Tally Youngblood can't wait until she turns sixteen, when she can finally get out of her 'Uglyville' dorm and get over to 'New Pretty Town', where everyone has an operation that makes them a Pretty. She'll be stunning, she'll reunite with her best-friend Paris, and she'll have tons of fun! But when she meets Shay, a soon to be Pretty herself, she isn't so sure anymore. Shay wants nothing to do with becoming a Pretty, she wants to leave their "perfect" society and escape to a far off village called the Smoke where no one becomes Pretty. When Shay leaves and Tally is left alone questioning the means of the operation, she is pulled away by a group of government scientists, called Specials. They blackmail Tally into going out into the unknown to find Shay. Another escaped citizen is a sign that a rebellion is closer. Tally embarks on a long journey where she finds herself and realizes not everything is what it seems.
In this thrilling dystopian trilogy Westerfeld transforms a classic Twilight Zone episode into a full on adventure. He takes the ideas and concepts of the episode and makes it original and complete. Everything from the characters to the plots were unique and as the story builds you start to question our own society. This smart and relatable novel brings so many new elements to the way you see the world and Westerfeld will have you squirming the whole way through.
Reed Reads Score: 3.5
