Bogus to Bubbly: An Insider's Guide to the World of Uglies

Uglies

by Scott Westerfeld

THE WORLD OF UGLIES, SET IN OUR NOT-SO-DISTANT FUTURE, is a complex place filled with bubbly technology and lingo, yet bogus rules about status and appearance. That's why a guide to the world of uglies has been requisitioned from the hole in the wall. Inside you'll

A rundown on all the cliques, from Crims and Cutters to tech-heads and surge-monkeys

The complete history, starting with the destruction of the oil bug to the launch of Extras in space

How all those awesome gadgets came to hoverboards, eyescreens, skintennas, sneak suits...

PLUS an exclusive look at Scott Westerfeld's first draft of Extras -- starring Hiro, not Aya.

And so much more, it's mind-wrecking.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction, Fantasy, Teen, Middle Grade

196 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2008

About the author

Scott Westerfeld is a New York Times bestselling author of YA. He is best known for the Uglies and Leviathan series. His current series, IMPOSTORS, returns to the world of Uglies.

The next book in that series, MIRROR'S EDGE, comes out April 6, 2021.

Reviews

[SR · Rating 2 out of 5]

Westerfeld seems so pleased about being a geek that he forgets that it's important to get science right.

1) "The word 'nano' means 'a billionth'" - no, the word "nano" in today's culture probably means someone's iPod; the PREFIX 'nano' totally means a billionth, and yes, this is nitpicking, but it is actually really crucial to get it correct
2) "Current superconducting materials have to be kept, like, a hundred degrees below zero" - this sentence is scientifically useless without saying which temperature scale you're using, and even then it's not correct: "high-temperature superconductors" operate at around 90K, which is -183 deg C, which is nearly -300 deg F. (Recent HTS operate at, oh, -18 deg C. But those were only developed in 2009, after the publication of this book.)
3) "The proteins in your body, like DNA, are basically nanoscale machines." This is the worst. The writing is ambiguous to the point of incoherence: either he's saying that DNA is a nanoscale machine, which I might agree with, or he's saying that DNA is a protein, which oh my god it isn't. And yes, there's a good chance he meant the first option. However, his job is writing; he's supposed to be good at this crap.
4) "You can think of the hole in the wall as a kind of three-dimensional printer...in Tally's world you can 'print' things in three dimensions" - Yeah okay this was published in 2008, which is the same year that I had a research project in a lab that had had multiple 3D printers for years. The technology has been around since 1984.
5) "I stole [the term ping] from corporate slang for an email that reminds you to do something" - The term 'ping' has been used since 1983 as part of IP troubleshooting; furthermore, there's about a hundred people I know from college who use it to greet people online, by email or instant messaging, as a check to see if their potential conversational partner is currently available. This is just etymology fail.
6) "Tricks are very important in the world of Uglies" and also prostitutes lol

Yes, he's writing for young adults; no, he's not scientifically trained (although I read that he was a software designer, which is cool!); yes, it's great that he's writing science fiction at all; no, I don't expect everyone to get everything right all the time...

But if you're going to informally teach kids about science as part of a guide to the worldbuilding of a popular dystopian sci-fi series, and this is the only way some of them are going to get access to this information, please, please, PLEASE do your research.

Anyway, this is a problem I've had with Westerfeld a lot - the mythology of Midnighters doesn't hold up at all when you look at it, and it seems he goes for Rule of Cool a lot more than accuracy and realistic extrapolation, and overall he's just way more nerd-fandomy than actually nerdy. Which makes me sad.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bogus to Bubbly takes fans of Westerfeld's Uglies series behind the scenes. For anyone who hasn't read any of the Uglies books - Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras - the series is a futuristic look at what could happen down the road, told first from the perspective of sixteen-year-old Tally. In the future, children are considered Uglies as soon as they turn twelve, until they reach the age of sixteen and can have the surgery that turns them into a Pretty. The Uglies series is one of my favorites, so this book was much appreciated.

Westerfeld explained what happened between our era (the "Rusty" period), and the major downturn our society took as too many people inhabited the planet, used too many resources, and basically exhausted the earth. He also explained how he came up with some of the ideas, and gave background on many of the concepts used in his books.

If you've ever read one of Westerfeld's Uglies books, you'll definitely want to check this book out!

