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krisaacs's review against another edition
1.0
If you were thinking, "I really loved story arc of The Maze Runner but I wish there were more skateboards," have I got the book. for. you.
riestenberger's review against another edition
3.0
I've had this series sitting on my book cases for AGES.
Finally got around to reading it. As I always say, obviously I'm not the intended audience but I really had high hopes. I love a good "utopian" book, but I just found the characters to be annoying. I thought the concept of the surgery and society structure was cool but I found Tally to be kind of meh...
Finally got around to reading it. As I always say, obviously I'm not the intended audience but I really had high hopes. I love a good "utopian" book, but I just found the characters to be annoying. I thought the concept of the surgery and society structure was cool but I found Tally to be kind of meh...
reydeam's review against another edition
4.0
Full Review at: Mom-Musings
How should I start?
Well, first off, I read this book because my soon to be 12 year old, ED, read this book. She loved it. Matter of fact, she has read the whole series in under two weeks. She desperately wanted me to read this series. So, I decided to give it a go as I have also read raving reviews for Uglies.
Initially, I thought, this story is nothing special. It started off slow. Yet, I kept reading as this new type of world had intrigue. Tally had intrigue.
I am glad I kept reading for the story did pick up in pace, action, adventure and fascination. Now that I am finished, I am glad for the slow start as it gave me an understanding of the world Tally lives in. It gave me a deeper insight to the brainwashing that had occurred.
Now for the meat of the story.
Wow! To live in a world where the government controls its citizens through a mind-controlling process. By controlling their minds the government controls their thinking. The people are submissive. Frightening!!
There is a group of people who live away from the cities. They have not turned “pretty”. They do not live under the government control and let me tell you….the government is not pleased as The Smoke represents a rebellious faction that could potential over through the government.
I found myself wondering. "Would I be brave enough, sure enough to take such a minority stand against what I thought was wrong?" "Would I be able to stand against my government if I thought they were doing absolute wrong against its citizens?" "Would I be able to recognize the wrong in the first place?" My answer to all the questions would be - "I sure hope so. However, by myself...not so certain. With a group, more certain."
The other meat of this story that stands out to me is the fact that someone becomes a traitor to the "rebels" – The Smoke. This is done out of fear for oneself way of thinking. Yet, truth comes to the forefront and so the traitor tries to make right what has been wronged. I do not think Tally was comfortable with her initial response to be a "spy". She really believed that her life would be worthless if she was not a "pretty". She was raised to believe this. When she learns the truth she does try to right the wrong. Since I do see the overall story and Tally's choices along with her initial deep-seeded beliefs, I could tolerate the lying even though it made me uncomfortable. In a sense, the traitor's story is one of redemption.
The ending was very satisfactory.
Uglies is part of a trilogy but you could read this one by itself.
I love it when an author gives its story closure when it is part of a series.
Uglies is full of action, adventure and intrigue.
It is fascinating YA science-fiction read.
I look forward to reading the second book - Pretties
How should I start?
Well, first off, I read this book because my soon to be 12 year old, ED, read this book. She loved it. Matter of fact, she has read the whole series in under two weeks. She desperately wanted me to read this series. So, I decided to give it a go as I have also read raving reviews for Uglies.
Initially, I thought, this story is nothing special. It started off slow. Yet, I kept reading as this new type of world had intrigue. Tally had intrigue.
I am glad I kept reading for the story did pick up in pace, action, adventure and fascination. Now that I am finished, I am glad for the slow start as it gave me an understanding of the world Tally lives in. It gave me a deeper insight to the brainwashing that had occurred.
Now for the meat of the story.
Wow! To live in a world where the government controls its citizens through a mind-controlling process. By controlling their minds the government controls their thinking. The people are submissive. Frightening!!
There is a group of people who live away from the cities. They have not turned “pretty”. They do not live under the government control and let me tell you….the government is not pleased as The Smoke represents a rebellious faction that could potential over through the government.
I found myself wondering. "Would I be brave enough, sure enough to take such a minority stand against what I thought was wrong?" "Would I be able to stand against my government if I thought they were doing absolute wrong against its citizens?" "Would I be able to recognize the wrong in the first place?" My answer to all the questions would be - "I sure hope so. However, by myself...not so certain. With a group, more certain."
The other meat of this story that stands out to me is the fact that someone becomes a traitor to the "rebels" – The Smoke. This is done out of fear for oneself way of thinking. Yet, truth comes to the forefront and so the traitor tries to make right what has been wronged. I do not think Tally was comfortable with her initial response to be a "spy". She really believed that her life would be worthless if she was not a "pretty". She was raised to believe this. When she learns the truth she does try to right the wrong. Since I do see the overall story and Tally's choices along with her initial deep-seeded beliefs, I could tolerate the lying even though it made me uncomfortable. In a sense, the traitor's story is one of redemption.
The ending was very satisfactory.
Uglies is part of a trilogy but you could read this one by itself.
I love it when an author gives its story closure when it is part of a series.
Uglies is full of action, adventure and intrigue.
It is fascinating YA science-fiction read.
I look forward to reading the second book - Pretties
kirastreet's review against another edition
4.0
It was ok, not my favorite dystopian novel but a good "I really want to read something but I'm not sure what" book. It was very predictable in some places and a little annoying but overall a good book.
Will write a better review soon.
