REVIEW: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies #1
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 8th 2005
Source: Bought

Tally can't wait to turn sixteen and become Pretty. Sixteen is the magic number that brings a transformation from a repellant Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be Pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the Pretty world - and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn Pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

This has definitely been one of my favourite books that I've read this year. I absolutely loved reading it and couldn't put it down!
Tally is definitely my favourite character in this book. David is a very close second though. I loved Tally because of the development of her character throughout the book. At the start she was this naive girl who believed everything she was told and believed that she was Ugly and she had to become Pretty. But when she was sent out to the smoke by the Specials to find her friend Shay (who ran away from the city so she didn't have to become Pretty), she learned to accept herself and she also learned to think and make decisions by herself. Tally has to find she so that she can become Pretty, but when she gets to the smoke, she realises that she would rather stay the way she was and never return to the city to become Pretty. 
She meets David (who Shay had told her about - but Tally never believed her was real) and they have a connection from the very start. Their relationship starts to develop and Shay isn't happy about it because she has feeling for David. Tally and David kind of get together (I'm just going to say their a couple even though it was never really official) and I really did like their relationship. Even though it was a very quick relationship and they developed feelings for each other quite quickly, I liked the way their relationship was written. I liked how David would tell Tally she was beautiful, even though she didn't believe it because she's an Ugly, but I think this helped boost Tally's confidence and it also made her more determined to stay in the smoke. David is also a very strong character and from the very first interaction he had with Tally, I knew they would get together. I was excited to see how their relationship developed. 
I loved all the action in the book as well. The invasion of the smoke by the Specials was exciting and I couldn't put the book down until I found out what happened. And then when Shay finally realised that Tally was a spy I wanted to know how it would affect their relationship. The best part of the book for me though was when they broke into the Special Circumstances building to rescue all the people who had been captured at the smoke who were from their city. I was on edge the whole time hoping they wouldn't get caught and then when Dr. Cable found them I was sure they were done for. But then it was David to the rescue! And then they found everyone and Shay had been turned Pretty! And the worst part was that she was happy! I really didn't want Shay to become Pretty because I knew it was change her and she would become some Pretty airhead and I really liked the Shay before the operation. But I suppose I'll just have to get used to the new Shay. 
The ending was really good as well! I just wished that Tally and David had had a chance to make up before she went back to the city to become Pretty. I didn't want Tally to become Pretty either, but I understood why she had to do it because she was determined to save her friend.

If you haven't read this book, make sure you do because it's amazing! At the end of the book, there was a preview of the second book Pretties and I'm so excited to read it!