[Lacey Louwagie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked the Uglies trilogy, you'll like this book. I loved it, not because it's so super-fantastic, but because it brought me back to the world of the Uglies, and it was nice to revisit with "new" material. I appreciate Scott Westerfeld's tone, which is conversational without being condescending, as well as the range of topics covered here -- from the science of beauty to a hoverboard instruction manual. Also included are neat little tidbits that Scott was probably just bursting to tell people, like how many times the phrase, "I love you," is said in the series (only twice) or that each book ends with the word that is the name for the subsequent book. Well, now he got his chance, and I'm glad he did.

[Amelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was nice to get more of the background information to the books, although it really irks me that some things that should have been discussed more in the books were not included there. (And I don't think a whole lot of people think to pick up this book after reading the series.) For example, the author recognizes that cutting is a destructive behavior and discusses it briefly in this guidebook. However, in "Pretties" and "Specials," I often had the impression that cutting was a good thing, something that kept you alive, thinking straight, and on your toes. He eventually whimpered out a slight message that it was bad, but it didn't have the weight it should have had after all the time they spent talking about how "good" cutting is. He also never confronted the issue in "Pretties" of starving yourself for the same reason they cut themselves--to stay alert and focused. I know she tried to starve herself to try and get her cuffs off, but that didn't even work. So what was the point? These books are pretty much meant for teenage girls... And the messages they may take from this books are very harmful, in my opinion: teenage drinking (he points out how it dulls the senses, and yet the Crims still drink when they want to celebrate); teenage cohabitation; reckless behavior to keep themselves alert and to defy all authority. Sheesh. Great messages, here.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suspect some fans pick up Bogus to Bubbly: An Insider's Guide to the World of Uglies expecting a fifth novel in the series, and it isn't surprising that they walk away disappointed. Seen as nonfiction, however, Bogus to Bubbly is likely to elicit positive appraisal from Uglies cognoscenti. Scott Westerfeld proves himself as skilled at expository writing as he is in imagining a dystopian future, blending writing instruction, informative pieces about advanced technology, and sociological commentary on the Uglies universe with a fresh influx of the wisdom that places this series on a pedestal above most contemporary teen literature. Bogus to Bubbly revisits philosophical highlights of Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras, articulating them in greater depth and with a superb sense of humor. It isn't like the four novels of the main series, but I'd rank Bogus to Bubbly behind only Uglies and Specials in terms of quality, and that makes it a remarkable book. When Scott Westerfeld writes about the Uglies world, he almost always hits his mark.

Major fans of the series may have already heard Westerfeld's entertaining anecdote about coming up with the concept for the Uglies books, but it's repeated here. It's usually to our lasting gain when a talented author begins pondering a quirk of the social order and decides it should be made into a story. The section on hoverboard maintenance and operation reads like a user's manual and is somewhat dry, as is the geography chapter featuring maps of America as it exists in Tally Youngblood's day, but stick with it: better is headed your way. Those who have elected to read Bogus to Bubbly before the main series might want to reconsider, as a historical review of the Uglies timeline comes next, starting with the Rusties who nearly drove humans to extinction by stripping earth of all its natural resources, and then delineating the events of Tally's revolution and on beyond the end of Extras. Key plot points may be spoiled if you haven't read the novels, so I recommend saving Bogus to Bubbly until afterward. If it's been a while since you read the series, these histories will jog your memory so the rest of the book is more enjoyable.

Addressing life phases in the Uglies paradigm, Westerfeld points out that littlies, uglies, and pretties are officially discouraged from intermingling. "This system wasn't an accident. It allowed the government to control each age group in its own way, by rewarding the behavior they wanted from that group." Does this not happen in the real world, where we act as though invisible walls divide us by age and social standing? Peer pressure is effectively leveraged to keep us in line with societal standards, but we miss out on much by not exposing ourselves to the attitudes and opinions of people of other ages and backgrounds, and it limits our life perspective. It's sad when we buy into the notion that people should only be friends with individuals like themselves.

