Shay’s Story Spoiler Zone

Posted on by scott

IT IS A TIME OF SPOILAGE. A TIME OF SECRETS REVEALED.

Use the comment thread of this post to discuss Shay’s Story. And if you haven’t read it yet, GO ELSEWHERE.

I know what you’re saying. “But I’ve read the Uglies series five times. What new can I possibly learn?” Well, don’t forget that new points of view mean new information. Shay’s Story will reveal all sorts of previously unknown things!

And, as is traditional, we must always remember this comment from back in May 2006, in the Specials spoiler thread:

oh god, i read the spoiler section before i read the book. i would have read the book by now but the bookstore doesn’t have it in yet! i got the first two before the sale date. why can’t i do that now!? crap i can’t believe i read the spoiler section…crap

Let these lamentations be a warning to you. And let the spoilage begin!

84 thoughts on “Shay’s Story Spoiler Zone”

  2. I’m in the same boat as Shelby. Barnes and Noble didn’t have it so I had to order from Amazon. Hopefully it’ll be here by the weekend. So I won’t be back until then!

  5. Okay *SPOILERS AHEAD*
    I LOVED IT! it was so awesome! it was definately worth the wait.
    Where to begin? I loved the Special Circumstances tracking thing at the beginning of the chapters!
    Shay was just adorable. SOOO CUTE!
    I loved the Crims going to play the trick on the Pretties at the party. They were such bubbleheads (the pretties)!
    OH AND I LOVED RYDE!
    And David! We finally find out where he got his scar!
    Somehow in this book I didn’t like Tally that much. Her character just wasn’t as appealing to me as it was in the original series.
    AND HELEN-WA! THAT WAS JUST SOOOO CLEVER! i guess that’s where milli-Helens come from?
    The Smoke was so Smokey 🙂 and i was right about Dr. Cable being in the library of the Smoke! I feel smart now 😛
    overall it was amazing! I CAN’T WAIT TILL THE SEQUEL!

  6. Scottsters – it was kind of amazeballs !
    zane and David STILL own my soul , and I absolutely loved all of the background on the both of them (even if David is an egomaniac !) . The Helen part was friggin awesome , Dr. Cable was absolute pefection , and I didn’t even mind the Jedi / Ninja / Specials . Can’t wait for book two:)

    BTW – It would have been honestly bubbly-making if you had a picture of Boss in there , but oh well …

  7. I agree, I love the special circumstances trackers at the beginning. Definitely sets it up for when SC comes down into the smoke and Shay realizes it had to have been Tally.
    And it was a very philosophical argument in my head when I read about the naked pretties party. The fact that they were brought back to their fundamental innocence (really a sense of amorality at that point) definitely emphasized how wrong the pretties operation really was to me.

    Very nice noting the Helen-wa thing Mia, I definitely didn’t catch that haha. That is darned clever.

  8. Oh, and I adored the fact that it gave more background as to Zane and Shay’s past relationship when they both decided to stay behind from the rest of their crims. Which, in a way made me dislike Tally more since she took both boys away from Shay (poor girl!) even though I love her because she is Tally and she really does have some good qualities. Although maybe I am a bit biased since I’ve always been a bit Shay-sided. But yes, I loved the insight into Zane and Shay.

  9. Hahahaha. I haven’t read Shay’s Story yet (although I fully intend to when it comes to the library or something), but I’ve learned from this comment thread already 😀 Except I kind of forgot what milli-Helens are… care to give me a reminder?

  10. I love it!!! Mr Westerfeld you are fully awesome!!!! I cant wait for the next book!!!! I love all the new background info that we didnt know before. I will now have to read all 4 books again!

  11. Did you guys know that when people know spoilers, they enjoy the book, movie, etc. even more than if they didn’t?

  12. Yay! Spoilage!
    Hmm
    Well, in the original series I liked David, but now I don’t. At. All.
    He was such a jerk in the manga.
    I also expected for Dr. Cable and the specials to look scarier. They just weren’t terrifying me…
    All the other characters were pretty much spot-on for me, though.
    I loved the little end bonus part where Scott had his description of the characters.

  17. (Hello, I am totally peeking around comments right now because I haven’t read the manga yet, but I figured this was the best place to ask because it was the latest thread!)

    Has anyone in Toronto or Canada in general been able to get Shay’s Story yet? Because it’s not in stock in any Toronto Chapters, Indigo, or Coles store, nor is it in World’s Biggest Bookstore or Book City. My go-to comic shops in Toronto (The Beguiling, The Labyrinth, and Harry Tarantula’s) don’t list it either.

