Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Title: Beauty Queens
Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Page Count: 396 pages

When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.Written by Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again. 

5/5 stars

Non-spoilery Review:

I absolutely loved this novel. I've been wanting to read this since I saw the cover a few years ago, but it wasn't until I received it for Christmas this year that I got a chance to read it. If the book had just been a comedy and not so satirical, I don't think I would have liked it so much. I honestly thought I was going to hate a majority of the characters, but as we got to know them one by one, I found I couldn't even choose a favorite. I've seen a lot of reviews bashing this book for being "typical" and "overly feminist" but I didn't think that at all. I loved how every character had their own special backstory and reason for joining the pageant that we slowly learned throughout the book. The book truly showed how feminism is for every kind of girl imaginable, a message that is incredibly important today. The plot of this book is completely unique in the sense that you will have commercial breaks and fact pages and such. If you haven't read this book and you enjoy quirky comedies and interesting female characters, then I urge you to go and check it out! If you have read it, let's head on down to my spoilery review.

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Spoilery Review:

Holy crap. I freaking LOVED Taylor. At first, I couldn't stand her and got frustrated every time she came up in a scene, but after she heard the radio say that rescue wasn't coming, I fell in love with her character. Nothing says badass quite like blowing up a snake with a can of hairspray.

It was great to watch the girls grow and develop, especially Nicole and Shanti. At first they simply saw each other as competition but being on that island forced them to realize that they had a lot more in common than they thought, and I adored how close they became.

At the very start of the book, my favorite character was Adina, since I felt like I connected with her the most. Before reading this book, I despised pageants all together but still considered myself to be a feminist, just like Adina. I sort of grew along with her character as I came to see that yeah, these girls might spend forever trying to get their hair and nails just right, but they aren't just a shiny exterior. They are an actual person inside, with hopes and dreams and fears.

Those pirates. Oh, those freaking pirates. At first, I was so annoyed when they showed up, like, why are you disturbing these girls? They were making a ton of progress in figuring out who they were and then, boom, testosterone arrives and they seemed to revert back. But it wasn't until the pirates actually left that I realized just how much I missed them. Honestly, as crazy and frustrating as they could be, they were hilarious, and let's be real, Sinjin St. Sinjin was pretty phenomenal.

The plot was so cool, what with The Corporation's tid bits. I liked how satirical it was, showing through a joke just how messed up our own society is. There were times when the plot seemed too fantastic, despite being satire, but for me at least, it was pretty easy to get over those parts and enjoy the story.

My favorite part has to have been when the Teen Dreamers banned the word "sorry". I loved that they realized that they used to the word to apologize for their own existence. I realized that I start every question I ever ask in school with "Sorry, but..." . It's just become a reflex, but it's ridiculous! It's not just me either. Just like the girls in this book, tons of girls I know do the same thing. And I realized that seldom do you ever hear a guy starting his questions like that. So it's New Year's Eve, and when I type this there are only 30 minutes left in 2014. I've decided that my new year's resolution (one of many) is to stop saying "Sorry" every time I raise my hand in class.

As for the ending, I actually enjoyed it. I didn't think I would like how neatly it tied everything up when they gave little blurbs about their futures, but for this particular book, it somehow worked. 

Overall, I adored this book. I read it in two days while I was on vacation and could scarcely put it down. I thought the plot and characters were funny and entertaining, and I hope you enjoyed it too! In the comments below, tell me what you thought of the book! Did you like the satirical style or was it too cheesy for you? Who was your favorite character? Let me know!

As always, happy reading!
~Kera