An examination follows of the cliques in the series, from Crims to Cutters to Radical Honesty, before diving into the most insightful chapter of Bogus to Bubbly, The Science of Beauty. We're reminded of what the surgery to make new pretties entails, enlarging their eyes and lips to create an appearance of childlike harmlessness and instinctively trigger others to feel protective over them. The surge also perfects facial symmetry, creating a pleasingly proportional look. Westerfeld delves into what we perceive as beauty and why, presenting biological reasons for it. Human courtship and mating are nuanced conventions, and the storyline in Uglies carefully adheres to its tenets. Certain concepts in this section are especially attention-getting, such as the fact that for most of human history, low life expectancy made it impractical to mate with anyone older than twenty. "But thanks to social and technological changes, these days it's the other way around—it's a crazy idea to start a family with anyone under twenty. Young people rarely have the resources, education, or experience needed to raise kids. This conflict between evolutionary programming and social reality causes many of the conflicts of being a modern-day teenager." That's part of why most people are attracted to youth and not old age, seeking the former in our love interests and endlessly staving off the latter in ourselves. We're biologically hardwired to seek young partners. But Westerfeld isn't finished with his compelling observations on this subject. The "exposure effect", the scientific theory that things and people we see most often appeal to us regardless of whether they're objectively attractive, plays a significant role in the mating game. "The exposure effect is also good news for those of us who weren't born gorgeous. It means that the people who know us best—our parents and children, our best friends and true loves—ultimately 'forget' what we look like. How symmetrical or clear-skinned we are disappears into the experiences we've shared with someone. After a certain point, it's just like David said to Tally: 'What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.'" Bogus to Bubbly is worth buying for that epiphany alone. The "averaging hypothesis", which suggests that people actually gravitate toward average-looking faces that contain a variety of genetic features, also has implications that deserve further thought. "There's a difference between being pretty and gorgeous. People may find averaged faces attractive as a whole, but the most beautiful faces tend to be non-average in some way. So looking weird can be a whole other kind of attractive that's hard to pin down with statistics. That's why I quoted Francis Bacon in Part II of Uglies: 'There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.'" Odd facial features don't make a person homely; our character and personality fills us from the inside out and creates an image of us as attractive or not. Being attractive is mostly about how we conduct ourselves, and unlike the angles and shape of our face, that's entirely within our control.

Next we get a rundown on the cutting-edge gadgetry in the series, from interface bracelets to eyescreens to bungee jackets to self-heating food. Several of these inventions already existed in some form when Uglies debuted in 2005, and Westerfeld describes in detail the possible future of their development. Since hoverboarding is integral to the plot of all the books, magnetic levitation is given its own chapter. We move on to an explanation of character names in the series, and Westerfeld intersperses his mini lecture on linguistic logistics with excellent tips for aspiring writers, as well as the "Panzercrappitastica Bonechomper" joke that had me laughing out loud for about a minute. Tremendous thought went into the characters' names, and Westerfeld's exposition of his process is illuminating for lovers of the writer's craft. This continues in a chapter on creating believable futuristic slang, where Westerfeld's observations are spot-on as usual. Not only are his tips invaluable for students of writing, but they tell us a lot about the evolution of human language, why we use the words we do and how those words are likely to change in the decades and centuries ahead. We return to hard science with a treatise on nanoscale machinery, both as it occurs in the natural world and the ways humans have synthesized nanos in hopes of monumental medical breakthroughs in the future. Nanos pose troublesome risks, but their potential benefit to mankind is virtually immeasurable. The Uglies series gives a preview of what a future with controlled nanotechnology could look like, and it's exciting.

Extras is chronologically set apart from the first three Uglies novels, so it stands to reason it would have a section of its own in Bogus to Bubbly focused on the book's reputation economy. It's the most interesting idea of Extras, in my opinion, and Westerfeld demonstrated spectacular foresight into the immediate future of the internet, even predicting that people would come to rely on answers provided via the net more than the opinion of traditional experts. "The wisdom of the crowd, Aya. If a million people look at a puzzle, chances are that one of them knows the answer. Or maybe ten people each know one piece, and that's enough to put it all together." Hiro said those words to his sister Aya in Extras, and the sentiment is valid. Reputation economy has existed to some degree for millennia, but the internet age provided new frontiers it would rush to fill, and in the tradition of pioneering science fiction authors Jules Verne, George Orwell, and Orson Scott Card, Scott Westerfeld anticipated its future trends.

Westerfeld next compiles a section of informational odds and ends that should interest Uglies fans, and reveals that Hiro, not Aya, was the protagonist in his first draft of Extras. He includes chapter one of that draft for our reading pleasure. Bogus to Bubbly finishes with a brief list of ideas the author lifted from external sources and a glossary of terms that's well worth the time it takes to read, packing still more insight into a book already bulging with them. It's hard not to be impressed by the substance of these one hundred ninety-six pages. Westerfeld could have settled for slapping his name on the cover of a keepsake collector's volume with minimal literary value and it would have sold well, but instead he made Bogus to Bubbly so much more.

