Uglies

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Imagine being sent to boarding school when you are twelve. Now imagine the city brainwashing you into thinking you are ugly the entire four years you spend there. And instead of getting a sweet 16 party when you turn that magical age, you get an operation to MAKE you the cities idea of pretty.

Welcome to Tally Youngblood's life. Except she is 3 months away from being 16 and already brainwashed. She is looking forward to the doctors grinding her bones to the right size and shape and giving her new skin and making her face completely symmetric. She actually plays around on the screen wall in her dorm room to see all the ways she could be made to look.

Now imagine that one of these kids realized they were being brainwashed and did not want an operation. Instead they ran away. But running away isn't as simple as hopping a bus to the next town. No, cities in this time have magnetic fields through them that carry the hoverboards and hovercars, and there is a magnetic field surrounding it alerting the authorities when anyone tries to leave.

This is just the premise of the first book in a series of 4. I am currently reading the very last book of the series and don't want to give too much away, that would be bogus. I would like to mention that the language used in these books is entirely catching. I have begun to use phrases like "nervous making" in everyday life thanks to them. A future post about a different part of the series will go over that with you all.

For now I will leave you with the fact that I am grateful to not be brainwashed or operated on. And able to leave this damn city whenever I please.

Rating 3.2/5 stars

3 comments:

  1. Interesting.. it sounds somewhat similar to a Twilight Zone episode I saw once.

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  2. These books sound amazing! I'm always on the lookout for new reads and this series sounds like a proper page-turner.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    -Sarah

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  3. Page turner is very accurate. I actually woke up early one day so I could read before work.

    I haven not voluntarily woken up early in years!

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