Pretties

Scott Westerfeld (author)

Simon Pulse, USA: 2005; 370pp

ISBN: 0689865392

Genres: adventure, science fiction

Issues: ethics, friendship, identity

Tally Youngblood is a gorgeous new Pretty, anxious to fit in with the ‘in' crowd, soon to be an inducted member of the coolest group there is - the ‘Crims'. Her world consists of parties, cosmetic surgery, air-headed friends, and ‘bubbly' activities.

Until, that is, she glimpses a familiar face at a party. A person who reminds her of the Smoke, the group who have rejected the controls of the City, who seek to live independent lives in the real world. This person brings her a message and Tally realises that she can no longer accept the inanities and limitations of the Pretty lifestyle. She has to escape - and take as many of her friends with her as she can. Can Tally remember who she really is? And can she escape the ruthless agents from Special Circumstances who are determined to stop her? And will her ex-best-friend Shay ever forgive her?

More complicated and chilling than Uglies, the second novel in Westerfeld's futuristic series is highly readable. Still concerned with issues of peer pressure, group dynamics, invasive technology, and an image-obsessed society, Pretties explores the concepts introduced in Uglies in a more subtle -and ultimately more chilling way. Tally, once she's ‘awake' again, is a much more complex character, more aware of the shades of grey in situations she previously considered simple. The rigidly controlled society of the City is both more and less confronting - less, because the main characters are embedded in it, what was previously only a possibility is now a norm; more so, for the same reason, especially at first.

In the opening chapters, the reader is the only one who is aware that Tally's world is completely artificial, and designed to keep an entire population under control. The role of adults is especially disturbing as there is no one that the teenagers can trust - they are all immersed to the point of oblivion or part of the whole conspiracy.

Very readable, this is futuristic thriller with has a cliff-hanger ending. The first chapter of Specials, included at the end of the novel, suggests that the final novel will be equally suspenseful.