This book definitely rewards Uglies fans for their intimate knowledge of the series. Because of that I hesitate to recommend it for people who haven't read the novels, but there's a wealth of content here for the uninitiated, too. I learned a lot, and was served more sophisticated food for thought than I expected. This is quality nonfiction, and a heartfelt tribute by the author to his loyal readers. I'm glad I didn't let Bogus to Bubbly slip by me.

"Seeing a part of your own life in a book, especially one set in a faraway time and place, can give you perspective. I hope that the Uglies series has helped a few of you resolve issues, whether with cutting or looks or your own struggles against the Dr. Cables of this world."

—Bogus to Bubbly, P. 182

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes, when a book series gets really popular, writers will try to cash in by writing unauthorized guides to the story or books about the "science" behind popular fantasy titles. Then, rarely, you get a book like Bogus to Bubbly: An Insider's Guide to the World of Uglies (2008) that was actually written by the ultimate insider: Scott Westerfeld.

Uglies is a series of books (one trilogy and a companion book) about a world in the future where in order to prevent war and strife everyone gets plastic surgery to be beautiful and live long. Everyone else, by contrast, is ugly. That is the super, super short explanation of the series which is more complex. I don't recommending reading this guide before the series because it contains spoilers and, truth be told, unless you know you like the books this guide will not be that interesting.

Westerfeld explains a lot of things in this book. He discusses where the idea for the story came from, as well as how he thought of skintennas and the Rusties. Parts of the book also explain technology, history, and culture surrounding the worlds created in the Uglies series.

What I liked about the book was that it mentioned a lot about the writing process. While Westerfeld himself notes that it's hard to trace the origin of ideas, this book does try. It's interesting to read how a dentist visit inspired several aspects of the book while, thankfully, we are not the entire inspiration behind the Rusties. Explanations of names and slanguage were also very informative and interesting.

I was less enthralled by the technology information. It was fun to hear about the science of beauty, but the information about magnetic levitation, hoverboards and inventions got a bit, well, technical. Although I fully admit that could be me since Uglies is one of the few straight sci-fi series I read (I usually go in for fantasy which, having dragons and what not, is guaranteed to be less technical). There is also a bit of repetition with the books revealing much of what Westerfeld puts together in Bogus to Bubbly but that is probably inevitable with an insider's guide like this.

Aside from content, I liked the book's organization. It's written like a real guide with cross-referencing between sections and an index. The book also includes illustrations and maps which helped a lot to visualize the city as it was meant to be seen.

While the entire book might not be read-worthy for every fan, it's very likely at least one nagging question about the series will be answered in this book. Mine, for instance, being whether belly sensors were indeed belly button rings or not. Readers will also leave the guide with a new insight into how the writing process might work. On top of that, Bogus to Bubbly also includes a preview of Westerfeld's new series Leviathan.

My only serious regret is that the Awesome Librarian Clique only warranted passing mention (though since they didn't factor in the books at all, perhaps that is to be expected).

You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print

[Christine (KizzieReads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting history of the world of Pretties. I enjoyed learning about it as I still had questions regarding some aspects of the world. It also goes through how Scott Westerfeld came up with some of the ideas.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I bought this book. Support your authors!

Book Series: Uglies Series Book

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: October 21, 2008

Genre: YA Dystopian

Recommended Age: 14+ (violence, some gore, fighting the government, romance, dictionary terms)

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 196

Amazon Link

Synopsis: THE WORLD OF UGLIES, SET IN OUR NOT-SO-DISTANT FUTURE,is a complex place filled with bubbly technology and lingo, yet bogus rules about status and appearance. That's why a guide to the world of uglies has been requisitioned from the hole in the wall. Inside you'll find:

A rundown on all the cliques, from Crims and Cutters to tech-heads and surge-monkeys

The complete history, starting with the destruction of the oil bug to the launch of Extras in space

How all those awesome gadgets came to be: hoverboards, eyescreens, skintennas, sneak suits...

PLUS an exclusive look at Scott Westerfeld's first draft of Extras -- starring Hiro, not Aya.

And so much more, it's mind-wrecking.

Review: Oh. My. God. I loved this dictionary-like book! I loved seeing all the detail that went into this series and it just made my uglies loving heart soar! The details are fantastic and everything is so well explained.

However, I feel like there could be more and I’m a bit sad that some of the later cultures aren’t included in this book.

Verdict: I still love this series.

