Review – Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (3.5/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfield. This book was much better than the first novel of the series but still feel a little flat for me.

At the beginning of this book we meet Tally (who has been turned into a Pretty) and Shay getting ready for a costume party. At the party Tally has a strange encounter with someone dressed like Special Circumstances. Tally is trying to get accepted into a group of Pretties called the Crims. Who, as their name suggests, all committed “criminal” acts as Uglies. Zane, the leader of the Crims, suspects that more is just changed during the Pretty operation than their faces. Zane and the other Crims make it a goal to pull off daring stunts in order to “stay bubbly” and be able to see through the Pretty induced mental haze.

This was a much faster paced novel than the previous one. It was very interesting how different Tally’s personality was as a Pretty and how she fought internally with the Prettiness. Zane is an interesting character and a good addition to the series. It was fun to read about the exploits of the Crims. In general this was a decent book; full of action and interesting personality changes.

That being said, for me, there was still something a little off about this book. I wasn’t that attached to the characters and the action scenes didn’t really come alive for me. I am not sure what it is but there is something that stops this novel from becoming wonderful; I think it may be that the writing style is a bit unpolished and simplistic for me. I also think that the author is still dumbing down things too much for his audience.

I will definitely read the next book because this book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger much like the first one.