    Seriously, I did a 100km radius search for any stores that might have it, and it just doesn’t exist in Toronto; most results for other major Canadian cities yield the same. I’m starting to get worried because this is a trend I’m noticing in a lot of books recently that are supposed to have the same release date for the US and Canada.

  18. So, no AZ. Can anybody tell me what the deal is supposed to be with his pants? And I think ugly Zane was way hotter than pretty Zane.

  19. Im with Libby too. I think the manga made me see David in at a whole diffrent angle. I was frustrated with him throughout the whole book >:/ how much he’d misunderstand things. I didn’t like him. As for having it Shay’s side of the story it made me sympathize with her situation, she was a great character.

    I can’t believe how quickly I finished it!!!! And now I’m bummed we’ve got to wait for the continuation :(((((((((

  20. Haven’t read it yet 🙁 I have to say from the reveals I don’t think specials are scary enough.

  22. i haven’t quite finished it yet, but i’ve skimmed the whole thing, and i pretty much agree with you guys! Also- does anyone think its weird that Ugly Shay was better looking than Pretty Shay?
    DBL, i pretty much hate David now too, and i totally like Zane…weird.
    I’m really, really excited to see the Cutters, i’d skip Pretties altogether if i could just see Specials now!
    and does anyone know if there will be a manga of Extras? it would be so much fun!!!!!

  23. So how far does the Manga-Novel go in the original book?! Because if you see Shay as pretty, is it the whole book converted? Can’t wait for my copy to arrive in the mail!! It’s like a dream when fav novels get turned into manga! 😀

  25. Thank you MaisyMiaCat! I’ll check it out tomorrow if the physical shops in my area still don’t have it (I try to limit my online ordering but I will definitely definitely make the acception for Shay’s Story). Glad that it is showing up in Canada, though!

  28. I couldn’t wait for amazon to get off its butt and ship me my package, do I just went and bought another copy at Barnes and Noble who had just started shelving the comics (I just couldn’t wait any longer!).

    I really liked all the background story I got but I thought the pacing was a bit fast. And David came off as far more of a jerk than I remembered…but I was always partial to Zane anyway! LoL I also like the bonus pages in the back; I love seeing literal character development!

    I’m glad there’s a sequel in the works though! Definitely satisfied with my purchase XD And now I’m off to re-read it again and enjoy the artwork!

  29. I regret not re-reading Uglies beforehand, because as I was reading Shay’s story I’d wonder, “Well how’d that happen in the book?”
    While pretty Shay looked pretty enough, I thought Shay was very adventurous and very adorable-looking. No wonder Zane had a crush on her.

  30. At first David is such a………………. JERK!!! the note he left….What da heck?!?!?!?!?!?! “I know you love me” GRR this angers me!

  31. @9-sort of saying how pretty you are.. “Your new face is about 50 milli-Helens”

  36. OH MY JOLLYRANCHERS. If your reading this Scott, YOU’RE A STORY GENUIS! I received my official manga today and finished it in the same day. 1st I have to say. David was a TOTAL JERKFACE, I honestly wanted to slap him upside the head. In the first Uglies I got the image that David was like every girls dream. Sweet, funny, and NOT egotistical. Only you would go out of your way to keep us on edge. 2nd I loved the illustrations. Shay was GORGEOUS! And I always pictured Zane with short hair when I read Pretties. 3rd Well, to finalize I read the whole book in about an hour. WE NEED THE SNEAK PREVIEWS OF BOOK 2! NOW!
    And for the record. Dr. Cable did look awesomely scary and the tank where Shay was operated in was so fanastic. But if you were going for pretty, I liked the Dr. Cable with the long hair. Overall. AWESOME!!

  37. asdfghjkqwertyuhvc!

    It were amazing!!!! Even though the characters looked almost nothing like I pictured, they were still just as epic. My favorite panels were the one that showed shay’s reaction when she found out what would happen to the pretties in the crims’ little trick, ho’s face when he saw the pretties the first time, the part where it shows how Shay sat in her room the whole day, contemplating, where she was dangling off the side of the coaster, the whole page where Shay broke down and killed her room, how when shay was explaining the smoke to Tally, she kept wrapping herself in the blankets, Shay’s hair when she has Tachs on the board under her, the page where shay realizes that David likes tally, mostly her face at the end, and that whole part where the specials attack, and shay’s all “FIGHT THEM!” probably because I was writing this story where my character does the same thing…

    BUT MY ALL TIME FAVORITE PANEL was the very last one, where shay’s all pretty. She looks all expressionless and blank, like she had her brain removed and has no idea what’s going on, but like she doesn’t care at all. Very much how pretties had been described in the books. Also, I like her hair :3

  38. I didn’t pick up on Helen-wa’s connection to milli-Helens, that’s very clever! I don’t think that’s where the idea originally came from though, as Helen of Troy (allegedly the most beautiful woman in the world) was referred to as “the face that launched a thousand ships”.

