Kay's Bookshelf

For some reason I liked Tally a bit less in this book, perhaps because she spent a part of it being a vain shallow-minded creature, or at least pretending to be one. Her adventures seemed to me a bit toned down too (or maybe I was under the wrong impression since I simply cared less about what happened to her and what troubles she got into). Zane on the other hand seemed to me quite a promising character, and I was sorry to see him missing from quite a good chunk of the book (he is sent to the background about the very time the real adventures started). David puts up a very short appearance here, but I liked the maturity that he shows on that occasion (Zane too for that matter). As for Shay, I am not very happy with the direction the author has chosen to make her develop, as she has become a spiteful thing, a far cry from the person I took her for previously.

The social issues that have been fleetingly touched in the first book return to haunt Tally (and the reader too). Dr. Cable explains to her that what is done to the people when they turn sixteen is done for their own good, and for the good of the society, because this way everyone can be held under control so they cannot affect the environment as much as the Rusties did. Sure, Dr. Cable may have been painting all in a more beautiful light than it actually was, but it sort of convinced me that the whole Special Circumstances thing was actually an organization that fought for the greater good. Even Tally, a firm advocate of one’s right to choose for oneself, ends up having some doubts after seeing a village of “pre-Rusties” and the thirst for blood and revenge they seemed to have ingrained in their very being. Might that happen to the pretties (and uglies) that have decided to live outside the cities? Tally doesn’t know (and neither will I until I’ll read the rest of the books :) ).

I couldn’t help noticing that in some respects this book’s plot was quite similar with the first. Tally starts out wanting to be in a group she’s not; she then finds out there is another world, another way of living, out there; next, she falls in love with a guy who’s fascinated by her courage and adventures; she has an argument with Shay; her actions negatively affect (more indirectly this time) people in the free city, and she feels very guilty about it; last but not least, she ends up scheduled for surgery, a surgery that’s supposed to change her life completely. Hum. I would be mightily amused if the plot of the third book will turn out to have one or more of these elements too :)

As a less than relevant tidbit, I am a bit turned off by the book cover. Not only because the people there lack the huge eyes that pretties are supposed to have, but most of all because the guy is nothing like Zane is supposed to look like (beautiful, gaunt, with dark hair and noticeable cheekbones). Oh well.

What I liked most: I was amused by the details like the physical changes some of the pretties did to themselves (although I have my doubts that a moving swirling tatoo, or having a third eye tattooed, would actually look good). My favorite change was the one Shay got, tiny clocks around her pupils, and going backwards too (not that I can imagine it look anything but creepy but I still find it a cool idea). Also, Zane’s very own scale for measuring prettiness: in mili-Helens (one Helen being enough beauty to launch precisely one ship :) ). Oh, and all the dragon stories/dreams that Tally kept inventing/having — I found them to be very fit metaphors for everything Tally was going through at the time :)

What I liked least: All the “pretty talk” at the beginning. Many many pages of dialogue spoken by people who seemed to have a very limited vocabulary. There’s only so many times one can read a particular word on a given page, and these kids used “bubbly” (their word for anything good) or “bogus” (their word for anything bad) every few words. It became very tiring after a while (and alternately quite boring). Not to mention the fact that the author seemed to have wanted to invent his own version of newspeak, all the pretties using, instead of some words, expressions like “brain-missing” (stupid), “fashion-missing” (out of fashion), “sad-making” (saddening) and so on.

Recommend it to? Anyone who read and enjoyed the first book :)

This book is a sequel to:
Uglies

This book is followed by:
Specials

Written by the same author:
The Secret Hour
Touching Darkness
Blue Noon

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