books: September 2007 Archives

I just finished reading Uglies by Scott Westerfeld the other day. Under normal circumstances, this book is a pretty far stretch from my normal reading habits. But this book caught my interest as I was browsing through Hastings. It also came highly recommended by the girl working that day. I'm not one to turn a blind eye to recommendations. So naturally I decided to give it a try.

Uglies is a book about the future. In the future people will undergo extreme plastic surgery at the age of 16 that will dramatically alter their bodies. Everyone will become pretty - or at least the definition of pretty that is imposed at the time. Everyone will want to be pretty. It is everyone's rite of passage, the defining event that marks the passage from youth to adult. Once you are pretty you are brought into mainstream society. Until then, you live with all the children - the Uglies, play tricks and get a basic education. You learn about the rusties. The culture that drove metal cars, raped the environment and wasn't concerned with everyone being different.

The story is about a young girl about to turn 16 and can barely wait until she is to be made pretty. Her boyfriend, who is a few months older, has already been made pretty. She sneaks out of her dorm and goes to the community where all the pretties live to see him. While avoiding trouble along the way she meets another girl who shows her how the rusties lived. Before her birthday ( she shares her birthday with her new friend ) she is invited to go away and avoid being made pretty. Her friend, being quite satisified with the fact that she is different, has no intention of conforming to the status quo and would rather live on the fringes in a society called the smokies. The smokies, or at least a handful of them, know the evil secrets about what else happens when you are made pretty. Twists and turns are abundant and you're left wondering how things will turn out. I'm not going to ruin it for you. Uglies is a good read in the first of a series of at least three books that I know of.

I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical when I picked up this book. Even though I read the reviews stating that this series was very good, perhaps even a "Harry Potter killer", it's just that I've just never been into vampire books. But, I was pleasantly surprised.

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, is about a young girl, Bella, living with her mother in Phoenix, AZ. She's nothing special; not exceptionally pretty or athletic, but smart. Her mom has a relationship going on with a minor-league baseball player and wants to follow him as his career is perhaps starting to take off. She decided to make the decision easier for her mom to handle by moving to Forks, WA, a quaint little town where it rains a lot and seeing the sun through the clouds is a bit of a surprise, with her father. There she falls for a guy whom she believes is perhaps the most beautiful guy she's ever seen. One drawback - he's a vampire. He reluctantly falls for her too since in reality, young, defenseless women are generally on the menu for vampires. But he fights his urges.

The book is a pretty quick read with a few slowdowns until excitement ensues as a rival clan of vampires makes an attempt to not only avenge a historical spite, but also to provide the thrill of the hunt one vampire in particular. The story is told from the perspective of Bella. There's a bit of a twist on the legend of vampires in this book, so be ready to have your conventional wisdom of vampire lore tested.

This book is the first in a series of three books so far. The next in the series is New Moon (Twilight, Book 2) followed by Eclipse (Twilight, Book 3). I haven't started New Moon yet as I'm looking at another author currently, however I'll probably read it in time.