What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this book, set in the future,
deals with our culture's obsession with physical perfection and
hedonism. There is some fighting and a minor character is
killed, not seen. A gruesome operation is described.
Families who read this book could discuss what the author is saying about the pursuit of beauty and mindless fun. It might be interesting to look at some teen beauty magazines while reading this, such as Seventeen and Teen Vogue. What's wrong with wanting to be beautiful and have fun? Is the life of the Smokies better in some way? If you could choose to be a "pretty," would you?
Common Sense Media Review
The author manages a delicate balancing act here. It's
obvious that he had a point to make when he decided to write a
book about a futuristic society that celebrates beauty above
all else -- and that the world of the book is a not-so-logical
extension of certain trends in today's society having to do
with physical attractiveness, plastic surgery, mindless
consumerism and pleasure-seeking, and divorce from nature. But
he never hits the reader over the head with a message and, in
fact, allows the lives of the pretties enough appeal to make
the argument two-sided. Therein is found the makings of a good
discussion group book.
This intellectual argument is set inside a crackling, though at times maddeningly predictable, story. About two-thirds of the way through the book is a series of events that alert readers will not only have seen coming a hundred pages earlier; they'll also have known how Tally could avoid them, and be frustrated that she so stupidly falls into them instead.
But immediately afterwards the story picks up again, and the final third is a breathtaking race to the cliffhanger ending, which will leave readers hurrying to the library or bookstore to pick up the next installment, Pretties.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
