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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
I was already a fan of the Uglies series, so when I found out from a friend that her library had the graphic novels, I had to go check mine. I was in luck! This is the first graphic novel I have read as well, and I really did love it. It follows along the same timeline as the Uglies series only from Shay's point of view and what was going on with her instead of Tally. (You still get to see some of Tally though of course!) I liked seeing things from her perspective, and maybe I put too much thought into it, but I truly like how the artist drew Shay as already SO pretty! It really drove home the point of what this government was doing...brainwashing all the kids to think less of themselves, and like Shay even says in the book, to hate themselves. I'm eager to read Cutters, the next in the series as well and see more from Shay's head!
I think that Uglies: Shay's Story is an interesting perspective on the first book. We get to see more about Shay and what happened to her before she met Tally Youngblood. It was interesting to see some of the characters drawn out. What surprised me was Zane's crush on Shay as an ugly, its funny becuase Tally takes David away from Shay and then Zane.
Can't wait for part two. :)
Can't wait for part two. :)
I wasn't so sure the first few pages...but soon enough I was flipping through the pages admiring the cool drawings and before I knew it, I finished it. I had no idea there would be more! So, can't wait for the second one. :) My favorite part in these were seeing people change from Ugly to Pretty. You don't get the visuals in the regular books. Also cool how the Pretties had kinda scary eyes...
This was a pretty decent graphic novel, based on one of the character's view of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies. I haven't read Uglies, but this graphic novel has piqued my interest enough that I may check it out next year.
This particular book tell's the beginning of Shy's story, in a world where at 16 people are transformed, by surgery, from their natural 'ugly' form into what has become the accepted 'pretty' form. Shay discovers that there are some people who have rebelled against the system and gone into hiding preferring the natural 'ugly' form. She is torn between joining them or accepting being turned into a 'pretty'. I enjoyed the story and the artwork of this one, but it is only part one, so I'll need to look for the next part, as I'd like to find out what happened to Shay. I can't comment on how this fits in with the book series, as I haven't read it yet, but I'd like to remedy that soon.
This particular book tell's the beginning of Shy's story, in a world where at 16 people are transformed, by surgery, from their natural 'ugly' form into what has become the accepted 'pretty' form. Shay discovers that there are some people who have rebelled against the system and gone into hiding preferring the natural 'ugly' form. She is torn between joining them or accepting being turned into a 'pretty'. I enjoyed the story and the artwork of this one, but it is only part one, so I'll need to look for the next part, as I'd like to find out what happened to Shay. I can't comment on how this fits in with the book series, as I haven't read it yet, but I'd like to remedy that soon.
Loved the original series, and I had a lot of questions about Shay, so I looked forward to this one.
Some of the questions are answered, but some aren't. The artwork is beautiful - I think the manga style is perfect for this, considering its themes - and the chapter breaks came at good times. However... I didn't feel like this really focused all that much on new info. Maybe the first third, but after that, it was a great deal of the Uglies beginning, just rendered in manga style. If one of my students liked the series, I guess I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't hand it to them without some experience with the original text.
Some of the questions are answered, but some aren't. The artwork is beautiful - I think the manga style is perfect for this, considering its themes - and the chapter breaks came at good times. However... I didn't feel like this really focused all that much on new info. Maybe the first third, but after that, it was a great deal of the Uglies beginning, just rendered in manga style. If one of my students liked the series, I guess I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't hand it to them without some experience with the original text.
I was excited to read this as I loved the Uglies series as a kid and seeing a different perspective interested me. However, I found it a bit lackluster and boring, and not much different than the Uglies book itself. There were a few new tidbits from conversations/situations that I suppose Tally wasn't apart of, but overall I still feel like I have no idea who Shay is. I was also really thrown off by the artwork - don't get me wrong, it was beautiful, but that's the problem. All of the characters looked exactly the same - pretties, uglies, specials, smokies. When in the book it's portrayed as them having stark differences, it felt liked they all looked the same. For example, the only difference between ugly and pretty Zane it seemed like was his hair colour, and David just looked like some pretty boy. Including the artist's sketches and notes at the end of the book helped a bit with wrapping my head around it (like when it was mentioned that even though they're called "uglies" that doesn't mean they're actually ugly, they're just not perfect), but I still feel as if all the characters looked way too much the same. I was hoping for a lot more from this and was disappointed, but I will probably still go on and read the second one.
There is mixed reaction to this GN treatment of Westerfeld's stories. Such a world was built in the series that can't be shown here, but I think kids who've read them will enjoy this and those who haven't will want to after reading this one. Now have to try selling it to the right student and see if I'm right.
It was okay, but it does not compare to the the book. I remember the world of uglies and pretties being magical, and I did not feel that magic here.
Uglies
Imagine a world where you are considered your entire life until you turn sixteen. At sixteen, the milestone that everyone waits for, you have an operation that transforms you into a pretty. What do you do when you discover that it’s not exactly what you thought it would be? That’s the story of Tally Youngblood who is a few months younger than her best friend and must wait her turn for the operation. It is something that she has been looking forward to her entire life, she has dreamt of turning pretty. Turning pretty is something that is expected of everyone and life in the city is the only life she knows. That is until she meets up with Shay, another ugly who had friends turn pretty before her. Shay teaches Tally knew tricks and pushes her further out into the wild than she’s ever been. But that’s not all Shay does, she introduces Tally to ideas and people that challenges her city’s way of life. Sent a mission that meant to betray only draws her closer to people that defy the norms and shows her that there is something better out there for her. A mission that uncovers lies and secrets that no one was ever meant to know.
