Pretties – Scott Westerfeld (2005)

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, published in 2005, is the second installment in the acclaimed Uglies series, a dystopian young adult saga that explores identity, conformity, and rebellion in a technologically advanced future. The novel picks up shortly after the events of Uglies, reuniting readers with Tally Youngblood, who has now undergone the surgical transformation into a “pretty.” With this change comes a new lifestyle in New Pretty Town, filled with superficial pleasures and the creeping fog of brain-altering complacency. But beneath the glittering surface lies a resistance, and Tally once again finds herself torn between societal expectations and an emerging clarity that challenges everything she has become.

Plot Summary

Tally Youngblood was a pretty now, with flawless skin, symmetrical features, and glittering eyes that shimmered under the lights of New Pretty Town. Parties blurred one into the next, drinks flowed, costumes sparkled, and the world spun in a haze of semi-thought and semi-pleasure. The old Tally – the girl who had fled the city to find the Smoke, who had lived rough among rebels, who had made a terrible choice to betray them – seemed like a dream swallowed by champagne and shallow conversations.

But not all dreams stayed quiet.

The Crims, a clique of new pretties famed for their rebellious pasts, were the pinnacle of popularity. Tally was on the verge of becoming one of them. Only a final vote stood between her and belonging. That night, a costumed bash at Valentino Mansion would decide it. But something was wrong. Among the swirling throngs of Cleopatra lookalikes and science-themed pretties, a masked figure stalked Tally – silent, graceful, clad in gray silk. A Special. Or someone pretending to be one.

Tally chased the figure through the chaos, into the silent stairwell behind the party, and found herself face to face with Croy – not a costumed Crim, not a partygoer, but an ugly. A real one. Unmodified, raw, and from the Smoke. The sight of his imperfect skin and asymmetrical features jolted her, repulsed her, even as a deeper part of her stirred. He had something for her. A pouch. A message. But before she could grasp it, he was gone.

The balcony was her only escape. Specials were closing in. Tally leapt, clinging to Peris’s bungee jacket, and plummeted into the dark night. They bounced hard, her head cracking against his knee, leaving her dazed and bleeding. As she stumbled to her feet near the river, the pain sharpened her senses. Colors flared brighter, smells thickened, thoughts snapped into focus. Everything felt real again.

She ran through the trees, and Croy returned, riding a hoverboard alongside two other uglies. He didn’t hand over the pouch – there wasn’t time. He would leave it for her at Valentino 317. Then he was gone, melting into the night. And just as quickly, the clarity in her mind began to fade.

The wardens found her, patched up her head, asked the usual questions. She lied just enough. Peris beamed with pride – she was in. Voted a full Crim. But sleep brought dreams that were twisted and strange. A tower. A dragon. A prince. A kiss. And the prince’s face was ugly.

Tally woke with a throbbing skull and a scar above her eye. She didn’t erase it. It made her feel like herself. Zane, the leader of the Crims, called her to breakfast in the park. With sharp cheekbones and intense golden eyes, Zane was not just pretty – he was thoughtful, awake in a way most weren’t. He spoke of Croy like an old acquaintance, which startled her. He had known Croy once. So had Shay. All three of them had been part of a group of tricksters before the Smoke.

Croy had reached out to them deliberately. The pouch wasn’t a prank or nostalgia – it was a challenge.

Tally retrieved it that night, hidden inside the ancient stone walls of Valentino Mansion. Inside was a pendant. A pill. A message. A promise. The pill, if swallowed, could reverse the pretty operation’s side effect – the brain fog that dulled thought and suppressed independence. But only one dose existed. Zane insisted they share it. So they did.

From that moment on, Tally and Zane began to change. They grew restless, alert. They stopped laughing at nothing and noticed things. Others started to notice them too. The Crims followed their lead, curious and hungry for the same clarity. Together they formed a secret faction – cutters, they called themselves – slicing their own skin to jolt themselves into lucidity, using pain to break through the fog.

But the clarity came with consequences. Shay noticed. Her eyes, once filled with playful light, grew hard. She knew Tally had something. The distance between them widened, sharpened by jealousy, by betrayal. Shay watched them all – Tally, Zane, the new cutters – and said nothing.

Then came the next step: escape. The pill was only a beginning. Zane and Tally planned to flee the city, to find the Smoke again, or whatever remained of it. But Zane’s body betrayed him. The pill, meant for one, had taken its toll. He grew weaker by the day, hands shaking, speech faltering. Tally tried to hide it, but the others noticed.