[Abbie Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love world building, and it was super super cool to get a behind-the-scenes look at all the research and thought that went into the world building of the Uglies series

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This companion book to UGLIES series by Scott Westerfeld is full of all sorts of great information about the books and the world Westerfeld created. You get info that was IN the books and well as more detail that was NOT in the books. There is a history of Tally's world (detailing how the Rusties crashed and the hundreds of years that followed up until we meet Tally in UGLIES) and more detail about life in Tally's world (being Pretty, Gadgets, Cliques, Names, Slang, Science, etc). You also get some more info about the new society that has developed by the time we read about Aya in EXTRAS. AND there is a sneak peak at the first 2 chapters of LEVIATHAN, which is coming out in the Fall 2009.

Overall, a fun little book full of lots of info, facts, and trivia. Parts of it are redudant if you've read the book, but other parts are great if you want to get more detail about a particular aspect of Tally's world.

[Airiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans of Scott Westerfeld's "Uglies" series will definitely give this fun and helpful companion book a thumb up. It's like a reel of bloopers and behind the scenes for a well-loved movie, and what's better is that it is written by Scott Westerfeld himself. It is chock-full of the fictional history of Tally Youngblood's world, from the days of the Rusties, the Diego War, and upto the age of Mind-Rain and face ranks; the technology present in the post-scarcity dystopian society, including maps and instruction manuals for hoverboards and other gadgets; geography of the setting; trivia about the names of the characters and about the "slanguage" used in the books, among others.

Very informative! I enjoyed it for the most part, except for the ones that I've already encountered in the info superhighway. :p

[Dannielle Norwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hoping this book would give more insight to the unanswered questions in my mind about the world of Tally and her friends but unfortunately, it was mostly just reiteration of what we already knew compiled altogether in one book. For example, I wanted to know how the explosions happened but Westerfeld writes, "No one knows for sure exactly what happened, perhaps it was..." and then goes on to repeat the possibilities that he already suggested in the books. I was hoping he would give us some more details that were left out of the stories but they were still left unsaid.

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this book and I got it like yesterday or something. It was really good and I learned a lot about the series.

[Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to see behind-the-scenes, so this was fun. Picked it up at a thrift store for $1, probably wouldn't have read it otherwise, but it was amusing.

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I haven't finished a book in a while! And especially in YA - haven't returned to this genre in a very long time!

I really like how this book gave good insight into how Scott Westerfeld built the world of Uglies and more details about the world beyond Tally's story. Back in middle school, I loved the Uglies series and this book had been on my Want to Read list for so long. It's so great to finally get the background info many years later and return to this world that I loved so much.

Looking back on the series as a college graduate (and as an engineer), I do find the language and technical concepts to be described in a very basic way that is clearly targeted toward middle schoolers (which makes sense - Tally is 16 years old, after all!). If I were a member of the target audience, I suppose I would find the explanations to be sufficient. But as an adult, I really wish Westerfeld went deeper into the history and science, and into the little details. (For example, how did those water purifiers work to cook the instant food? And how did they replace the uglies' teeth with stronger materials during the Pretty operation?) I was really hoping to get something like a textbook or a manual rather than short descriptions that went over the main ideas but glossed over the details.

Overall, I'm glad I read this book, and I'll continue to look back upon the Uglies series as one of my middle school favorites.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the original Uglies trilogy (and Extras) in high school and I absolutely loved them. It was my introduction into dystopian sci-fi and I was obsessed with hoverboards. This book is a companion book to the series and provides behind the scenes details of the world and how it was created.

I think it was an interesting read but the science is over-simplified. That isn’t a bad thing coming from a teenagers POV but I refuse to believe scientists and government officials are calling everything “bubbly” or “mind-rain.”

This book contains:
A history of the war and The Rusty Crash
A summary of all books including how the city is run
Life phases ( littlies --> crumbliest)
Cliques
Beauty standards
Gadgets/inventions
Pretty names and slang
Science explained

TLDR; Overall, it’s an interesting read but its extremely simple. Maybe it’s because I’m older now but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would’ve. Everything is oversimplified and it’s too easy of a read for me. I found myself skimming the pages. Also, reading the history and downfall of the the pretty system made me realize I would’ve been a special, especially seeing how the New System is wrecking the environment. I just don’t see the justification of the smokies actions if everyone was happy before, even if it was controlled.

