50 Fun Facts About Uglies

In Uglies, what hidden side effect of the pretty operation do David's parents reveal to Tally?

Lesions in the brain leave most pretties placid and easy to control, while people whose jobs demand quick thinking are left without them.

In Uglies, which piece of jewelry given to Tally by Special Circumstances hides a tracking device?

A heart-shaped pendant travels with Tally to the Smoke, and it is meant to reveal the hideout's location once she switches it on.

In Uglies, what does Tally do with her tracker that accidentally brings the Specials to the Smoke?

Tally throws it into a fire to destroy it for good, but the heat of the flames switches the device on and gives the Smoke away.

In Uglies, what abandoned structure in the ruins does Shay teach Tally to ride on a hoverboard?

A roller coaster in the dead city has a gap in its track, and Shay lets Tally reach the missing stretch without warning her.

In Uglies, what scornful name do people in Tally's time give those who lived before the collapse?

Rusties is a term of contempt for the people of the distant past, who are in fact the book's own readers.

In Uglies, why does Tally give herself up and become pretty at the end of the book?

To test the cure, the Smokies need a willing volunteer, and Tally offers herself because she feels responsible for what her betrayal cost them.

In Uglies, at what age does every citizen receive the operation that turns an ugly into a pretty?

Sixteen is the age of the first operation, and further operations follow later in life as pretties grow older.

Which actress plays Tally Youngblood in the 2024 film of Uglies and was also its executive producer?

Joey King was already a fan of the books before she signed on to star in the film.

In Uglies, what is the official reason Tally's society gives for making everyone pretty?

Equality is the official reason: if everyone looks alike, the thinking goes, nobody can be judged or favoured for their appearance.

In Uglies, which best friend of Tally has already been made pretty when the story begins?

Peris is three months older than Tally, so he had the operation first and moved across the river without her.

In Uglies, what awaits new pretties once they cross the river after the operation?

A life of parties with no duties at all is the reward, and it lasts until a second operation turns new pretties into working adults.

Which streaming service released the long-delayed film adaptation of Uglies in September 2024?

Netflix picked up the rights in 2020, fourteen years after a Hollywood studio first bought them and the project stalled.

In Uglies, what must Tally agree to do before Special Circumstances will let her have the operation?

Lead them to Shay, or stay ugly for life: that is the deal, and it turns Tally into a spy inside the Smoke.

In Uglies, who runs Special Circumstances and denies Tally her operation until she cooperates?

Dr. Cable heads the agency, and it is she who later sends the Specials to destroy the Smoke.

In Uglies, what sets David apart from the runaway teenagers living around him in the Smoke?

He was born in the wild, the son of the two people who founded the Smoke, and has never lived in any of the cities.

In Uglies, what does the newly pretty Shay do when offered pills to undo the operation's effects?

Shay refuses to take them, saying she is happy as she is, and David's mother will not treat anyone who has not agreed to it.

In Uglies, what safety device lets Tally leap from a rooftop to escape a dorm in New Pretty Town?

A bungee jacket catches her just before she lands, but she can only get hold of one by setting off the building's alarm.

In Uglies, what unflattering nickname do other uglies use for Tally instead of her real name?

Squint is Tally's ugly nickname, part of a custom that keeps teenagers fixed on their flaws, though Shay prefers to use real names.

In Uglies, what coincidence do Tally and Shay discover while Shay is teaching her to hoverboard?

The same birthday means the two new friends are due to have the operation on the very same day.

In Uglies, what does Shay leave with Tally before running away, in case Tally decides to follow?

A coded note gives the route as a string of riddles, and Special Circumstances believes only Tally can work them out.

In Uglies, what token of their bond does Tally keep after her best friend's operation erases his?

A scar on the palm marks the blood pact the two made to stick together, and his vanished when the operation gave him new skin.

In Uglies, what must lie beneath a hoverboard for it to stay in the air outside the city?

Metal in the ground is what keeps the boards up, so riders have to walk wherever there is none; the city itself sits on a steel grid.

In Uglies, how are the faces of the Specials designed to make ordinary people feel?

Afraid is the intended effect: Specials are rebuilt to look beautiful in a predatory way, and their bodies are given superhuman abilities.

In Uglies, what catastrophe ended the car-driving civilization whose ruins lie near Tally's city?

Oil-infecting bacteria made the world's petroleum unstable, so cars and oil fields exploded and food could no longer be transported.

In Uglies, which founder of the Smoke dies after being taken prisoner by Special Circumstances?

Az was David's father, and David only learns of the death from his mother as the freed Smokies make their escape.

