Uglies
Uglies is a 2005 dystopian science fiction novel by Scott Westerfeld. It is set in a futuristic post-scarcity world in which everyone is considered an "Ugly" until they are then turned "Pretty" by extreme cosmetic surgery when they reach the age of 16. It tells the story of a teenager, Tally Youngblood, who rebels against society's enforced conformity after her friends Shay and David show her the downsides to becoming a "Pretty".
Written for young adults, Uglies deals with themes of change, both emotional and physical. The book is the first installment in what was originally a trilogy, the Uglies series, which also includes the books Pretties, Specials, and a behind the scenes expansion work, Extras. In 2018, four new installments were announced, collectively titled the Impostors Series.
Plot
Three hundred years in the future, the government provides everything, including plastic surgery operations. Everyone on their 16th birthday receives the "Pretty" operation, transforming them into society's standard of beauty. After the operation, new Pretties cross the river that divides the city and lead a new life with no responsibilities or obligations. There are two other operations available: one to transform new Pretties into "Middle-Pretties" and another to transform Middle-Pretties into "Crumblies".Former cities have decayed after bacteria infected the world's petroleum and made it unstable. The old society, so dependent on oil, fell apart when cars and oil fields exploded, and food could no longer be transported. People who lived before the catastrophe are called the "Rusties."
Tally Youngblood is almost sixteen. Like every other Ugly, she awaits the operation with great anticipation. Her best friend, Peris, has already had the operation, and motivated by her desire to see him, Tally sneaks across the river to New Pretty Town. There, she meets Shay, another Ugly. They become friends, and Shay teaches Tally how to ride a hoverboard. Shay also mentions rebelling against the operation. At first, Tally ignores the idea, but is forced to deal with it when Shay runs away a few days before their shared sixteenth birthday, leaving behind cryptic directions to her destination, a "renegade settlement" called the Smoke, where city runaways go to escape the operation.
On the day of Tally's operation, she is taken to Special Circumstances, a division that is likened to "gremlins" and " when anything weird happens." Dr. Cable, a woman who is described as "a cruel pretty," is the head of Special Circumstances. She gives Tally an ultimatum to help locate Shay and the Smoke or never become a pretty. Tally cooperates, and Dr. Cable gives her a hoverboard and all the needed supplies to survive in the wild, along with a heart locket that contains a tracking device. Once activated with Tally's eye, it will show the location of the Smoke to Special Circumstances. By following Shay's clues, Tally sets off to find her friend.
When Tally arrives at the Smoke, she finds Shay, her friend David, and an entire community of runaway Uglies. She is reluctant to activate the pendant, and it eventually becomes clear that David is in love with her. David takes her to meet his parents, Maddy and Az, who are the original runaways from the city. They explain how the operation does more than "cosmetic nipping and tucking." It also causes lesions in the brain that make the people placid, or "pretty-minded." Horrified, Tally decides to keep the Smoke secret and throws the locket into a fire to destroy it. However, the flames' heat causes the tracker to activate and give away the Smoke's location.
The following morning, Special Circumstances arrive at the camp, and Tally tries to escape. She fails and is caught and taken to a rabbit pen in which other caught Smokies are kept, tied up. Eye scans are taken of all the captured Smokies and identify from which city they fled. Tally is then taken to Dr. Cable, who explains how they found the Smoke. Because of how long it took to activate the pendant, Dr. Cable suspects that Tally betrayed her but activated it by accident. Dr. Cable tests Tally by ordering her to retrieve the locket, which should be intact. Tally escapes on a hoverboard. After a long and stressful chase, she hides in a cave in which they cannot track her heat signature. There, she finds David also hiding, and together, they begin to plan a rescue.
Tally and David return to his house, where they find evidence that Special Circumstances took Maddy and Az. David leads Tally to a secret stash of survival equipment, where they find everything they need and load them onto the four hoverboards stashed there. As Tally and David travel back to the city to free their friends, they fall in love. Arriving at the Special Circumstances complex, they discover that Shay has already been "turned" and is now a Pretty. After meeting Dr. Cable, David knocks her out and takes her work tablet, which contains all the necessary information to reverse the brain lesions created by the Pretty operation. Tally and David then free all the Smokies held in the complex. As they escape the complex, Maddy tells David that his father, Az, is dead.
Once everyone is safe at the Rusty Ruins, Maddy begins working on a cure by using Dr. Cable's tablet. She then offers it to Shay, who refuses and does not want to become a "vegetable." Since Tally feels responsible for her betrayal, she decides to become a Pretty and take the cure as a "willing subject." To convince David to let her go back to the city, she tells him about her involvement with Special Circumstances and searching for the Smoke to betray them. While David is absorbing what Tally admitted, Maddy advises Tally to go back with Shay before she changes her mind. Once there, Tally announces to a Middle Pretty, "I'm Tally Youngblood. Make me pretty," the final phrase of the novel.
Characters
Uglies
- Tally Youngblood is the main character of the story. She is notably clever and loves tricks. Her Ugly nickname is Squint. As the story progresses, she begins to stray from the rules of her city and her assignment. She falls in love with David at the Smoke. Together, Tally and David rescue the Smokies after the Smoke is captured by Special Circumstances. In the end, she gives herself up to be Pretty and helps Shay.
- Shay is Tally's new friend in Uglyville. She is an Ugly nicknamed Skinny. They meet while Tally is fleeing from New Pretty City. Shay teaches Tally how to hoverboard and more about the outside world and the Rusties. Shay prefers to refer to Tally by her name, but they occasionally call each other by their Ugly nicknames to provoke each other. After a fight, Shay decides to "grow up" and go to the Smoke. Shay grows jealous of Tally's presence in the Smoke, especially of her relationship with David. Shay realizes Tally's ultimate betrayal but no longer cares once she is made Pretty.
Smokies
- David, the son of the founders of the Smoke, was not born in any city. Shay has an interest in David, but he does not reciprocate her feelings. After Tally arrives at the Smoke, his interest in her makes Shay jealous. David helps change Tally's feeling towards the cities. He wears hand-sewn clothing, which is made from animal skins, and has survival skills that he passes on to Tally.
- Maddy is David's mother. She tells Tally about the brain lesions caused by the Pretty surgery, and later develops a cure for the lesions. She is a founder of the Smoke.
- Az is David's father and dies in an operation. As part of the Pretty Special Committee, he discovered the brain lesions that the Pretty surgery causes and suspects the lesions are intentional. He is a founder of the Smoke.
- Croy is another Smokie. He is originally from Uglyville and knows Shay. He is originally suspicious of Tally but grows to trust her.
- The Boss is a figure called the "Boss" but is not in charge of the leaderless Smoke; however, he is in charge of the library. He was killed when the Specials arrived.
Specials
- Dr. Cable is the head of Special Circumstances and denies Tally the operation until she finds Shay. She sends Specials to destroy the Smoke. She is described as having an aquiline nose, non-reflective gray eyes, a razor-like voice, and sharp teeth.
Pretties
- Peris, Tally's best friend, is three months older than Tally and thus has become a Pretty. He helps Tally decide to betray Shay. His Ugly nickname was Nose.
- Ellie Youngblood is Tally's mother who helps Tally decide to turn in Shay. She is a Middle Pretty.
- Sol Youngblood is Tally's father who helps Tally decide to turn in Shay. He is a Middle Pretty.
Major motifs