[Venus Zhao · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an explanation of the series of uglies explaining how the world got to how it started in the books through things like the Rusty Crash. And how the cities of the pretty committee rose up. And showing how the smoke and special circumstances, showing how they all needed to be stronger and faster than normal humans. For example, some of them were police officers or firefighters. And how the hoverboards worked and the ugly clique called ¨The Crims¨ talking about the backstory of how Shay and her friends had their own group talking about running away and how 4 of them left to smoke and One of her friends and she stayed, afraid to leave everything they knew. And about the Diego War where Diego´s government greeted the changes with enthusiasm, admitting the truth about the operation to their citizens. Introducing a new system of having the bubblehead surgery reversed. Then a side effect, repealing the pretty committee guidelines caused an explosion in strange new surgeries. And the strict lines between uglies and pretties began to crumble. And the Mind-Rain and Extras. And also talking about the life phases of pretty time. How this book compares to the author's first book it's basically just an explanation of Uglies and its series. The characters that the book talks about are Tally, Shay, and Dr. Cable, and the antagonist would be Dr. Cable and the protagonist would be Tally. And the characters would be believable but the situations are not. And the book was very well written having a bunch of things that made you wonder and answering these questions. And it was still engaging. I would recommend it to people who read Uglies or one of the books in its series. So far a 5/5.

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the Uglies series, so of course I was interested in checking this out.

This book is full of extra (pardon the pun) information about pretty (oops, I did it again) much everything about the futuristic world Tally lives in. It all starts with the history of how humans went from what we are today, to the Pretty-obsessed world of technology, body modification and secrets.

There's info about all the cliques, gadgets, stages in life, tech, and even an excerpt of a chapter originally written in Hiro's POV instead of Aya's.

Most of the information is eventually revealed in the series but it was cool to read the extra bits the author shared in this very cool guide.

I'm really glad I read this. It's such bubbly fun! 😃

[Alyssa W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Insider’s Guide to the World of Uglies made me appreciate the series, as someone who has read the series as both a pre-teen and an adult, even more. Part of me wishes I had read it before or during the series, especially the glossary of terms and slang, which is used throughout the novels, but I’m glad I waited to read it last; It was interesting to hear brief extensions on some of the characters stories (like Frizz and the Sly Girls from Extras). I also enjoyed hearing Scott’s reasoning behind the characters’ names and how the series came to be. Good, quick read, if you’re a big fan of the Uglies series!

[Dakota Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the book super great! It made the world of Uglies much more real and helps you have a better appreciation for it in a way. I did like going behind the scenes in a way and learning more about the tech or some of Scott's thought process when writing making some things more clear ect small things that like I said before bring something new so to speak to the series and makes you love it that much more

[Izzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed seeing the maps and how characters were named, but most of the book had no new information. I felt that the history books part was a bit lazy since it was just an oversimplified recap of the series. I felt that all the information in this book should have just stayed as posts on his website. Also, it would have been helpful to have the maps included in the front of each book for reference.

[Candi Rowls · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book isn't like the first 4 it's more for information about them. Telling you how he got his ideas, definitions of things, even pictures of what the technology might look like if it was real. I bought the book today and finished it today. I recommend it to anyone wanting a deeper look into the series, the behind the scenes I suppose.

[Natalie Schloss · Rating 3 out of 5]

i do generally enjoy hearing how creators came up with their ideas - assuming, you know, they created something good - so like half of this was at least somewhat interesting but the other half was just unnecessarily summarizing the series, which could've been cut out entirely because like, the only people reading this are people who know the series, you know?

[Annie Kosar · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME INFO AND INSIDE KNOWLEDGE!!!

SUPER LOVED reading about all of the concepts and ideas within the Uglies Series!! There were AMAZING moments of inspiration that the author explains in detail and it really helps to bring a much deeper understanding of this series!! LOVED IT!!!:-)

[Gigi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I was spoiled by the twilight illustrated insiders guide, but this felt like it paled in comparison for me. Rather than a deeper look into the world, questions answered, and cleared up histories, i felt like it just rehashed all of the information from the books. I did really like the Q&As and the hoverboard users guide, and I wish there was more of that!

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently, Westerfeld wanted some more money or something because essentially this book had nothing in it you couldn't figure out through context while reading the other books, other than the fact he is totally fine with ripping off other authors' ideas.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notable Content: Sexy. Discussion of self-harm.

Some of this is repetitive and/or easily guessed by observant readers, like the history section, but there's lots of cool stuff too, like the exact science behind what pretties look like and behind the technologies.

[Brittany LeMoine · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's all stuff you already know if you've read the books but it's nice for a big fan of the series. Maps at least.

[☽ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5; Doesn't add anything really, but its a quick read that's not as dry as stuff has the potential to be.

[Seely McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good companion to the Uglies series. I enjoyed reading Westerfeld's explanations on why he made some of the writing decisions that he did.