Beauty Queens

DNF'd but interested me. 

I'm really annoyed with myself for not giving up sooner, but I'd had this on my TBR list for so long, and the premise sounded so good, that I just kept trying. But around the 40% mark, what was a bit silly and meh turned into full-blown weirdness and ridiculousness. Nope nope nope.

I kept thinking “what a weird little snarky fever dream of a book” as I read this, and I love it. I wish I'd read it sooner. 
Yes, some of the characters are flat, but that's true of the reality TV and pageants it mocks. And any girls being encouraged to care less about others' opinions and see the world differently and plan for the future as a teen would only be a good thing.
It's a dark little funny story. I loved it. 

Doesn't take itself too seriously. Author narrates her own audio book, and nails the character voices. It's a fun read if you're willing to have a Hunka Hunka Burning good time. Oh, and there are Elvis jokes.

What an enjoyable book! Do yourself a favor and try this one on audio if you have the chance. The production value is amazing. A plane of teenage beauty queens goes down on a deserted island. However will they manage without a team of primpers? But they more than manage, they thrive. But not everyone wants them to thrive as a secret plot is revealed. Will the beauty queens show they are more than just a pretty face? You know they will, but how they navigate it is truly hysterical!

A bunch of teenage beauty queens are stranded on an island. Sure they could go all Lord of the Flies, or they could tackle capitalism, the patriarchy, and the beauty industry. Each chapter is led with a “commercial” that both parodies a real world commercial with scathing accuracy and foreshadows plot developments in unexpected ways.

Without spoiling the actual story, you can expect sexy pirates in tight pants, Scottish James Bond preferring his haggis “boiled, not stir fried,” and sensational boy bands.

Also, add Libba Bray to the list of ridiculously skilled people I'll forever be in awe of.... She narrated the audiobook version of this herself and it's incredible.

This is a dark comedy about a group of teen pageant contestants stranded on an island after a plane crash. Unfortunately, it's just not very funny. The author loves driving already weak jokes into the ground (the trust fund guy with The Corporation says “you misunderestimated me” five or six times, the Borat style jokes with the dictator character go on way too long, the tray in that one girl's forehead comes up again and again) and the girl power stuff comes off preachy and heavy-handed. Every girl is an embarrassing stereotype and the way the mistreatment of the trans character is brushed off really rubbed me the wrong way.

3.5 this book is jonathan swift???s ???a modest proposal??? level of satire and is completely upfront about that. it makes clear pretty early on what it sets out to do, and then just does that! the message is so extremely in your face, but also, it???s a good message, so why not? very enjoyable overall

The narrator for this book I thought was really good. There is a lot in this book I like, there is piece that is missing that's not pulling it together for me. I might try this again at a later time.

LOVED THIS BOOK

I overall enjoyed the book, but some stuff wasn't needed. And with this I mean the pirates. They add nothing to the story. And I mean /nothing/. The story would have been the same without them there. Less sex scenes and romance, but that's it. They didn't need to be there. They didn't help in the resolution of the story at all. Iwish they had not been added tbh.

I also have to say, as a bisexual girl myself, that as much as I appreciated the calling out of the sexualization we suffer, I did not appreciate the backtracking on Sosie. Being hesitant to be in a relationship could have happened in any of the idk how many f/m ships in the book, but it had to be the maybe-bi character that's not sure? I would have preferred it if it had not been teased at just to be taken back.

And before someone says it, I know questioning people exist, but having the supposed to be bi character be the one hurting the lesbian because maybe they're actually straight is a Bad Trope.

Those were really my two biggest problems with the book. I do also feel like the commercial breaks were fun at first but boring as the chapters went by.

I listened to the audiobook version and have got to say that the narrator is absolutely amazing. The narrator is none other than Libba Bray which is also super extraordinary. She does multiple accents, multiple genders, and so SO many characters. I think the extra .5 star to make it 4 stars is from how awesome this was to listen to because the story... well, I”ll explain.

When the audiobook started, I was ready to give it 5 stars. I absolutely loved what was going on, the reveals were interesting, and the girls were ridiculously funny. After about 50% though, I started... getting uncomfortable? or things would happen that would put me off. It also seems unbelievable to me that people stuck on an island wouldn't search the whole island, but maybe that is just me?

Besides the plot, everything else was pretty amazing. I loved the characters– no I don't even have a favorite. There are different types of girls present (YAY) and they talk about more than boys and beauty products, but liking dressing up or wearing makeup is not shamed upon either. Adina, the character that is pretty anti- stereotypically female things, tries to tell people that why she dislikes things and sometimes she can get a bit dismissive of those stereotypically female things, but the other girls balance it out. So, I'd say there is a moral to this book that I liked too! Be who you want to be and respect who others are. Oh! And don't let the patriarchy or corporations tell you how to live your life!

There is a bit of romance here too. I think it was all done well, even if I one incident broke my heart. I was so attached to these girls, that things hit a little hard. But, the book shows healthy and unhealthy relationships and actually frames them that way. It was delightful to read about.

Satire and thoughtful commentary in a like-totally-fun package! I adored this audiobook, and the author's performance of the characters took it to 11. Off to read more Libba Bray ASAP.

ridiculous and I loved it.

Actual Rating: 3.5

First of all, I have been in such a reading slump lately. But I just got a new book (Lady Midnight, eek!) and so now I feel reinvigorated. Also- The Winner's Kiss and Half Lost come out in about 9 days, so I'm totally flipping out about that.

Anyways.

This book... I have no words. It was satirical, yet it also possessed deeper elements that I did not foresee to be there. Also- feminism! The book was huge on feminism. And not scream-in-your-face feminism. It was more exaggerated examples of the lack of feminism in society, and honestly, I think that left a greater impact than having the author jam feminism down my throat like “YOU'RE GOING TO EAT IT, AND YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE IT.”

