53 pages • 1 hour read
Scott WesterfeldPretties
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 1, Chapters 1-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: “Sleeping Beauty”
Chapter 1 Summary: “Criminal”
The novel opens with Tally Youngblood in New Pretty Town preparing for a party at Valentino Mansion and struggling with the “semiformal” dress requirements. Tally also has a hangover—the result of a late night partying with Peris and the other Crims at the new floating ice rink above the city. It was from Zane, the leader of the Crims, that Tally learned that alcohol has a lower freezing temperature than water.
Buildings in New Pretty Town are equipped with smart technology, and Tally’s room announces an incoming call. It’s Shay, who informs her that the outfit requirements have changed from semiformal to costume. Tally missed the message because she often neglects to wear her interface ring—a habit from when she was still an ugly and sneaking out at night. Shay arrives with breakfast, and Tally drinks a Bloody Mary to settle her nerves. Shay draws Tally’s attention to her (Shay’s) eyes, which she has “surged” to have her pupils surrounded by gemstones. Tally is initially dismissive of the new addition but feels guilty when her response disappoints Shay, so she lies to make her friend feel better. Tally reveals that tonight is the night she will be voted into or out of the Crim social group, which is causing her a significant amount of anxiety. The two girls try to think of criminal costumes to go along with the social group. While struggling to come up with a costume idea, Tally reflects on her days as an ugly. Shay tries to comfort Tally, assuring her that she will get into the Crims. Shay has been a pretty for nearly a month longer than Tally. This is the result of Tally’s brief stint with the rebel group Smoke: Though Tally ultimately decided not to betray the group to Dr. Cable, she inadvertently led Special Circumstances there anyway, and Shay was captured.
The girl’s friends (and inducted Crims) Peris and Fausto arrive wearing costumes made of sparklers and bungee jackets, leading Tally to make another social misstep when she asks too many questions. While Tally hugs Peris, Shay finds a wool sweater from Smoke that the smart wall could not recycle. Shay proposes dressing up as Smokies, and Tally agrees despite her internal misgivings.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Bash”
Valentino Mansion is the oldest building in New Pretty Town, with walls made of stone so that they cannot talk. As Peris, Fausto, Tally, and Shay approach, Tally observes the other costumes and social groups, trying to overcome her nerves. The group gets lost trying to find the other Crims because the building cannot communicate with them, and Tally feels as if someone is following her. When she recognizes the pursuer’s costume as depicting Special Circumstances, she briefly panics. These “Specials,” Tally recalls, are special agents who work to protect the city from outside threats, and very few pretties meet them. Tally is an exception, having worked both with and against Specials in Uglies. She tries to play off her nervousness and ignore her suspicions about the costume. Shay suggests the group go to one of the spires atop the mansion, and as they do they call Zane. Zane confirms that the Crims are partying in a spire, and the group departs to join them. Tally notes the costumed figure continuing to follow.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Lurker”
Tally describes the other Crim costumes, and the social group approves of Tally’s Smoke sweater. Zane compliments Shay’s new eyes. After a few minutes, Tally steps out onto the balcony, as she feels overwhelmed by the costumed Special that was following her. Tally looks out at Uglyville and tries to reconcile her fuzzy memories of the wild compared with the clarity of waiting for her pretty surgery. She reflects on the requirements of becoming Crim, which involve mischief, trickery, and an appreciation for their days as uglies.
Zane joins Tally on the balcony, and Tally calls Uglyville a prison. Zane prompts her to talk about her time at Smoke and her reasons for going there, but Tally insists that she only wanted to find Shay and bring her home. Zane talks about going to the Rusty Ruins and asks if Tally ever met anyone while there. Tally then realizes that the others have joined them on the balcony and insists that she never met anyone at the Ruins. Then she sees the costumed figure in the spire, staring at her. The figure vanishes into the crowd, causing Tally to chase after them. She follows them out to the emergency stairs, where the figure is sitting on the steps and waiting for her.