  39. I’ve removed a bunch of Kony comments from this thread. I’m not in favor of kidnapping child soldiers, of course, but I am against spam. Also, the tactics of Invisible Children are problematic.

    If you want to read a balanced look at this, check out this post from Ethan Zuckerman:

    http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2012/03/08/unpacking-kony-2012/

    Feel free to discuss this matter here, of course. You guys can talk about whatever you want on these threads. I just work here.

    But spam gets deleted.

  40. I’m sorry, Scott. I read each and every comment and I havent read a word of the books! But I LOVE WHERE THIS IS GOING ANYWAY!
    I guess it’s really just my nature, I’m just such a big cheater…. I’m not sure if I told you this yet but, I read Pretties before I read Uglies, now the spoiler thread? I guess I just don’t like surprises… heehee my friend (immediately after I told her that) said she would throw me a surprise party just for that reason, and I told her that everyone would be like”SURPRISE!” and I’d pull out a gun, close my eyes and open fire… I don’t think I’ll be getting that surprise party 🙂

  41. P.S. Scott, you know how earlier, I was begging you not to make movies of the Uglies series (I’ve accepted that you will now) and I said that I would clean the bottom of your shoes with my tongue? Well, my birthday is Monday, and I was wondering if I could have that shoe that you might’ve someday sent me. I will even send you a picture of me licking it, if you want. Please e-mail me about that, because that would make my life complete!

  44. @38: Yes, milli-helens is a reference to Helen of Troy. But Zane would have come up with it at some point, and why not when he had a girlfriend named Helen? So it merely broadens the tale.

    @41: I wish this was the weirdest thing a fan had ever said to me. But it’s not!

    Sorry that some of you guys are having trouble finding Shay’s Story. But if a book store doesn’t have something, you can always order it through them (no shipping charges), or at least let them know what you wanted.

  46. I just finished it yesterday and it was good! @36 I finished it the same day I got it too. And I hated David in this. I want to know when the next one comes out!

  47. Loki-
    The next one comes out this year, I think. So these aren’t as slow as regular books. Not sure about the third one, though.

  48. @36 I also pictured Zane with short black hair when he turned pretty. I think it was because of the book cover for Pretties. So I didn’t really like the long locks….

    Soooo happy to hear that we can expect to see the second one later this year!! I’ll be counting down 😀

  49. I cannot find the book ANYWHERE. I’m sorry, but this thread is the only thing keeping me from going insane.

    Scott-la, just out of curiousity, what WAS the wierdest thing a fan ever said to you?

  50. I was a bit frustrated with the art. I think the uglies were to pretty and that the pretties were kind of grotesque. I thought they looked to extreme for what the committee would allow. alsi, weren’t the specials all supposed to have black hair? I don’t know, Bobbe of the characters matched my image of them, though that’s to be expected.
    I really liked the orchid field. I wish we got a better shot of the hole in the wall. The story was great and I’m excited for the next one.
    Also, Davids hair was stupid. :p

  51. @44- haha. Although, I wasn’t going for that, and I would also like to know what the weirdest thing a fan ever said to you was? And, you realize that with these books out, we’re all going to SOB for weeks when that horrible, awful thing happens in Specials.(I cried for weeks just reading it, but seeing it? I’m gonna need that shoe for something to live for…)

  53. I’m actually serious about the shoe, Scott. I mean, I probably won’t lick it (unless I can’t have it if I don’t,) but still, it would be quite an accomplishment to own one of my favorites authors’ shoes….

  54. And, I didn’t mean for it to sound that weird, it just did. However, I could make up WAY weirder stuff to say, although, it would not be true…. heehee sample: I have Tally’s face tattooed on my butt, and every anniversary of when Uglies came out, I moon everyone I see! (Again, this is NOT true, just an example of what other weird things I COULD say and take the spot for the weirdest thing you’ve been told by a fan.)

  55. I finished it! Firstly, Ugly Zane was way cuter than Pretty Zane. Having said that, I no longer think Tally belonged with David, mainly because he’s a jerk. I’m still trying to fit jerky Daivd in with the David from the original books, though. It’s probably going to slowy drive me insane.

