quippe | Entries tagged with scott westerfeld

The Blurb On The Back:

One year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying in New York City than in attending class. Then he met a girl called Morgan, they had a fun night together and she passed on a parasite that turns people into ravenous vampires. You know how it goes.

Cal himself is only a carrier, but he's infected the girlfriends he's had since Morgan, and it's now his job to hunt them down before they can create even more of their kind.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

It's entertaining enough and the take on vampirisim is an original one and the scientific interludes are fascinating, but the flaws in this novel (notably the failure to show any infected character unable to control their actions) prevent this from being a great book.

The Blurb On The Back:

"Special circumstances"

... the words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious Ugly. Back then, the Specials were a sinister rumour - frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast.

And now Tally's become one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the Uglies down and the Pretties stupid. The strength, the speed and the clarity of her new powers feel amazing ... most of the time. One tiny corner of Tally's heart still remembers something different.

When she is offered the chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke, she is forced to make one last choice: carry out the mission she's been programmed to complete, or listen to that faint yet persistent heartbeat telling her that something's wrong ..."

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

I don't think that this is as good as Uglies or Pretties, mainly because the way Westerfeld ties his storylines together is too neat. However, the world-building is solid and the action fast-paced and those who've read the previous books will want to know how it all ends.

The Blurb On The Back:

Gorgeous. Popular. Perfect. Perfectly wrong.

Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are cool, her boyfriend is totally gorgeous, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun - the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom - is a nagging sense that something is very wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.

Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life ...

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

You need to read Uglies to get the most out of this book but that's a good thing because this doesn't suffer from the usual 'second book in a series' problems. It's a complete story in its own right that ends on a cliffhanger that provides a definite ending and a set up to the third book. I'd have liked to see more interaction between Shay and Tally to explain Shay's motivation, but Westerfeld's plotting and pacing is well put together and I look forward to reading on.

The Blurb On The Back:

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?

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 catapaults 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.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Brilliant book and it's wonderful to see a writer willing to write science fiction aimed at teenagers that taps into current issues. Most definitely worth a look.