Uglies
by Scott Westerfeld
★ Top 25 book of 2005 · #12 on Best Books of 2005
Tally is eager for her sixteenth birthday, when an operation will make her a pretty and send her to a life of fun. When her friend Shay runs away, Tally faces a harsh choice that changes everything.
Best for: Teens who want a fast-paced story about friendship, appearance, and difficult choices
Uglies is #12 on BookWard's Best Books of 2005, out of 52 2005 books that cleared our data bar.
What Uglies is about
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and in her world that means something wonderful. On that birthday, everyone has an operation that turns them from an "ugly" into a stunningly attractive "pretty," and the reward is a high-tech paradise where the only job is to have a great time. Tally can hardly wait. Then there is her new friend Shay, who isn't sure she wants any of it and would rather take her chances on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally gets a glimpse of a side of the pretty world that isn't very pretty at all.
The authorities give her a stark choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never become pretty. Westerfeld builds a fast, suspenseful story around questions about beauty standards, conformity, and who gets to decide what a good life looks like. It suits readers who enjoy dystopian fiction where friendship is tested by pressure from above.
Uglies on the Best Books of 2005
Uglies came out in 2005. Of the 52 books first published in 2005 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #12 on our Best Books of 2005 list.
Why it made the list: 652 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.6 out of 5 (46 ratings); 22 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2005 list
- Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro, #10
- Llama Llama Red Pajama Anna Dewdney, #11
- A New Earth Eckhart Tolle, #13
- American Prometheus Kai Bird, #14
See all Best Books of 2005 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2004 Best Books of 2006.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 549 want to read it, 22 are reading it now and 81 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.6 out of 5 from 46 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 87 | 55% |
| Reader love | 17 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 79 | 20% |
Questions about Uglies
When was Uglies published?
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld was first published in 2005.
Was Uglies one of the best books of 2005?
Uglies is #12 on BookWard's Best Books of 2005, out of 52 2005 books that cleared our data bar. 652 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.6 out of 5 (46 ratings); 22 are reading it right now.
Why is Uglies on the Best Books of 2005 list?
652 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.6 out of 5 (46 ratings); 22 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2005
- The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan, #1
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling, #2
- The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls, #3
- Looking for Alaska John Green, #4
- Eldest Christopher Paolini, #5
- Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt, #6
See the full Best Books of 2005, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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