Uglies

Let me take a deep breath before I begin so this review doesn't turn into a long boring rant about everything I was disappointed with (yes, I'm sorry to say there was much disappointment).

Okay, so as I have mentioned in a previous post I had heard good things about the Uglies series and so downloaded the sample on my eReader and loved it.  I was so frustrated I couldn't start reading the rest right away, but I quickly went on Booko to find the cheapest print copy and order it ASAP.  The first few chapters sets up an intriging dystopian world where everyone is born ugly.  At the age of twelve they leave their Pretty parents and live in boarding schools to wait for the day they turn sixteen and get the 'operation' and go to live in what's known as NewPrettyTown.
The book follows Tally as she deals with her best friend Peris getting the operation before she does.  She misses him so much and he didn't write to her like he promised so she sneaks into NewPrettyTown to see him.

What ensues is a wonderful adventure as Tally tries to reach him, only to suspect he doesn't really want to see her, and then has to escape in a terrific way, setting off fire alarms and jumping of a roof with a bungee jacket on.  On her escape Tally discovers another Ugly girl trying to get away.  So, at the end of this sample I was left with so many questions... what has happened to Peris? Will him and Tally eve be friends again?  What will happen to Tally for causing such a scene?  Who is this new girl and why is she trying to get into NewPrettyTown?

And then the book goes on for a while of Tally and her new friend (Shay) just hanging out.   First fifteen pages good, next hundred and fifty.... boring as bat poo.  I'm sorry to say it but I couldn't help myself feeling like I was watching some low budget pre-teen attempt at drama on the ABC.  It wasn't until I got a third of the way through the book that something interesting happened.  And even that wasn't all that interesting.
The last hundred pages or so to get better, and the last fifteen or twenty are very good.  But everything in the middle is just absolute rubbish.

I hate to say that it feels thrown together and not thought through, because for all I know the author spent a lot of time sweating through all the details and polishing it to perfection.  But I just can't see it.  Every plot twist or major decision seems forced. There are moments that just don't make any sense.  For example, Tally all of a sudden feels sick at one point when she sees how many trees have been chopped down.  But why?  She doesn't ever show a strong love of nature preceding this and it doesn't fit in with her supposedly shallow character that just cares about being pretty.  There's lots of little moments like that.

The thing I really hate about this book is that a romance is thrown in just for good measure.  It's very forced and completely unbelievable.  If at the end of the series these two people end up together it will be ridiculous.  You'll know what I mean if you read it.

I could go on and on with all the things I didn't like but will stop and just say that mostly I didn't.  But what did I like about it?  The idea behind the whole world is very good, and I actually liked the ending.  But the ending is only a couple of pages long.  So, I like the premise, I like the start and I like the end.  But you can pretty much chuck out everything in between.

In the back of my book there was also the first chapter of Pretties and of Leviathan.  After reading both of those I have pretty much decided I will never read Scott Westerfeld again.  Sorry Scott.  Perhaps younger readers will have a better time with these books, I really didn't.

One star.

January Reading

This month's fiction novel of choice will be Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.  I downloaded the first chapter sample of this one on my Kindle app a few months ago and was instantly gripped.  I put off buying it for a while because I knew I had too much else to read, but then a couple of weeks ago I ordered it and as soon as it arrived I knew it was going to the top of the pile.  I love distopian fiction, especially when done well and I have good feelings about this one.

This month's other fiction novel of choice will be Ransom by Lois Duncan.  That's right, I'm reading four books this month but they're all reasonably small so I think it's a reasonable take.  This book in particular I've been wanting to read for years.  I've read all the rest of Lois Duncan's books and I even started this one when I was thirteen... on the day we were moving from America back to Australia.  I was reading on the front stoop when some friends came by and wanted to play so I left my book by the door and went off.  When I came back the book was gone.  I couldn't find it at any book stores in Australia and back then you didn't really buy books online.  But, now I do.  So I did.

This month's non-fiction book of choice is Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung.  I'm a big advocator of Tim Challies, and when mentioning this to a friend I was recommended Kevin DeYoung. So, when I was at Koorong I picked up the only book of his they had in stock.  Partly because of the recommendation, and partly because the subject matter was so appealing to me.  I know in principle that the only revelations God promises to us is what is already in his word and that I can't expect and mystic signs telling me what to do with my life, but putting that understanding into practice is often difficult.  My hope for this book is that it will offer practical advice and biblical encouragement for making good decisions in the light of the freedom we have in Christ.

This month's second non-fiction book of choice is The Genesis Factor by David R Helm and Jon M Dennis. It's been a topic floating in my mind for ages that I wish I had more reliable information on.  I'm hoping that this book will make me feel more informed and help me to better understand my faith.