  56. I’m so happy, because everyone just LOVES Zane now! I know this guy, his name is Zane, and he has long,wavy,inky black hair, really sharp cheekbones, and brown eyes, almost the perfect Zane! Weird right?

  57. I loved it! A clerk from our Barnes and noble had to go to the back to get the five copies that were in stock… It was a nightmare getting a hold of one copy but well worth it! At the end of Shay’s story it stated that the next book is finished- so when should we expect it? Can hardly wait!

  58. I have to say I Love Shay’s ridiculously long anime hair I never imagined her with it and it works wonderfully

  60. I loved it! I just got it today and as soon as the mail came i ran outside to get it. I like the ending and i agree that David was kind of a jerk.. my question is why is Shay’s hair so long?

  62. I agree. David was really frustrating! I wish the book had spent more time in The Smoke though. I loved the Crims’ trick! Great Book Mr. Westerfeld!

  63. SCOTT!!!! HOW DO YOU KNOW CASSANDRA CLAIRE???? Cuz she wrote about you in her acknowledgements in “City of Ashes”!!!!!!!!!!!!! APPARENTLY YOU HELPED HER ” GET OFF THE COUCH AND FIND SOMEWHERE TO WRITE!!”

  64. @59- it’s not true, but it is really amusing to think up things like that. 🙂
    And, Scott, I’m reading Pretties (again, I just got it for my birthday, and I’m still hoping for that shoe!) and when Zane first comes into the picture, is he dressed as a Nazi? P.S. Page 57 makes me smile SO big every time… And thank you for being such an AMAZING writer!(the best EVER in my opinion!)

  65. I finally got it!!!! Even though I’m not a huge manga fan I loved it! Shay-la is my second favorite of Scott-la’s characters(behind Deryn). I am really glad to know why Shay and Zane didn’t go in the first place I’mglad Zane didn’t just chicken out, he’s too brave for that. I never really liked David and this just proves it. I’ll have to show it to my Dally shipper friend.

  66. @ 64 I’m pretty sure he’s dressed as a Nazi they did have kind of cool uniforms in an evil overlord kind of way.Did I mention the ugly crime are so cool, and hoverboard teams! Is it weird that I want to live in prettytime and run away to the smoke. I’m a rebel at heart, I need something to fight against. I must say one thing SHANE(Shay/Zane)

  68. So yeah. I have to admit I never truly actually bought the book. to be honest I kinda sat in my school’s book-fair for an hour in a hidden corner and read. So what if I missed my math exam? Totes worth it, might I add. Anyway, Scott? Yeah if you’re reading this, I have many things to say.
    1st: I know everyone hates David now, but I can proudly say I never liked him! Am I seriously the only one? But after this, I seriously wanted to Gibbs slap him up the side of the head. Maybe I just have a thing for the underdogs and was rooting for Zane from the beginning. *shrugs*
    2nd: Speaking of Zane, I really liked the background on him as well as multiple other characters, though I cannot decide if I like ugly Zane of pretty Zane better. Can we not just combine the ugly face (which by the way is DIFFIDENTLY not ugly *cough**cough*) and the black hair? If anyone drew me a picture of that then I will give you my cat. Like seriously.
    3rd: Question about the movie. Is there anything else that you can tell us? Any updates? I mean I’m sure that if you knew anything big you would post it, but even the small details are appreciated.(:
    4th: Scott-la, I am just so happy you made a graphic novel. It answered all my questions that I had left over from the series and I am suber uber duber excited for the next one. I am even considering giving you my cat, because I am so happy. (and have nothing else to give. *cough*) but if your allergic to cats, I have a hermit crab too, and it has Nemo on his shell. So no worries, right? (and whoever is willing to draw my that picture previously requested, don’t worry I have more than one cat.)

  69. wowwww! it is so visually amazing!!!
    i love shay. she’s my favorite! and it is really cool to get this insight from her point of view about everything that is going on vs what we know going on thru tally’s eyes.

    AMAZE.

  70. @68- I NEVER liked David. At all. I fell in love with Zane on page 57 in Pretties (still haven’t got the manga 🙁 ). And now I will (attempt) to draw that picture, but with the gold-flecked eyes so often mentioned in the book (and I don’t need another cat).

  72. @70– If you love Zane and hate David then you MUST get the manga. It’s so great! And if you do, I will seriously love you forever. Especially if he has gold-flecked eyes. 😀 (Well I have some Red Vines, if you want those?)

