Uglies - Scott Westerfeld

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld

2005

I had been waiting forever for this book from the library. At one point I was the first person on the waiting list and then the book got delivered to the library, but I was still at school so I couldn't pick it up. So I had to go back to waiting. But it's okay, because this book was fantastic. I had also heard a lot about this book from various people on the internet, but I can't think of which videos talked about this book.

Uglies takes place in the future, and like a lot of teen books set in the future, it's kind of post-apocalyptic and dystopian. Tally, the main character, lives in a society where at the age of 16 everyone undergoes an operation to make them pretty. They then live in a place called New Pretty Town where they get to party all the time. Before being turned pretty, they are called Uglies, and live in dorms with all of the other uglies. Sometimes for fun they do tricks, usually involving sneaking out at night and using hoverboards. During one of Tally's tricks she meets another ugly named Shay. Shay has questions about being turned pretty, and doesn't want to go through with it. She tries to get Tally to run away with her. And that's where my little synopsis ends.

The characters are well written, and there is some pretty good character development throughout the novel. You start to get attached to certain characters and hope that everything turns out okay for them. 

My absolute favourite part of the novel is the opening line, "The early summers sky was the colour of cat vomit." Actually, there are quite a few references to cats and cat vomit throughout the novel. 

Uglies is the first book in a trilogy that has four books. I'm very excited to read the next book, Pretties, because Uglies kind of ends with a cliffhanger. Okay, it definitely ends with a cliffhanger. Hopefully I will get it from the library soon!

This book is available for purchase from Amazon here: Uglies

I give this book 4.6 stars out of 5. It was a fantastic book with an interesting plot and really good characters. I definitely suggest this book to anyone who likes futuristic novels. 

Have you read Uglies? Did you enjoy it? Have you read the series? Do you know any books like Uglies?

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Jennifer E. Smith

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Jennifer E. Smith

2012

I was on the waiting list at my local library for quite a while for this book, and it was worth the wait. I had heard mixed reviews from different people on youtube, but I figured I should just read it for myself. And I'm glad I did.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight takes place over a 24 hour period. Hadley is going to England for her father's second wedding even though she doesn't really want to go. For a variety of very small (almost insignificant) reasons, she misses her flight by four minutes. And that's where the story starts. Hadley manages to get a seat on the next flight to England, although she will barely make the wedding by the time she gets there. She meets a very attractive British boy, Oliver, at the airport who becomes her friend for the wait and then again on the airplane (She is seat 18A and he is in seat 18C). And that's where my brief synopsis is going to end.

While the largest (and most exciting) portion of the actual plot happens towards the end of the book, the beginning isn't boring. The characters are very well written, and they act their age. There's frustration with parents and life in general. 

My favourite part of the book was probably the very end. I can't say exactly what it is other than it happens at the wedding reception. It was adorable. Or all the times when Hadley asks what Oliver is studying at school and he makes it up. 

The book also has a very attractive cover. Even if I hadn't heard about this book on youtube I probably would have picked it up.

I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. It was a fantastic book and I highly suggest picking it up.

Have you read this book? 

The Future of Us - Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

The Future of Us

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

2011

I was so excited to read this book. I loved Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, and I had been eying this book at the bookstore for quite a while. I ended up borrowing it from the library and I'm kind of glad I did.

The Future of Us is the story of Emma and Josh and their future. The story takes place in 1996. Emma has just received her first computer from her dad as a guilt gift. Josh shows up at her door with an AOL cd for 100 free hours of internet. She installs the program and does what she has seen her friend Kellan do many times; she goes to 'Favourite Places'. But there is a new site there called Facebook. She clicks on it, enters her email address and password and suddenly she can see 15 years into the future. Over the course of the novel she discovers that the smallest change in the present day can change her future entirely and sometimes she uses this to her advantage. Josh uses it to his advantage as well.

It was an interesting premise for a novel, and while it wasn't unenjoyable, I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. I found that there really wasn't too much of a plot. I kept waiting for something truly exciting to happen. You got to know the characters really well, and they were well written and the main characters all had some dimension to them. They were believable to the reader. 

One thing that I didn't really enjoy is the fact that the chapters went from being told by Emma to being told by Josh. This kind of narration is good for a novel written by two authors, but the two characters had very similar voices and sometimes it took a while to remember who was narrating. 

I think my favourite part was that it took place in 1996. There were so many references to things from that time, such as walkmans and cassette tapes. I also really enjoyed the kind of obvious references to things nowadays (watching Glee on Netflix). 

I give this book 3.6 stars out of 5. It wasn't a fantastic read, but it was a fun summer read. It does bring up some good points regarding knowing the future, but it leaves quite a few really good plot lines unexplored.

Have you read The Future of Us? Did you enjoy it?