Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

This is another one of those dystopian young adult books like Divergent or The Maze Runner.  I have enjoyed the series so far and have just started the second book.  The first book is a little slow moving and honestly there is not a lot of action until the very end and even them not too much drama or anything going on.  Still, I have enjoyed the idea of the book.

Every goes through stages in their life.  They start as Littlies, then go to school and are labeled Uglies waiting until they turn 16 and can finally become a New Pretty.   They later become Middle Pretty, and finally Old Pretty and then die.  Each group is separated from one another and do not associate with the other groups.  Uglies go to school and learn while New Pretties pretty much just party and have fun.  Everyone has a surgery that changes each person into the ideal 'pretty.'  They see pictures of what we deem as pretty and popular for us and they believe they are too skinny and have uneven faces.

We start the first book with Tally Youngblood who is just waiting for her birthday.  Her friends have already turned Pretty and she is the only one left.  She meets up with Shay, another girl with her birthday also waiting to turn 16.  Shay, however, leaves a week before their birthday to go to the Smokies, a place where no one is turned pretty and is able to be themselves.  It is not a widely known place and secret from everyone, but Sally leaves directions for Tally hoping she will come.  Unfortunately for Tally, who has no desire to stay ugly, the special agents get involved and force her to travel to the Smokies and turn in the location.  Of course, by the time she gets there and falls for a boy, she no longer wants to turn them in, however she accidentally triggers the locator and the people are caught and sent back to their respective towns to become pretty.  Tally escapes with her boyfriend and frees everyone from the Special Agents.  Shay by this time has turned pretty, but they take her with them anyway.

The first book ends with Tally leaving with SHay to become pretty so she can test out a pill that is suppose to return your true thoughts and feelings.  Sally does not want to take it since the Pretty transformation makes you pretty and it makes you care free and happy.  You do not care about anyone or anything and just go along with what people tell you to do.  So our second book which I have just started starts with Tally in New Pretty Town as a Pretty.  She vaguely remembers her previous life, but it is fuzzy and she does not really care about it anymore.  By the third book, Shay has taken Tally and mad eher into a Special.  Shay is the leader and they are looking for the New Smoke where everyone is heading too.  By this time the cure is being distributed to a lot of people.

I like how the series ends with Tally not really being cured or changed from being a Special.  She is still herself and able to push past the mental changes that were imposed on her.  She does not fully support the New Smoke rebels and what they have done.  True, everyone is able to think for themselves and make their own decisions, however, this comes with consequences.  The people are now forming clicks and able to get any modification done to their body.  They have to expand the city which means cutting down trees and destroying nature.  People start to get angry and fight.  These are all consequences that Tally and David decide to watch and stay out of.  They warn their friends that if things get out of hand they will become their enemy and put them back in place.  So which type of government is really better?

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Oohhhh, this is a good book and I can't wait to get the rest of the series.  If you liked The Hunger Games and other books like that you will definately like this series.  This is another series about the government trying to keep control of the people in order to 'maintain peace.'  Unfortunately, as in most books, the leaders are corrupt and have an ulterior motive for the people.

Beatrice Prior is our main heroine who part of the Abnegation faction, a peaceful, selfless group who wears gray and does nothing to attract attention or individualness since their main focus is to put others needs about their own.  There are 4 other factions that students choose to join when they are 16.  Whichever faction they choose is their new home and they give up their family if they choose a different faction.  There is Amity, calm farmers; Erudite, seakers of knowledge; Candor, honesty; and Dauntless, brave.  Beatrice unfortunately finds out after her aptitude tests that she does not belong to any of them but is divergent.  This is not good and the tester erases her scores in order to keep her alive.  Beatrice chooses Dauntless since she does not feel she belongs in Abnegation.

Beatrice is put through a tough initiation and must learn to hide her Divergent abilities.  Luckily for her, these abilities save her in the end when leaders take control and start a war.  We are left at the end of book one with Beatrice stopping the fight, but having to flee for her life to get away from the corrupt leaders.  Definately a must read.

Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud

If you are interested in a slightly creepy, not scared out of your witts book this is great.  I thouroughly enjoy reading Jonathan Stroud's books and hope he continues with this as a series.  His writing is  different than most young adult writers and it makes his books entertaining and refreshing.  He doesn't follow the vampire, young love topics that most tend to do.  Instead he focuses on ghosts and demons for his books.  Awesome!

So this book follows a young girl, Lucey, who is able to Listen and Feel ghosts around her.  She comes from a large family of sisters that have special abilities as well, but nothing near to Lucey's talent.  After being trained and working for a local company a few years she encounters a strong ghost that kills her team.  She leaves home and makes it to the big city in search for a job.  She finds Lockwood & Co., a small company run by two young men, Lockwood and George.  The three of them team up and work together to exterminate problem ghosts.

You see, there is a Problem in Great Britain where an outbreak of ghosts has occurred.  The people have curfews and must be indoors before dark and have their houses protected by ghost lights, iron, and salt.  If you are touched by a ghost you turn blue, swell up, and die.  Only young people have the gift of seeing and hearing ghosts which is why all teams are made up of young kids overseen by adults.  Lockwood & Co. is the exeption.  After burning down a clients house and being sued, they must find a way to make the money in order to keep their business and find clients.  Of course there is a murder mystery behind the ghost from the house that burnt down and the team finds themselves in one of the most dangerous ghost houses ever in order to make enough money to pay their debts.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I am still trying to figure out what to think about this book.  I finished it a couple days ago and have waited to write a review so I could possibly organize my thoughts about it and decide how I really feel about it.  Well, I still have no clue what to think.

Charlie (on the left in the above picture) is writing letters to someone after the suicide of his friend Mike.  He is trying to cope with this death and get used to high school.  He is incredibly sensitive and it drove me crazy how emotional he was and how he always cried over everything and only thought about doing what others wanted.  We later find out why he is this way and it makes sense so when reading this try to push through the sensitive crying parts.  Charlie becomes friends with a step brother/sister and is deals with high school things such as sex, drugs, drinking, bullies, etc...  It had some hard topics such as rape and abortion, but otherwise you get a feel of maybe another side of high school life that many teens go through.

I can't tell you that I liked the book, nor can I say I did not like it.  It followed a story, but also went off on side notes much like an emotionally sensitive teen boy would do if he wrote letters to someone unable to really get his feelings and thoughts sorted.  I must say that even with the realization of why Charlie acts as he does, I was impressed how Charlie was able to forgive and still love regardless of the tragedy that happened.

It is a quick, easy read and I would love to hear how others feel about this and their thoughts.