Marie
tl;dr : Tally Youngblood WILL test your patience but the setup is great and the story is engaging. If you’re into dystopian YA and can push through a lot of internal teen angst, it’s worth checking out for the worldbuilding alone.
I have very mixed feelings about Uglies. The world is genuinely cool, this whole idea of a society where you turn “Pretty” at sixteen is simple but cleverly built, and I loved seeing the little pieces of it fall into place. That alone makes me want to keep going with the series.
That said, Tally might be one of the most frustrating protagonists I’ve ever read. She’s constantly flipping emotions, making the worst possible decisions, and spiraling into these dramatic “I’m such a bad person but everyone still loves me :(((” thoughts. I just wanted her to take a breath and think before doing literally anything.
That said, the writing itself seems to improve as the book progresses, and once you settle into the world, it becomes genuinely fun to explore. I had a throwback to my teen reading self for a while which was really nice!
My favorite part (! minor spoiler) : Shay post-brainwashing. She’s so far gone and clueless that it becomes hilarious!
tl;dr : Tally Youngblood WILL test your patience but the setup is great and the story is engaging. If you’re into dystopian YA and can push through a lot of internal teen angst, it’s worth checking out for the worldbuilding alone.
I have very mixed feelings about Uglies. The world is genuinely cool, this whole idea of a society where you turn “Pretty” at sixteen is simple but cleverly built, and I loved seeing the little pieces of it fall into place. That alone makes me want to keep going with the series.
That said, Tally might be one of the most frustrating protagonists I’ve ever read. She’s constantly flipping emotions, making the worst possible decisions, and spiraling into these dramatic “I’m such a bad person but everyone still loves me :(((” thoughts. I just wanted her to take a breath and think before doing literally anything.
That said, the writing itself seems to improve as the book progresses, and once you settle into the world, it becomes genuinely fun to explore. I had a throwback to my teen reading self for a while which was really nice!
My favorite part (! minor spoiler) : Shay post-brainwashing. She’s so far gone and clueless that it becomes hilarious!