Anyone read Uglies, Pretties & Specials trilogy? m

[BMW]

My middleschooler brought these home and I have been quickly going through them and it's amazing to me how thought provoking they are for this age group! They are about gov control and mind control and a group that wants freedom... anyone else out there read them?

[Crissy]

My son's favorite librarian has asked him to read and review these and he tells me they are very good.
He has long suggested I pick up more YA fiction, and I think I'll start with Uglies.

[LizzyBee]

My 14 yo dd has read them. She really enjoyed them.

[Zoraida]

My son kept talking about this series and I decided to read them thinking I wouldn't like them. Well it turns out that I really enjoyed them.

Another series that my son got me involed in are The Maximum Ride books by James Patterson which would be in the same genre as the Extra books. I read the first two books in a weekend. My son is waiting to get the third book from the library but there is a long waiting list.

Blessings

Zoraida

[Jenny in Atl]

The series is one of my dd12 favorite. He is one of the better YA authors around today.

[Andie]

Our librarian hesitated to recommend these because of "s*xual content", she said. I was rushed and herding Littles, so didn't ask her to elaborate.

Did it pose a problem for any of you?

[sweetTN]

My dd (grown with dc of her own) has read these and enjoyed them.

[dirty ethel rackham]

We read the Uglies for our boys book club this year (13 - 15 yos). We really enjoyed the book and had a great discussion about it. Our library has tons of copies of Pretties and Specials, but they are all out. It must be very popular in our town (or on the Battle of the Books reading list.)

[missplacedalaskan]

We allowed Dd, 15, to read this series. She really enjoyed them. I haven't read them, but might have to check them out for myself.

[Andie]

My middleschooler brought these home and I have been quickly going through them and it's amazing to me how thought provoking they are for this age group! They are about gov control and mind control and a group that wants freedom... anyone else out there read them?


Because I read Uglies today. I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed it! 13yo dd is devouring it now.

And to answer my own question - no problem with s*xual content. A romance, but nothing graphic or troublesome, and I am *rilly* conservative in that regard.

[Pencil Pusher]

I just finished these.

As far as content, sometimes they rode their hoverboards closely, & there were a couple of kisses. That's about it.

I was AMAZED at how good these books were, & I'm very picky. VERY. Dh has tried to argue that I never like anything, that nothing is well-written enough, etc. So he gets excited when there's something that I have more good to say about than bad. I finished these books in 1-2 days ea, only taking so long because you really do have to feed your children. Sometimes. :D

BUT...imo, the last page & a half of Specials ruined almost the entire trilogy, & the next book, Extras, is barely worth reading. I was *so* disappointed--I mean, to the point that I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the author died & someone else wrote the last p&1/2 & Extras. They were that much different.

How? Well, there's the whole idea of gov't control, a perfect society, things I *love* to read about. The author has his own agenda--in this case environmentalism--which is fine w/ me. Things like that, when handled well, are thought-provoking. They're meant to be. But there at the end it gets SO heavy-handed & preachy that it's...well... disappointing. It loses its subtle beauty. Like the author doesn't trust his reader to "get" it, so he comes out & says what he means in the bluntest way. I mean, most people's blogs have more art to them than the last p&1/2 of Specials.

Finally, all the books are pretty fast-paced & illustrate a society that is heavily controlled by ideas/ideals of beauty, popularity, fame, etc. Real life feels kind-of slow by comparison, & the slang in the book sticks. Just be warned. If you (or your dc) read these books, you may sound a little goofy for a week or so. :D