Review: Pretties by Scott westerfield

                                                          Pretties by Scott Westerfield  

                                                             Science Fiction , 370 pages 

Published 2005 by Simon Pulse 

 Sequel to "Uglies"

                   

Pretties takes place only a few days after Uglies ends. Tally is a Pretty, friends with Shay again, and eager to join The Crims-a popular Clique. She has a totally hot boyfriend, Zane, and everything in her life is great. 

But at a party she meets Croy, a Smoky from her Ugly past, and suddenly she begins to get back memories. Soon, she and Zane search for the Cure-two pills cleverly hidden by Maddy. Once taken, they get their normal minds back, and desperately plan an escape back to the New Smoke. However, everything starts to go wrong...  

Im not sure what to think about this one. I loved "Uglies", and always knew that the sequel would not be as great, but I still expected it to be reasonable. 

In a way, I loved Pretties, but I also hated it.  

The first 2o0 pages were damn awful. They are dull, boring and even tedious to struggle through. Of course there are enjoyable scenes, but only a few. At one stage I almost dropped the book and read the plot summary on wikipedia, so I 'wouldn't have to read anymore of this garbage' and move onto "Specials" 

However, I am incredibly thankful that I did not, as the final 150 pages are wonderful. Unpredictable, suspenseful, well written and full of action. I read the last 150 pages in one sitting, and loved it. 

I am going to review this book in two halfs. The first 200 pages, and the last 150 pages: 

First half: I was extremely disappointed. The majority of it is Tally, Zane, Shay and sometimes Paris shitting around doing butt-nothing except party, ice skate, and talk stupidly for a while. Eventually, this becomes a drag to read about. 

The Pretties vocabulary (Thats totally bubbly-making!) was really, super annoying. Half the time it barely made sense, and I wanted to throw the book across the room. 

As previously mentioned, there were many stages I was tempted to put the book down, and read the summary on wikipedia. That is how boring the first 200 pages can be. 

However, there are a number of enjoyable scenes, especially when Tally and Zane are trying to find the cure. But none the less, not enough to hold my attention. 

I would give part one, two stars. 

Second Half: From about page 220, this is a four-star book. The pretty talk, boringness and shitting around completely vanishes, and in its place comes oodles of action, twists and thrills. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with the "Ugly Tribe"-nothing more can be said without spoilers, especially when they reached 'the end of the world'. Westerfield wrote this particularly well, and the creepy scene was certainly my favorite.

I know that bucket loads of people will not enjoy this book. It is awfully paced, as previously mentioned. 200 pages of nothing, then next 150 pages of almost non stop action and adventure. 

Also, the thrills-though still there-are somewhat less then that of Uglies, because the plot is very similar. The ending would have been wonderful, had almost the exact same thing not happened in the previous book. The whole plot can be mirrored to Uglies in some way or another. 

As a reader, I did enjoy the book, but if I was a book critic or professional reviewer, it would receive awful marks. 

My final rating is probably more then Pretties deserved, but Im a sucker for a fun read, and the climax was certainly that.