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grhuberg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Eating disorder and Death of parent
jasmineslibraryy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
extremely confused about the development of background characters like shay...but i'm intrigued to finish the series. tally is MESSYYYYY but ngl i'll always defend her
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Eating disorder, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Death of parent and Drug use
Minor: Animal death
enaminella's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Violence, Self harm, and Eating disorder
smellymiche's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Eating disorder
tania_mybookishsecret's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Eating disorder
Minor: Death of parent and Murder
a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Self harm, Body horror, Classism, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Medical content, and Dysphoria
applesaucecreachur's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Ugh. UGH. Ugh. This book. I love how angry it made me and hate to admit that some of the juicier parts made me physically giddy. (Literally everything that came out of Tally's mouth to David in that breakup scene toward the end? Delicious. I wasn't even invested in either of her little relationships before that point but oh boy. Did that rope me in. ). While I appreciated the story's setting in New Pretty Town as I've been curious to know more about it since book one , I became bored quickly. <Spoiler> Like her relationship with David in the first book, Tally's romance with Zane felt forced for much of the book. Now, I'll be honest: I was kind of rooting for them at the end. Teamwork is one of my favorite ways to show intimacy in any form, and sprinkling in a little bit of sacrifice is just chef's kiss.
That said, I can't go without mentioning this book's problems. I'll start with a more neutral one: The "primative" villagers, at least at this point, feel like an unnecessary addition that gum up the plot's gears. The role that they serve, at least in the timeline of this book, is to reveal to Tally both the drastic measures that the scientists and Specials will take to learn about "human nature", and that this nature is inherently violent. Groundbreaking (/s). But couldn't we have learned this by, I don't know, having Tally stumble upon confidential files or an old newspaper article or something? Did we need an entire new civilization and cast of characters thrown into the last few chapters of a book already crowded with new terms for classes of people? The more harmful ones have to do with the endorsement of disordered eating and the demonization of self-harm. Though Tally and Zane do not seek weight loss for cosmetic reason, restriction and starvation are presented as just another measure of their grit. Which, considering that this is a series geared toward young people, an likely fem-identifying ones... This is problematic. Plus making Shay's new, creepy clique a group of people who cut themselves to heal their brain lesions , and even calling them the cutters, and making them the bad guys of sorts , is ugly. And I don't mean in the bubbly/bogus way. Then there's also the fact that skin color factors into how attractive someone is? Some uglies in the book are described as pale, and some descriptors of pretties include "tan". So if "too light" exists, so too must "too dark". Maybe this was unintentional on Westerfeld's part. Even so, we are not at all into that shit.
Would I read it again? Absolutely not. But boy howdy, did I enjoy every minute. All I have to say about this ridiculous and perfect book is: Get it, Tally Youngblood. Eat your pretty little face and your big ugly heart out.
That said, I can't go without mentioning this book's problems. I'll start with a more neutral one:
Would I read it again? Absolutely not. But boy howdy, did I enjoy every minute. All I have to say about this ridiculous and perfect book is: Get it, Tally Youngblood. Eat your pretty little face and your big ugly heart out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Eating disorder
Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Minor: Body shaming and Racism
jbaysinger_1069's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Where do I begin............. While Uglies kept me intrigued, entertained and wanting to know more. Pretties had me annoyed and triggered. As someone who works in the social work field with individuals of developmental/intellectual disabilities the first few chapters were extremely hard to get through as Tally and Shay use the word "Retarded" several times. Also with the repetition of certain phrases I couldn't finish this book fast enough. Also the glorification of cutting is really sickening. Such a shame for how interesting the first book was.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Self harm, Eating disorder, and Toxic friendship
tinyflame4's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm and Eating disorder
cow_inthe_closet's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Eating disorder, and Confinement
Moderate: Alcohol and Body shaming
Minor: Medical content