So onto the review proper: In a far future society, Tally Youngblood is on the cusp of her sixteenth birthday – when she will FINALLY become pretty. I liked it so much that I changed this post from just a review of Uglies to a review of the original trilogy, because I couldn’t just stop Tally’s story at book one (especially not with that cliffhanger ending). You’ll also have surmised that I got over my feelings of discomfort and finally read the book…and I really liked it. Still, the similarities bothered me more than just a little bit.)Īnyways! That’s why I was hesitant to read the book. Though there are a lot of similarities, he says making people pretty and sheeplike seems to be a common theme in SF – which is true and entirely possible.

He says that he hadn’t seen the episode for years, and it wasn’t really a direct influence. Westerfeld has posted about this episode on his blog. (Since the publication of these books Mr. Not that I’m accusing anyone of anything – I’m of the “stories are discovered and evolve organically” mentality plus, since reading Uglies there are many imaginative differences, and as the series progresses the books only get even better and far more original – but initially it seemed like some pretty heavy borrowing without referencing. Westerfeld didn’t reference or even mention it in passing. That is, until one girl decides that she decides she doesn’t want to be beautiful and happy all the time – Marilyn wants to read books, she wants passion, she wants the whole range of human emotion, and she wants to stay “ugly.” After her best friend Val undergoes her Transformation, Marilyn’s resolve to stay ugly is strengthened and she fights to escape before it is too late.Ĭompared to the blurb of Uglies, I wasn’t too thrilled to read an extended version of an already great Twilight Zone episode, and it kinda bothered me that Mr. Those that undergo the operation are pliant, happy, and perpetually beautiful. See, back in the roiling stew of hatred and disease that was the 20th century, a new society emerged in which people discovered how to eliminate all wars, discrimination, and other social ills: the elimination of ugliness.

In “Number 12” we are transported to the then-distant future of the year 2000, where at the age of 19 everyone undergoes The Transformation – they pick a modeled body for themselves and get to look beautiful and be happy for the rest of their significantly extended lives. “And the nicest part of all, Val, I look just like you!”

The pretties the uglies