Review: "Shay's Story (Uglies: Graphic Novel #1)"

Shay's Story (Uglies: Graphic Novel #1) by Scott Westerfeld
3 out of 5 stars

I think this graphic novel, like the Vampire Academy, is best as a follow-up to the original series. If you enjoyed the Uglies series, I would absolutely recommend this. I'd say these would work well as a stand-alone too, unlike VA. This gn gives us most of the same story as book 1, but is told from Shay's point of view so we get some new story as well. I really enjoyed reading about her beginnings with the Crims, the kids that pull pranks on Pretties. And also her adventure to the Smoke and her relationship with David.

But. There's always a but. I felt like the drawing was lacking. Well, not the drawing itself, that was fine. But the execution of the drawing, if that makes sense. The whole point of this series is to show the huge difference between the Uglies and the Pretties. In the graphic novel, there is no difference. Okay, some of the kids are kind of average looking and Tally has weird hair, but Shay looks just like one of the Pretties with her super-long, gravity-defying hair. She looks exactly the same to me in the end when she has the operation. So that was irritating. It's not a deal-breaker for me though, so I'm excited to read the second book. And this is a super short review, so how about a few more pictures?