Shay noticed most of all.

When the time came to run, Zane couldn’t make it. His condition worsened. Tally faced a choice – stay with him or leave. The Specials were closing in. Shay had tipped them off. She had joined them, undergone the transformation. Her face now mirrored theirs – sharp, beautiful, cruel.

Tally ran.

Beyond the edge of the city, the wilderness welcomed her back. But this time, she wasn’t lost. She knew what she was looking for. She found traces – symbols, signs, coded messages – all pointing to something new, something larger than the old Smoke. A growing rebellion. And in the end, she reached them.

Not just the old Smokies, but something evolved. A new resistance.

And this time, Tally didn’t need to be convinced.

She was ready.

Main Characters

• Tally Youngblood – Now a pretty, Tally is living among the elite in New Pretty Town, struggling with the side effects of her transformation – superficial happiness and dulled perception. She begins the novel as a glittering, carefree partygoer, but remnants of her former rebellious self begin to stir. Her journey is one of self-rediscovery as she uncovers clues left by her pre-surgery self and confronts the deeper implications of beauty, freedom, and control.

• Zane – The charismatic leader of the Crims, a rebellious clique of pretties. Zane is sharp, intense, and subtly resistant to the system. He becomes a romantic interest for Tally and plays a critical role in awakening her awareness. His allure lies not just in his appearance, but in his determination to be truly “bubbly” – clear-minded and defiant against the mental haze of prettiness.

• Shay – Tally’s once-best friend, now a fellow pretty and member of the Crims. Shay’s character is marked by tension and duality; she has embraced prettiness more willingly and deeply than Tally, yet harbors traces of her past defiance. As the story progresses, Shay’s bitterness and jealousy create friction, leading her down a darker path that reflects the consequences of unresolved anger and systemic manipulation.

• Croy – A Smokey from Tally’s past, Croy reappears to deliver a message and a challenge. His raw, unaltered ugliness jars Tally’s pretty-conditioned senses and helps reignite her suspicions about the cost of conformity. He represents the real, unfiltered world outside the city’s control, and his presence triggers the unraveling of Tally’s programmed perception.

• Peris – Once Tally’s closest childhood friend, Peris has fully embraced the pretty lifestyle and symbolizes the seductive pull of societal acceptance. His relationship with Tally is nostalgic and affectionate but underscores how far she has drifted from her origins.

Theme

• Conformity vs. Individuality: The novel explores how society enforces conformity through surgical alteration and psychological suppression. The “pretty” operation is not just cosmetic—it alters behavior and perception, quelling independent thought. Tally’s struggle to reclaim her identity becomes a rebellion against this uniformity.

• Beauty and Its Price: Westerfeld critiques a world obsessed with beauty, where being pretty is equated with worth and happiness. The novel interrogates this superficial ideal, showing how enforced beauty strips individuals of authenticity and autonomy. Tally’s awakening reveals the insidious cost of perfection.

• Control through Technology: The authorities in this world use advanced technology not only for surveillance but for psychological control. The implant in Tally’s brain dulls her clarity, and “bubbly” moments—states of heightened awareness—become acts of resistance. This theme ties into larger questions about free will in a hyperregulated society.

• Memory and Identity: Much of Tally’s journey revolves around reclaiming lost memories and making sense of who she was versus who she is supposed to be. The struggle to reconcile her former self with her present form is emblematic of the broader battle for self-determination under a regime that rewrites identity.

Writing Style and Tone

Scott Westerfeld employs a sleek, fast-paced writing style that mirrors the energy of his futuristic world. The prose is modern and clipped, filled with invented slang such as “bubbly,” “bogus,” and “missing,” which immerses the reader in the culture of New Pretty Town. This stylized language serves a dual purpose—it reflects the superficiality of the pretty mindset while also hinting at deeper undercurrents of rebellion.

Westerfeld’s tone oscillates between satirical and suspenseful. The opening chapters satirize a society addicted to beauty and pleasure, filled with absurd parties, fashion crises, and blissful ignorance. However, as Tally begins to peel back the layers of this world, the tone darkens. Tension builds steadily, especially during encounters with Specials or when Tally’s clarity returns, shifting the mood from glittering distraction to sharp awareness. The narrative voice remains tightly aligned with Tally’s evolving consciousness, offering readers a visceral experience of her internal transformation.