Many centuries into the future after our current civilization has been destroyed by Widespread Chaos the world has changed greatly. At the age of sixteen everyone undergoes a procedure turning them from a repellent Ugly to a perfect pretty. Uglies live in Uglytown with a curfew and rules while Pretties live in Prettytown where the only rule is to have fun. Uglies dream of the day they turn sixteen unable to wait for their turn to be pretty and see old friends. But some Uglies are different some don't want to turn pretty leaving them no choice but to run away before they turn sixteen to a place called The Smoke. The Smoke is a place for runaway uglies they do things differently and use nature to their advantage.