Will write a better review soon.
daphx00's review against another edition
3.0
Final rating: 2.5/5. Because I'm nice I rounded up.
I’ll just get right into it: this was a major disappointment. Not because it was a bad book, but because it was not what I was expecting it to be. I’ve heard so many good things about this book and the entire series, and I think I’ve been hyping it a bit because of that, only to end in disappointment. While I really liked the premise and the idea behind the whole story, I thoroughly disliked the lack of depth of both the story and the characters.
Let me start off by saying that the synopsis for this book sounds awesome. I had been ogling the series for a while, had the entire series on my shelves for well over a year before I decided to pick the first book up. I loved the idea for a society where people wouldn’t be judged on looks because they were all somewhat the same – when they turn 16, they all get cosmetic surgery to make them pretty. The idea is both intriguing and horrifying and I really liked the whole idea around this. Unfortunately, some of the so-called plot-twists weren't plot-twists at all, because you could see from a mile away that they were about to happen. They were needed to keep the plot going, not to throw the reader off a particular train of thought. It was obvious that their purpose was to keep the story going, especially since I already own three more books, so there needs to be something more than the beginning of the story is letting on.
Secondly, I had problems with the characters. There was no depth at all in any of them, and I had no clue who our main character was supposed to be character wise. A lot of her thoughts are about saving her own hide, constantly trying to talk herself into that what she was doing would work out in the end etc. And of course, everyone with half a brain cell knows that’s just not the case and it annoyed me to no end that she seemed to think that what she was doing was right.
And finally, I thoroughly disliked the ease of how Tally was able to do everything. Everything was so easy, went so smoothly, it was ridiculous. There were no obstacles, not real ones anyway. There wasn’t a single moment where I thought it got exciting because something was going to happen. The story really fell flat and that’s such a shame, because I really liked the idea for the story.
Having said that, the book read really quickly. When I sat down to read it, I went through it in a couple of hours because it just reads nice and smoothly. It’s just.. It didn’t really work for me because I got nothing from the story. I really wish that I could rave about Uglies as much as everyone else, but I just can’t. Since I have the other three books on my shelves, I’ll read them all – I just don’t know when.
Find this review and others on Loving Books.
I’ll just get right into it: this was a major disappointment. Not because it was a bad book, but because it was not what I was expecting it to be. I’ve heard so many good things about this book and the entire series, and I think I’ve been hyping it a bit because of that, only to end in disappointment. While I really liked the premise and the idea behind the whole story, I thoroughly disliked the lack of depth of both the story and the characters.
Let me start off by saying that the synopsis for this book sounds awesome. I had been ogling the series for a while, had the entire series on my shelves for well over a year before I decided to pick the first book up. I loved the idea for a society where people wouldn’t be judged on looks because they were all somewhat the same – when they turn 16, they all get cosmetic surgery to make them pretty. The idea is both intriguing and horrifying and I really liked the whole idea around this. Unfortunately, some of the so-called plot-twists weren't plot-twists at all, because you could see from a mile away that they were about to happen. They were needed to keep the plot going, not to throw the reader off a particular train of thought. It was obvious that their purpose was to keep the story going, especially since I already own three more books, so there needs to be something more than the beginning of the story is letting on.
Secondly, I had problems with the characters. There was no depth at all in any of them, and I had no clue who our main character was supposed to be character wise. A lot of her thoughts are about saving her own hide, constantly trying to talk herself into that what she was doing would work out in the end etc. And of course, everyone with half a brain cell knows that’s just not the case and it annoyed me to no end that she seemed to think that what she was doing was right.
And finally, I thoroughly disliked the ease of how Tally was able to do everything. Everything was so easy, went so smoothly, it was ridiculous. There were no obstacles, not real ones anyway. There wasn’t a single moment where I thought it got exciting because something was going to happen. The story really fell flat and that’s such a shame, because I really liked the idea for the story.
Having said that, the book read really quickly. When I sat down to read it, I went through it in a couple of hours because it just reads nice and smoothly. It’s just.. It didn’t really work for me because I got nothing from the story. I really wish that I could rave about Uglies as much as everyone else, but I just can’t. Since I have the other three books on my shelves, I’ll read them all – I just don’t know when.
Find this review and others on Loving Books.
mirandaosmelak's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It's an interesting concept, but I was hoping for more exploration of the theme of physical beauty and what it means for us, how it affects societies. Instead it's an action adventure book. Which would be fine if someone is reading for this experience, BUT the ending is really anticlimactic. It's very clearly and totally a part of a series and doesn't provide any satisfaction on its own, which I think is just not good writing. Especially near the end there were also major events that juat got glanced over. The ending just seems rushed, abrupt and spmewhat random, as if the full story was just chopped into chunks.
ashction's review against another edition
5.0
I remember reading this, and thinking how good it was, but how long it took me to read it. The ending left me wanting more. I liked the premise, but if it had been a little shorter and to the point, I would have liked it more.
Still, it was a great book.
Still, it was a great book.
jessicajessica101's review against another edition
3.0
Un premier tome intéressant, qui se lit vite où on découvre des personnages intéressants, ce n'est pas le livre du siècle, mais il permet de passer un bon moment de lecture !
skmoen19's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
melissa_bookworm's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book, I found it gripping and exciting. It was interesting to read this dystopian story with the undertones of the 'rusties' which let the world get so broken.