Pretties-Scott Westerfeld

Pretties takes off where Uglies ended. Tally has found herself back in New Pretty Town and can't shrug the feeling that she can't remember something. She meets Zane who makes her "bubbly" or clear minded about things and he helps her to have the courage to break through what being "pretty" is all about.

**********SPOILER******************
If you've read Uglies, you know that being pretty also means getting a lesion put on your brain to make you more compliant and less caring. But Zane and the other "Crims" are finding ways around it. Things to make them "bubbly" and alert, more alive, seeing things clearly.

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Things that make them bubbly are what we could call "adrenaline junkies". Basically anything that puts you in even the tiniest bit of perceived danger will awaken your brain to experience more. Tally and Shay are definitely crims because of the time they actually spent in the Smoke. Tally's childhood best friend, Peris is also a Crim.

Once Tally figures out a way around being 'pretty' minded-not staying completely full-but not starving either, they have these packets of "calorie purgers" that they can take (which helps maintain the pretty physical bodies too), by pulling tricky pranks, pushing the limits to everything, and one of the most important-abstaining from the all too prolific alcohol-they are able to think more like their true selves. Tally and Zane want to escape the pretty life. Can they do it?

Of course, being a sequel it's not as good as the original, but I do like the look inside you get of each different dimension of the different groups of people. The writing is still good with the characters still being developed. There are a lot of sayings like "brain missing" and "nervous making" that I've found creeping into my own thoughts and vocabulary. It was a pretty fast read too.