I'm a big fan of dystopian (for those who don't know the definition of dystopian is- dystopia - state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror) books, so naturally I was interested in this one by Scott Westerfeld.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
This book has a very distinctive take on the human race's future, at the start it seems as though it's gone for better, unlike most depictions of the human race in dystopia. After age 16 everyone gets to be pretty and have life be one constant stream of parties -- awesome, right? But as the story goes on Tally discovers that really their government is quite ruthless and that being pretty is really just like being in a really fun prison. Key word, prison.
I like the character development of Tally, she starts out longing to be pretty.Then with the help of her new friends Shay and David she starts to see how ugly the pretty world is, and why being pretty is just surrender.
This book dragged and took a while to get going, but when it did, boy was it fun!
I found Tally's narration interesting, I loved her very unique take on the world and how matter-of-fact she was.
The world in this book is very intriguing, because though they are humans, they separate themselves a lot, calling us "rusties" for our obsession with metal and make us sound foolish at every chance they get.
This book was a brilliant dystopian novel that will leave readers begging for the sequel.
5/5
Book Battle Update: This is my fourth book read in the book battle, now me and Maddz are all tied up!
Nice review. I think this was the first dystopian series I read. It's a good one.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it;s a awesome book! The first dystopian book I read was The Giver.
ReplyDeleteI started this one but didn't finish it because it just didn't draw me in. Too slow. But you say it picks up later, so maybe I'll give it another try.
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