Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she’s completely popular. It’s everything she’s ever wanted.
But beneath all the fun — the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom — is a nagging sense that something’s wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally’s ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what’s wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.
Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life — because the authorities don’t intend to let anyone with this information survive.
Hmm. I don’t know about this one.
Spoilers ahead.
What I liked about this book:
- I still like Scott Westerfeld’s writing style. As I stated in my Uglies book review, his writing is up my alley, not too serious and sarcastic at times. Still chill, knows what his demographic is, and doesn’t try too hard.
- The Pretties are explored more in this book, and the writing did convince me that these people are indeed shallow and vapid. I mean, it doesn’t take much, but there you go. Their vocabulary is so ridiculous that it’s convincing.
- I actually like that the book stated outright what Tally was thinking when Zane and her were making out. SEX. No flowery euphemisms here.
What I didn’t like about this book:
- Those pills, seriously. Spoilers: If you are to design two pills which work in two very different ways, at least color them differently. Or label one with a ‘1’ on it and a ‘2’ on the other so the recipient would know which one to take first without giving anything away if the pills were to fall into the wrong hands.
- I am a bit skeptical about Tally’s apparent strength of will that she was able to cure herself of brain lesions.
- I also got a bit lost to why Shay thought up of the idea of cutting herself to stay “bubbly” and the whole transition to being a Special Cutter (is that right?).
Rating: 6/10 It’s not as strong as the first one. Understandably, it may just be a bit of a filler and a set up for more things to actually happen in a third book. It’s still an easy read and quite enjoyable.