  73. I’ve been an Uglies fan from the start loving every book and behind the scenes book. I am so stoke you, Scott, wrote another book in this series! Thank you so much. I loved this graphic novel and am very excited for the future books. I loved having Shay’s side. It wasn’t just a story going along with the former book but actually changing the characters we love into people we despise (like David and Tally). We see their flaws through Shay’s eyes. I loved it. I also love that this is the explanation into why Shay and Tally could never be the greatest friends, more like frienemies. When reading Uglies, I never understood how Shay could hate Tally SO much, however now I totally agree with her. The greatest part is that it makes me want to re-read the series!
    Thanks again Scott!
    Absolutely enjoyed the story and the universe again.

  74. Just finished the manga! Here’s what I think:
    1) I liked the Special Circumstances tracking thing as a framing device.
    2)The side characters–they’re not just names, they have actual faces and personalities! I like Astrix, I like hacker characters and she seemed to be the one who most knows what she’s doing. 😛
    3) The trick the Crims were pulling…was creepy. I think I would of liked them better if they didn’t have to pick such a creepy trick. I was kind of relieved to find the pretties didn’t actually mind, but I guess that’s expected, since they’re programmed to not complain and just go along with everything, and it’s not like they’d have body image issues. It kind of made the idea of the legions creepier, if someone tried to pull a trick like that on me it wouldn’t matter how good I looked, I’d still be creeped out and pissed and think I’d have a right to be.
    4) The uglies are too pretty! This in and of itself is excusable, because you need detail to show the little imperfections of someone’s face, and the manga doesn’t show that detail. Besides, one of the points of the book was that the uglies weren’t ugly. But the thing is, I can barely tell the difference between the pretties and the uglies! I think it takes away from the suspension of disbelief if you can’t see some difference, even if it’s just visual cues like much bigger eyes, big lips, little glowy halos around them, something! The pretties did look vapider, but that was the only thing I could see.
    5) The specials aren’t scary enough! The book led me to believe they’d be smack in the middle of the uncanny valley! Instead they’re just good-looking thugs. I thought their uniforms were clever though.
    6) I liked the character designs for both Tally and Shay. Shay’s hair as an Ugly was epic! Way better than when she was a pretty. It was weird to see their conversations from the book in manga form.
    7) I actually didn’t picture David hot. I pictured him rougher, and with a ponytail. 😛 I’m fine with the manga’s interpretation of him though. Interesting to see how arrogant/egotistical he was, I guess being the legend all those uglies looked up to went to his head.
    8) I actually though ugly Zane was better looking than pretty Zane (and what was with those straps he wore?). I had always assumed ugly Zane would have had black hair, and that when pretty Zane dyed it it was ’cause he was trying to look more like his old self. Nice to get more background on him though.
    9) We’ve seen Zane, Astrix, Ryde, Croy, Ho, and Shay save Tachs (that part was awesome!). Now the only one of Shay’s friends that we didn’t see is Fausto. I wonder what happened to him?

  76. @75- that always bothered me too… And remember, the purpose of the operation was to relieve the world of all ugly people by doing plastic surgey, but this had another side, it also eliminated all the truly beautiful people, Tally even thought that Shay was pretty close to being a pretty (just a bit too skinny) so it would make sense that SOME uglies were better looking before the operation…

  77. I will always love David. ;[ To me.. I think David changed as a person BECAUSE of Tally. So even though he made mistakes in the past, WE ALL DO. So.. stop beating up on the poor guy.. Im sure you all have done some crappy things in your life too your not proud of.. but people can change and I see that at the end of Specials with David. :/

  78. omg it was soooooo goood but i realy want to see a graphic novel of specials that was my favorite book.ps. Scott-la u rock!!!!!!! also at # 68 i couldnt find it in barnes and nobles so when i found it in my book fair i literally screamed and everyone was looking so i told them my name was sacagewia!!!! lol

  79. I read the series and loved it u say….. I read the books and started to talk ugly,pretty,specials and it is so bubbly making. My friend now calls me Shay-la!!! = )

  82. I hope the third one comes out. Have read shays story and cutters, but totally want a third one. I have to see shay and tally as specials!!!
    Love the ugliers series

  84. No but seriously…it’s been nearly 2 years. When is the 3rd one coming out? You’d better not leave us hanging! Shay has always been my spirit-character even from the original trilogy when she wasn’t the true focus. I don’t even like Mangas, but I love these graphic novels because they reconnect me to alter-ego!

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