Young Adult fiction genres, but there are a few Sci-Fi and Literary Classics mixed in.  I am excited for what this month will bring and I am excited to give some attention to books that I picked up quite some time ago and haven't had the chance to read.

While I am excited, part of me is actually a little sad I won't be able to go to the bookstore.  I have chosen to do my best to avoid book stores entirely because I would be too easily tempted. Bookstores are my favorite place... I have often dreamed of owning my own bookstore someday... I would be in heaven. I figured, for the book buying ban, cutting myself off completely would be the only option.

You'll never guess what happened last night though.... I got an e-mail from Borders (AUGUST 31, 11:30pm) offering me a free personal shopping day that must be taken by the 12th of September **insert dagger to heart** and it also told me that I have rewards that I can cash in, but they must be used by September 30 **twist the knife around a little** Are you kidding me?! The night before I start a month long book buying ban, and you go ahead and tell me I have deals waiting for me within the walls of one of my favorite bookstores.  They didn't even send the email early enough that I could have used it that day. That stings. That really stings. I will do my best to be strong. I am gonna do my best to resist, but being tempted in the final hour certainly didn't help.  I will keep you all posted on how well I do.  If you want to keep track of any of the other people participating, our hashtag on Twitter is #TBRmonth.

Happy reading!

Final Count of Books: TBR 92

Currently Reading:
Necessary Arrangements by Tanya Michna