If I was to be completely honest, I would say that this is my second time reading this book. I decided to finish the series and realized that it has been a while so I wanted to get the story fresh in my mind. When I started reading it –again- I was disappointed. I wasn’t even sure why I had read the story in the first place and definitely not sure if I was going to continue. A part of that was the irritation that parts of the story sounded familiar enough to remind that I had already this book but not familiar enough for me to skip over those parts. But I pushed through and found myself lost in this world where everyone is ugly. Despite that it’s an equalizer it claims to be, it rips the idea of being different to shreds. Talk about creating a self-esteem complex, who really wants to grow in a world where you are reminded how ugly you are every single day?
Differences are not celebrated and conformity is expected. Even the people who are naturally gorgeous lose something. The operation is designed for people to be average, not ugly and not beautiful. It’s disturbing to read a book that focuses so much on looks and appearances especially one that is meant for young readers. But at the same time it is comforting to see someone address an issue that presents so much turmoil for youth in such a way that it gets them to think about things differently. If there is one thing that I have learned from this book is that prettiness comes at a price and though it is hard, not conforming to ideals that do not have my best interest in mind is well worth it.
It’s a journey of self-discovery, betrayal, and trying to right the wrongs of the world. It’s one girl’s fight to be allowed to be who she is as she is and another girl’s journey to finally understanding who she is and learning to accept it. This is only the beginning and I have to admit that I am looking forward to the next book. I am intrigued about what is going to happen to Tally Youngblood and Shay. I want to know if the betrayal will ever be forgiven and if the budding romance is given a chance to blossom into something meaningful. Most of all, I want to know what kind of trouble the Uglies are going to cause next. I will let you know my recommendation about this series when I finished it completely.
If you want to know more about the Uglies series or any of the other books Scott has written check out his website at www.scotwesterfield.com. You can also find Scott on Facebook. His new book Goliath, the final book in the Leviathan series will be out Sept. 20, 2011.
Always Shine,
Starr K.
Imagine a world where you are considered your entire life until you turn sixteen. At sixteen, the milestone that everyone waits for, you have an operation that transforms you into a pretty. What do you do when you discover that it’s not exactly what you thought it would be? That’s the story of Tally Youngblood who is a few months younger than her best friend and must wait her turn for the operation. It is something that she has been looking forward to her entire life, she has dreamt of turning pretty. Turning pretty is something that is expected of everyone and life in the city is the only life she knows. That is until she meets up with Shay, another ugly who had friends turn pretty before her. Shay teaches Tally knew tricks and pushes her further out into the wild than she’s ever been. But that’s not all Shay does, she introduces Tally to ideas and people that challenges her city’s way of life. Sent a mission that meant to betray only draws her closer to people that defy the norms and shows her that there is something better out there for her. A mission that uncovers lies and secrets that no one was ever meant to know.
If I was to be completely honest, I would say that this is my second time reading this book. I decided to finish the series and realized that it has been a while so I wanted to get the story fresh in my mind. When I started reading it –again- I was disappointed. I wasn’t even sure why I had read the story in the first place and definitely not sure if I was going to continue. A part of that was the irritation that parts of the story sounded familiar enough to remind that I had already this book but not familiar enough for me to skip over those parts. But I pushed through and found myself lost in this world where everyone is ugly. Despite that it’s an equalizer it claims to be, it rips the idea of being different to shreds. Talk about creating a self-esteem complex, who really wants to grow in a world where you are reminded how ugly you are every single day?
Differences are not celebrated and conformity is expected. Even the people who are naturally gorgeous lose something. The operation is designed for people to be average, not ugly and not beautiful. It’s disturbing to read a book that focuses so much on looks and appearances especially one that is meant for young readers. But at the same time it is comforting to see someone address an issue that presents so much turmoil for youth in such a way that it gets them to think about things differently. If there is one thing that I have learned from this book is that prettiness comes at a price and though it is hard, not conforming to ideals that do not have my best interest in mind is well worth it.
It’s a journey of self-discovery, betrayal, and trying to right the wrongs of the world. It’s one girl’s fight to be allowed to be who she is as she is and another girl’s journey to finally understanding who she is and learning to accept it. This is only the beginning and I have to admit that I am looking forward to the next book. I am intrigued about what is going to happen to Tally Youngblood and Shay. I want to know if the betrayal will ever be forgiven and if the budding romance is given a chance to blossom into something meaningful. Most of all, I want to know what kind of trouble the Uglies are going to cause next. I will let you know my recommendation about this series when I finished it completely.
If you want to know more about the Uglies series or any of the other books Scott has written check out his website at www.scotwesterfield.com. You can also find Scott on Facebook. His new book Goliath, the final book in the Leviathan series will be out Sept. 20, 2011.
Always Shine,
Starr K.
Ehhhh. Uglies is ... not subtle, the premise is fairly laughable, and some of the plot points ... don't make any sense at all. That being said, it was an extremely easy read (it is YA, after all) and I'll probably read the rest of them. I'm not feeling compelled to, but they're pretty brainless reads.
UPDATE:
Having finished this series (or at least through the 4th book ... who knows if the author will decide to insert more narratives) I would have to say, don't bother. Or if you decide to take the plunge, don't read the 3rd one, it honestly adds nothing.
UPDATE:
Having finished this series (or at least through the 4th book ... who knows if the author will decide to insert more narratives) I would have to say, don't bother. Or if you decide to take the plunge, don't read the 3rd one, it honestly adds nothing.