Themes and underlying messages aside, the characters are fantastic. Someone will be relatable, whether it is quite-literally-crazy-Taylor, ditzy-blonde-Tiara, or aspiring-journalist-Adina... there is bound to be someone you will relate with. There's romance too, for all you romance lovers. And everyone has their own relationships. It is just fantastic.

Oh, and the one-liners. The one-liners! They are phenomenal and I was cracking up at times due to the subtle use of puns and satire. And thank goodness it was satirical- I wanted humor from this after all. Just a side note- there is plenty of foul language and sexual innuendos.

The things I didn't like were just that it seemed really slow in some spots and disorganized in others. I occasionally found myself putting the book down and wondering what in chocolate's name had I just read.

I certainly recommend it. It's fun. You'll be a fan.

I think I lost IQ points after struggling through this book.

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 [b:Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics 168484 Feminism is for Everybody Passionate Politics Bell Hooks http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327933698s/168484.jpg 843092] but performed as a set of desert island monologues. Or something??The plot about the Corporation weaponizing Lady Stache Off and selling out the Teen Dreamers to preserve their weapons deal/ratings was kind of over the top/dystopia tropetastic but who even cares.I also loved all the super over the top fake pop culture references. And footnote humor! I LOVE FOOTNOTE JOKES. I could definitely see where this would NOT be everyone's cup of tea, but I would drink a whole pot of this. So to speak. IDK, metaphors.

Waarom dit boek zoveel lovende commentaren krijgt is mij een raadsel.
Het begon allemaal heel beloftevol, maar dan werd het gewoon krankzinnig. Ik heb mezelf letterlijk moeten dwingen om het uit te lezen, gewoon omdat ik niet graag een begonnen boek onuitgelezen laat, maar het was eerlijk gezegd een groot tijdsverlies. Ik heb er zelfs geen ster voor over.

Uitgangspunt: Een vliegtuig met 50 schoonheidskoninginnen en hun begeleiders stort neer op een onbewoond eiland. Allen sterven, op 13 schoonheidskoninginnen na. En dan is het een kwestie van te overleven, terwijl het ergste wat ze ooit hebben meegemaakt uitlopende mascara is.

Zie, dit uitgangspunt is heel beloftevol. Ik verwachtte me aan een satirische, hilarische reflectie op de huidige, oppervlakkige en op het uiterlijk gefixeerde maatschappij. Maar wat ik kreeg was een eerder bizar - Lucy-in-the-Sky-with-Diamonds bizar, als je begrijpt wat ik bedoel - verhaal, waar de organisatoren van de schoonheidswedstrijd zaken doen met dictators, waar haarverwijderaars ook perfecte bommen maken en sexy, Britse piraten toevallig op hetzelfde eiland landen en toevallig net één perfecte piraat voor elk van onze meisjes is. Oh ja, en het onbewoonde eiland is niet zo onbewoond.
Mjah, jammer, want het kon zo veel beter.

What a ridiculous book! There are several moments in this book that have heart and a message and would be great in a book that was better written. Sometimes the satire and the comedy in this book overrode the plot and characters which made it a little hard to read. There were some parts where I'm like, “this isn't necessary!” She could have probably gotten some of her points across without the commercial breaks and fact sheets. But for what it's worth, I've never read a book like this so Libba Bray gets credit for doing something original and clearly having fun with her work. It's a decent book that should be given a shot.

Though it's not my favorite Libba Bray book, I found I couldn't put it down. I love her sassy turn of phrase and the way she crafts her characters. Sometimes I thought the subject appeared a little heavy-handed, but overall it was beautiful, funny, a great read.

Short review: A funny satire about a group of beauty pageant contestants that crash land on a deserted island. The main theme of the book is finding your real self and not living the life that others place upon you. It is not a deep book. The revelations are not that surprising. But it is a fun book and has a pretty good message.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/beauty-queens-2/

Beauty Queens I'm going to be honest: I hated this book when I started listening to it. It grated on my nerves and made me cringe.
 
Then I figured out it was satire and was supposed to (thanks to some nudging from Amanda).
 
Once I embraced it for what is was... it was epic y'all.
 
EPIC!
 
I couldn't get enough of it. Let's not even talk about the story yet- I'm talking about Libba Bray's narration. It was flawless. It was stupendous. It was freaking amazing. Want a taste? Check this out (watch the whole thing, but the audiobook portion starts at 2:20):

[click through to my blog to watch the video]
 
How can you not fall in love with that kind of performance?
 
Story-wise, I absolutely fell in love with all of the characters by the end. Yes, even Taylor. I must admit, I think my favorite parts were Tiara's one-liners at the end of the chapters. Even though at first they thoroughly creeped me out because of her voice.
 
I really don't have anything bad to say about this one. I'm not sure my opinion would have been quite as favorable if I had read it instead of listening to it, so I'm definitely glad I listened to it. There are footnotes. And commercials. And it's just... epic. Seriously, there's no other word for it.
 
And really- they need to make it into a movie. Yes, I really think that.

This book is just fun. Are the characters over the top? Yup. Is it too preachy at times? Oh yeah. Does Bray hit the same target over and over and over again? Yup. But usually those targets have it coming.

There are plenty of flaws in this book, but Bray's style, tone and message(s) work so well that you ignore them easily and forgive them all even more easily. A great, fun read–even for a guy like me who is nowhere near the target audience.

Amazing.

Suffered a bit from being read directly after a novel that blew me away, but still fun, smart, and with a great message. Libba Bray has never disappointed, and I love how she constantly imagines something new and unique. I would recommend for older teens.