Review: Uglies, The Collector's Set

Uglies, The Collector's Set by Scott Westerfeld
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

OVERALL: ~2.6 stars

Uglies (Uglies #1) - 3 stars
All Tally ever wanted was to be pretty. That is exactly what she gets when she turns sixteen, there is a catch though, Special Circumstances wants her to find her friend Shay who escaped before becoming pretty. As Tally embarks on the adventure of her life there is a deep secret rooted in the New Pretty town and Tally has to figure out a way to stop the corruption.

I thought this was a really interesting concept and I liked the characters. Tally did start to get annoying about half way through the book, especially with her insta-love reaction and swooning style when she was around David. I am interested to see what happens next and what other secrets New Pretty Town has to reveal.

Pretties (Uglies #2) - 3 stars
As Tally sacrificed herself to the city to become Pretty and see if the cure is going to work getting back on the outside is more than she has bargained for. With help of her new Pretty friend, Zane, she might just remember the mission Special Circumstances made her forget.

Ahh the development of the love triangle. I was actually waiting for this to happen in the first book. As much as we have seen of both David and Zane I still feel like I know nothing about them. Tally’s relationship with each is just on a surface level, nothing really deep goes into either of these in the first two books (In my opinion).

It was interesting to see how the story was going to progress. I guess it makes sense by the title that the whole entire second book was going to be in New Pretty Town. I wanted to hear more from the outside and David though. It is almost as if this series is written in steps.

I did get use to all of the Pretty language in the second book. Although it is still strange to read. I feel like I am thrown back into my teen years trying to make up new words for things.

Specials (Uglies #3) - 2.5 stars
Now Tally Youngblood has turned Special. It is a new phase in her brain washing and with Shay by her side it takes her a while to overcome what’s been implanted into her mind and realize she is still being controlled.

This was a disappointing ending to the series for me (I know there is a forth book but it follows a different heroine). I did not see the point of certain plot events and I did not view Tally as being that strong of a character in this book. Everything about this series seemed kind of disjointed to me and did not have any flow with regards to the story.

Extras (Uglies #4) - 2 stars
Three years after Specials takes place Aya is living in Japan. The world has drastically changed and now everything runs on popularity of a person. Aya is ranked pretty low on the totem pole and therefore is pretty much a nobody. That all changes when she meets the Sly Girls.

This book far exceeds the future craziness factor in my opinion. I did not find Aya to be that intriguing of a character and struggled to get through this book even though the concept was interesting. Tally has an attitude change in this one; she seemed more confident and sure of herself than she had previously.

Overall, not impressed.

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