Beauty Queens in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Sep 20, 2012 Renata rated it it was amazing

Shelves: we-need-diverse-books, ya, humor

This was not what I was expecting, and I totally love what it ended up being. I thought it would be like, I don't know, Survivor but with teen beauty queens. But it was more like Lost with teen beauty queens (but without the super annoying ending of Lost).

I loved all the characters and their stories, and Libba Bray shows off some really smart feminist takes on beauty pageants, beauty products, sexuality, virginity, body acceptance, etc... It's kind of like Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate ...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Jessica rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult-and-kids

Beauty Queens imagines that a plane full of teenage beauty pageant competitors crashes on a remote island, killing most of them and forcing the survivors to band together to figure out how to keep themselves alive long enough to get back to civilization. It's full of snarky humor and criticism of societal expectations for teenage girls, though it falls short on character development and didn't quite work for me for that reason.

I love Drop Dead Gorgeous and wouldn't have minded if this book was b ...more

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Jan 12, 2014 Dana Berglund rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: youngadult, audiobooks

Satire, snark, and not-so-subtle digs at just about everything you can think of. a plane full of teenage beauty queen crashes on a 'deserted' island, and hijinks-and deaths- ensue. Bray skewers politics, reality tv, the beauty industry/beauty myth, feminism itself, and much more. When I started listening to the audiobook, I was literally laughing out loud. I told many people I came in contact with that they should read it. Eventually, though, the pop culture footnotes and overdone message starte ...more

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Oct 10, 2011 CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, audio

Oh, gosh, what to say about this book? Part of me wants to call it brilliant, and another part thinks it's a hot mess. The most accurate description I can think of is that reading this book is like reading a movie, one of those snarky movie satires where everything is mocked. and seriously, everything is mocked in this book. No part of our overcommercialized and sexualized, racist, sexist, militarized, reality TV culture of celebrity isn't savaged. Even preachy liberal feminists are mocked. They Oh, gosh, what to say about this book? Part of me wants to call it brilliant, and another part thinks it's a hot mess. The most accurate description I can think of is that reading this book is like reading a movie, one of those snarky movie satires where everything is mocked. and seriously, everything is mocked in this book. No part of our overcommercialized and sexualized, racist, sexist, militarized, reality TV culture of celebrity isn't savaged. Even preachy liberal feminists are mocked. They all get it. Sometimes it's funny and brilliant, and other times you feel like the author might as well just write her message on a mallet and beat you over the head with it--it's that subtle. OK, OK, OK, I get it. You're pro feminism. Pro gay rights. Pro trans-gender rights. Anti-giant corporations and war profiteering. I've got it already. Please stop hitting me! I thought you were against violence! geez. Some of the story twists weren't so subtle either (ahem--Petra, looking at you.), or were just plain silly (mind berries? really?).
Each character fulfilled a certain stereotype checklist, with the requisite twist and/or dark secret, so it was hard to really connect to or root for any of them. I felt bad for Taylor's character--I thought she deserved a better story than how she was written, one more like the other girls. Adina was obnoxious, and a lot of the other characters were annoying too. I DID like Tiara, though. She made me laugh out loud a lot, and was really quite sweet, and a quick learner. I think she grew most, out of all the characters, in useful ways.
I do think this book would be better as a movie. it's a very visual story, with lots of clever asides, diverse and relatively interesting characters, etc. And as a movie satire, the over-the-top silliness of some parts (wild girls? pirates? high schoolers who are competetent medics and engineers? seriously?) and the oversimplification of some characters maybe wouldn't seem so jarring.
If it can't be a movie, though, I do recommend the audio book format. Read by the author herself, quite well, with an astonishingly diverse array of accents, it was a great way to immerse myself fully in the story as the author imagined it. In all its quirky glory.
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Nov 13, 2012 Monica rated it liked it

Shelves: 2012, teen

I've read most of the Libba Bray catalogue and I'm still not sure how I feel about her. She is preachy, funny, broad, profane, didactic, and silly. Its an odd style, but at least she has something of her own and she's always swinging for the fences.

Beauty Queens is too long and at times my eyes were ready to roll out of my head at the absurdity of the story. But I kept with it, and I did end up being invested in this deeply weird story. Odd and fun. ...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Andronike rated it it was amazing

This is the only book I have ever ordered before it was published and it was worth the wait. This book is laugh out loud funny and Bray keeps up the momentum with witty style and grace, creating a social satire that is both entertaining and provoking.

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Dec 07, 2011 Nora rated it liked it

I wanted this to be amazing, but I'm afraid that after a while it got a little tiresome. The premise is fantastic. It's funny, it's clever, but it's also just a little much. As always, everything is timing. When you're not in the mood, you're just not. ...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Suzanne Hamilton rated it liked it

A funny combination adventure story/satire whose target audience is teenage girls. It takes aim at the superficiality of our beauty-worshipping culture, with side swipes at corporate greed, rampant commercialism, and 21st century imperialism.

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Dec 03, 2011 Leslie rated it liked it

Shelves: audio, youngadult

My favorite thing about this book is the cover. It really is fabulous. I also love the premise of this book.

I think maybe it was too long for me. What I thought was funny and satirical at the beginning, by the end became tiring: the stereotypes, the footnotes, the wackiness.

Bray did the reading of this audio version and I enjoyed her many voices. I also really enjoyed the "interview with the author" at the end. ...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Lori rated it liked it

Shelves: audio

Fun to listen to on audio. Definitely made doing the dishes more bearable. Light-hearted, somewhat ridiculous(on purpose) satire of so many things. Got a little more sexual than I thought it would in the beginning so I would definitely save this for older teen girls! Ended up making me laugh out loud, which is always appreciated. I guess I will have to give Going Bovine a try...

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Dec 16, 2012 Cristella rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, ya

The fifth star is for the narration. Libba Bray does a spectacular job with all the characters. There is a lot going on in this novel but the plot never feels overloaded.

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