Pretties

Yay!  Book two of the Uglies trilogy, Pretties, by Scott Westerfield continues the story of Tally Youngblood after she turned pretty.  After her operation, Tally turned into a fluffy pretty whose biggest worries were what to wear to the next party - with a hangover.  With the help of Shay and Peris, Tally is voted into the hippest clique in New Pretty Town, the Crims, and her life is complete!  On the same night, Croy comes to Tally and leaves a "bubbly riddle" for Tally and her friend, Zane.

Discovering a note written from herself, Tally splits the pills with Zane that will cure her of the lesions implanted in her brain.  Their trick results in Tally and Zane having to wear metal cuffs that could potentially eavesdrop on their conversations; however, this doesn't deter them from finding new ways to stay bubbly.  Zane and Tally have decided to run away and they use all the members of their clique to create a diversion so they can head out to New Smoke.  On the way, Peris chickens out and Tally jumps from an incredible height to a river to avoid being recaptured by the Specials.  After her crash landing, Tally finds herself on a reservation with pre-Rusty tribes, built for the sole purpose of studying human nature such as revenge.  So, what does Tally do?  Steal a hovercar, of course!   When Tally finally makes it to the ruins, she discovers that she is all alone, except for David - someone that she had forgotten about.

Special Circumstances placed a tracker on Zane and followed the signal to New Smoke.  They also brought their newest Special, Shay.  And I think that in the next book Tally will be one of them.

I still really liked this book, but Tally has a huge complex where she believes that everything is her fault.  I'm hoping that she learns to forgive herself in the next book.  I was a little annoyed when Tally was reunited with David and wasn't sure what to do; however, I feel like it was taken care of appropriately at the end of the book and I was incredibly thankful that it ended in this story.  Having just read The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, which was 3 books of one girl having to decide between 2 boys, I was so glad when Tally made a quick decision.

This book wasn't as scientifically driven as the last, but it was anthropologically interesting with the study of human nature on the reserve.  I find it fascinating to read about the Rusties: a society 300 years ago that pretty much describes our current culture and state of mind.  It makes you wonder if the oil plague, or something similar, will happen and how will that shape the future? 

It was a little annoying when the characters spoke fluent pretty, but it made the difference between being pretty-minded and bubbly more obvious.  I am really excited for the next book though, since I am convinced that Tally will be turned into one of the Specials.  I'm also curious as to whether or not Shay is as crazy as she lets on.  And off I go to read the next story, Specials!