In Uglies, which animal's face is on the mask Tally wears to slip through New Pretty Town?

A pig mask spat out by a passing parade machine is her disguise, and it only draws stares because everyone else is in formal dress.

In Uglies, what does Tally take off before sneaking out at night so that the city cannot track her?

Without her interface ring the city loses sight of Tally, but elevators also ignore her and traffic cannot sense that she is there.

In Uglies, what slang name is used for late pretties, the oldest of the city's age groups?

Crumblies is what their own children call late pretties, who can have further treatments that stretch their lives far beyond a normal span.

In Uglies, which engineered flower spreads like a weed and is burned back before it kills all else?

White tiger orchids were once rare and precious, until someone altered them to grow easily and they smothered whole landscapes.

In Uglies, who rescues Tally from a burning field of flowers on her journey to the Smoke?

Rangers from another city lit the blaze themselves to hold back an invasive weed, and they are on friendly terms with the Smokies.

In Uglies, which relics of the old world does Shay show Tally in the Smoke's library?

Old magazines packed with photographs show Tally what people looked like before the operation existed, and the pictures horrify her.

In Uglies, what handmade gift from David to Tally stirs up Shay's jealousy in the Smoke?

A pair of gloves he made protects Tally's blistered hands at work, and Shay points out that her own sore hands earned no such present.

In Uglies, which Smokie tells Tally to her face that he suspects she is a spy?

Croy grows suspicious because she arrived with too much food left for the journey she described, though he later comes to trust her.

In Uglies, where do the Specials hold the captured Smokies during the raid on the Smoke?

In a rabbit pen, the bound prisoners have their eyes scanned so the Specials can sort them by the home each one ran away from.

In Uglies, what did David's parents do to themselves so that young runaways would trust them?

They reversed their operations after fleeing, giving up their pretty faces to look like the teenagers they hoped to recruit.

In Uglies, what does David take from the head of Special Circumstances while freeing the Smokies?

Her work tablet holds the research that David's mother needs to begin undoing what the operation does to people's minds.

In Uglies, what does Tally write on her last night with the Smokies before heading back to the city?

A letter to herself puts her consent in writing, at the insistence of David's mother, before she goes back to be made pretty.

Which fourth book extended the Uglies trilogy with a new heroine, Aya Fuse, in place of Tally?

Extras arrived in 2007 as a companion to the trilogy, and Tally still plays a major part in its later chapters.

Which actress plays the head of Special Circumstances in the 2024 film adaptation of Uglies?

Laverne Cox joined a supporting cast that also included Keith Powers, Brianne Tju and Chase Stokes.

The idea for Uglies came from a friend's email about which professional urging cosmetic surgery?

A dentist in Los Angeles made the suggestion to a friend newly arrived from New York, and the culture shock he described gave Westerfeld the idea.

Reviewers noted that Uglies echoes a 1964 episode of which classic American TV anthology series?

The Twilight Zone aired an episode with very similar themes, which Scott Westerfeld says he watched as a child but had forgotten in detail.

In Uglies, what does Shay light on top of a ruined building as a signal to David?

A sparkler held up in the ruins is how Shay tries to call David, but on the night she brings Tally along nobody comes.

Which series of four new books, announced in 2018, returned readers to the world of Uglies?

Impostors launched the new series in September 2018, more than a decade after the original run of books ended.

Which director made the 2024 film of Uglies, a project first optioned by a studio back in 2006?

McG was also one of the film's producers, and shooting wrapped more than two years before the release.

Which writer's short story about switching off the sight of beauty helped inspire Uglies?

Ted Chiang wrote Liking What You See: A Documentary, traded emails about it with Scott Westerfeld and gave notes on the manuscript.

In the 2024 film of Uglies, the Smoke is modelled on which classic American book about nature?

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, is the film's model for the rebel camp as a place of freedom in tune with nature.

In 2012, the events of Uglies were retold from Shay's point of view in which format?

A graphic novel called Shay's Story, drawn in a manga style, follows the same plot through the eyes of Tally's friend.

In Uglies, what do uglies call the computer-made images of how they might look after the operation?

Morphos are built by doubling one half of a face to make it symmetrical, and Shay had never made one until Tally pushed her into it.

In Uglies, how does Tally cross the river to reach New Pretty Town at the start of the story?

Over an old bridge, built so long ago that it stands up without any hover technology, Tally slips across after dark.

In Uglies, where do Tally and David hide from the Specials' heat sensors after the raid on the Smoke?

In a cave the Specials cannot pick up her body heat, and Tally finds David already hiding there.