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Scott Westerfeld: Uglies (Uglies, #1) (2005) 4 stars

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- …

Review of 'Uglies (Uglies, #1)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Entertaining YA fiction that comes with all the usual tropes (female heroine, surprise love interest, love triangle) and none of the addictiveness of e.g. The Hunger Games or Divergent.

Tally is almost 16, the age when you turn from an Ugly to a Pretty through plastic surgery. On your 16th birthday you get whisked away for surgery to spend your life from thereon in New Pretty Town, partying and having fun. But then Tally meets a new friend, Shay, who doesn't follow everyone's dream and would rather run away from the city to remain Ugly and free. When she flees, the authorities get ahold of Tally and force her to follow her friend, or she will remain an Ugly her whole life...

I really wanted to find out how this all came to be, from the collapse of the life of the so-called Rusties to this life of plastic surgery but you only get glimpses. It is entertaining to read, though Tally frequently got on my nerves. That's what happens when you read books about teenagers. The ending is a giant whopping cliffhanger, and so I guess I'll move on to the next book.

3.5 stars, all things considered.