A male voice compliments Tally on remembering Special Circumstances and invites her to remove the mask. Tally believes that this person is a member of the Specials trying to recruit her, but the figure claims to have something for her. Noise below them draws their attention, and they realize real Specials are climbing the stairs. Tally grabs the mask off the boy’s face while he is distracted and finds that he is an ugly named Croy whom she recognizes.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Fall”
Croy flees out the stairwell, and after a moment of confusion, Tally chases after him. The appearance of the Specials has put her on edge as she chases Croy out to the balcony, where the Crims continue to party. He leaps off the balcony wearing a bungee jacket. An alarm goes off as the Specials arrive, and Tally’s mind clears as she runs to Peris. She tackles him off the balcony, and the two bounce down into the night, Peris’s bungee jacket sending them in the same direction as Croy. Tally releases Peris to let him bounce further away, but his knee hits her face and knocks her to the ground. It takes her a moment to recover, but she gets to her feet and runs down the hill, calling for Croy. She catches him as he and another ugly are preparing to escape on hoverboards. Croy shows Tally a pouch and promises to leave it at Valentino 317 for her. Croy and his companion leave as Tally realizes her head is bleeding from Peris’s knee.
Tally drops to the ground as Peris makes his way back to her. A warden car comes for them, and Tally’s clarity begins to fade. Two adults administer first aid to Tally and then ask her about the uglies. Tally claims that Croy was just showing off, and the adults assure her, “We’ll be keeping an eye on you” before taking her home (43). When she arrives, she receives a message from Peris notifying her that the Crims have voted to admit her. Tally tries to rest, telling herself that she has everything she wanted, but something continues to put her on edge.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Zane”
Tally dreams of being a sleeping princess trapped in a tower. A dragon holds her hostage until her prince charming comes to rescue her, but when he arrives to kiss her awake, he is ugly. Tally wakes with a headache from the blow to her head. She checks her interface ring and has messages from other Crims. She calls Zane, who asks if she heard the news about the party. He tells her that a hacker from someone outside of the party committee sent the message changing the dress code; Tally knows it was Croy.
She and Zane decide to get breakfast, and they meet in a pleasure garden near Valentino Mansion. Zane compliments her scar and Tally assesses his looks, which his small diet and self-dyed hair have made more extreme. Zane asks Tally about Croy and then confesses that he also knew him from childhood. When Zane tells Tally that he, Croy, and Shay all lived in the same dorm, Tally realizes they were all connected to each other while living in Uglyville (where adolescents live before their surgery). Zane describes visiting the Ruins as an ugly and meeting someone there, which causes Tally to panic briefly. Tally pushes Zane, and he admits he was the one who convinced Shay and Croy to go to Smoke but backed out himself at the last minute. Zane and Tally comfort each other about their decisions and kiss. Tally whispers the name “David” as they pull apart.
Part 1, Chapters 1-5 Analysis
The first five chapters of Pretties reintroduce Tally Youngblood to the reader, but with several significant changes to her character. She is no longer an ugly and now spends her days partying with her friends. This version of Tally is only anxious when forced to come face-to-face with her past, which harkens to the events of the first book while also highlighting the ways in which she still feels awkward and unsettled even though she has achieved her “perfect” life. That perfection is short-lived, as her anxieties about socializing and saying the right things quickly transform into panic as she faces the seriousness of her own history. Her anxieties also serve as foreshadowing. For example, her nervousness about the “stranger” costumed as a Special precedes the real Specials’ arrival. Their appearance contributes to the mental clarity that enables Tally to overcome societal pressures and her own worries.
Despite Tally’s changed physical characteristics, there are still moments when—in times of stress and pressure—Tally rises to the challenge. She chases after Croy even after being hit in the head, determined to get to the bottom of the mystery he presents. This determination harkens back to the ugly version of Tally, who agreed to dangerous missions to help her friends and community. It is this aspect of Tally as well as her history with Smoke and Special Circumstances that connect her and Zane, leading her to remember the name of the last boy she kissed—David, her love interest from the first novel in the series.
After Westerfeld reminds the reader of the events of the last book, he initiates the rising action through the character of Croy. Croy offers Tally something but insists on hiding it so that the wardens and Specials cannot find it. This becomes Tally’s first major hurdle to overcome as a pretty. To follow Croy’s instructions goes against the social order of this world. Furthermore, to seek out what he leaves for her requires more deliberate action than jumping off a balcony after him. Tally must consider the pros and cons of what he offers while also fighting the distractions of being pretty. While the reader remembers the stakes from the last book, it is evident that Tally does not, limiting her ability to meaningfully decide whether to pursue Croy’s offer.
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