Beauty Queens in Ask Libba Bray - Special One-Day-Only Group

Mar 21, 2011 Stephanie *Eff your feelings* rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, humor, ya, 2011

Kayso, like, after three books in a row that kinda sorta made me angry, I wanted to, like, read something totally funny and ridiculous. And I was like "Beauty Queens" a book about teen beauty queens on a plain, that like OMG, crashes on a desert island and they have to survive and stuff, wouldn't make me, like, have to think and stuff....none of that politicy stuff either....yuk.

But I was wrong. Yes this is a story about 50 beauty contestants for a pageant called Miss Teen Dream, and how the 12 ...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2011

Take one part Lost, one part Drop Dead Gorgeous and throw in a generous helping of Lord of the Flies and you're only just beginning to scratch the surface of Beauty Queens.

When a plane full of contestants for the Miss Teen Dreams contest crashed on a secret, deserted island, the survivors must try to navigate the islands dangers, a lack of supplies and hope to get rescued all with the grace, dignity and poise required of any beauty pageant contestant. After all, in our world of reality televisio Take one part Lost, one part Drop Dead Gorgeous and throw in a generous helping of Lord of the Flies and you're only just beginning to scratch the surface of Beauty Queens.

When a plane full of contestants for the Miss Teen Dreams contest crashed on a secret, deserted island, the survivors must try to navigate the islands dangers, a lack of supplies and hope to get rescued all with the grace, dignity and poise required of any beauty pageant contestant. After all, in our world of reality television, the island crash could be just part of the judging and there could be secret cameras hidden everywhere. Unknown to our teen pageant queens, the island is actually a top secret instillation where the Miss Teen Dreams parent corporation is working to feed a ruthless dictator with weapons of mass destruction. It just so happens that a certain beauty cream used by many of those in the contest is one tiny step away from being explosive compound.

In precise, biting satire, Libba Bray not only examines the conventions of beauty contests but also examines the societal views of beauty and what women will do to try and be considered beautiful. Interspersed with commercials from the corporation, the applications filled out by many of our main characters and stories focusing on the attempted cover up of the island and that the girls are alive, Beauty Queens quickly deconstructs beauty pageants and their participants. And it all does it with a smile and a flare for language that had me grinning at some points and trying to stifle laughter at others.

The problem becomes that the story begins to wear out its welcome sooner rather than later. As much fun as the book is, it still feels like portions of the story are being padded out in an attempt to make a humorous point or to set up a punch line for later. Much like an SNL skit, Beauty Queens begins to wear out its welcome during the middle third of the book. Despite all that, I was still intrigued enough to continue reading (Bray does a solid job of creating characters that you'll want to see through to the end).

And while I'm never one to judge a book by its cover, I will say that the cover for Queens is one that may send a lot of readers to read the books on their e-book reader. It's not necessarily that's any more provocative than many of the covers you see in the romance section. But I can see how the cover might raise some eyebrows or some interested looks. Just check it out and you'll see what I mean. I checked a copy out of my local library and I got some interesting looks from the librarians as I did. (Of course, I'm used to that).

But, don't judge the book just by its cover. If you're looking for a satire that is keenly observed and also amusing and funny, Queens is a must read.
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Mar 12, 2011 Morgan Maria rated it liked it

Shelves: own, ya, abandoned

I feel weird writing this review, because Libba Bray has long been one of my favorite authors. I felt REALLY weird admitting that after getting about halfway through, I had no desire to finish it. But I can't deny that this is, without a doubt, my least favorite of Libba Bray's books.

There were a couple of problems with Beauty Queens, the first of which starting with the concept itself. It's funny. It's absurd. These are things Libba Bray is good at, as evidenced by Going Bovine. But it lacked t I feel weird writing this review, because Libba Bray has long been one of my favorite authors. I felt REALLY weird admitting that after getting about halfway through, I had no desire to finish it. But I can't deny that this is, without a doubt, my least favorite of Libba Bray's books.

There were a couple of problems with Beauty Queens, the first of which starting with the concept itself. It's funny. It's absurd. These are things Libba Bray is good at, as evidenced by Going Bovine. But it lacked the morbid and sobering heart of GB; the main character was dying and there was no cure. This isn't to say that Beauty Queens isn't morbid - it's a story about pageant contestants trapped on an island after their plane crashed and killed everyone else - , but that fact gets lost in the character drama. And oh, there is SO much character drama. Which brings me to my next point.

There is too much going on. The cast of characters is extensive and pretty much everyone gets their fifteen minutes of fame on the page wherein we see the situation through their eyes. It's too much. We lose track of who is who, and what are they doing, and why are they doing it. And we never really get involved in these characters. Halfway through the book, I still hadn't connected with any of the girls. This disconnect was not helped by the fact that it was written in third person narrative.

Third person narration should never, ever detract from a story. But given how Bray writes in first person, I couldn't help but make comparisons to the grace and eloquence she normally had which was lacking in her latest novel. This is not to say that the writing is bad, but given the quality I'm used to from her, I can't help but feel she did herself a bit of a disservice writing in third and from so many perspectives.

Beauty Queens was a good book and I did enjoy parts of what I read. It's very much like a zany adventure movie. People like zany adventure movies. I like zany adventure movies. But I read so that I can really and truly get inside the characters of a zany adventure movie, and on that score, I felt let down. ...more

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May 02, 2011 Julia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, contemporary-fiction, humor, glbtq, arc, best-books-i-read-in-2011

This is a wonderful, subversive and funny novel!

Fifty Miss Teen Dream Pageant girls’ plane crashes on what they think is a deserted island. All of the adults, and frankly many of the girls die in the crash, leaving twelve of them. They build huts, construct fishing lines, make a rainwater filtration system using a hideous evening gown, a solar hibachi and weapons. They build a trebuchet using a Spanks girdle. Which turns out to be a good thing, because The Corporation that came up with the beau ...more

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May 07, 2011 Tricia rated it it was amazing

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

This is the second stand alone novel by Libba Bray. She also writes the Gemma Doyle series. This is the first I have read and I had the best time.
There are so many laughs here; I just loved this book. I am certainly moving Going Bovine way up on my TBR list.
There is a plane that crashes on an island. The plane was full of beauty queen contestants from the Teen Dream Beauty Pageant. The girls are determined to not only survive but still practice their pageant prepara ...more

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Nov 30, 2010 Brandy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library, audiobooks, 2011, adventure, realistic, teen, friendship, mentalhealth

Oh man. I loved, loved, loved this. Brilliantly demented, subversive and empowering and funny as all get-out. Such rich personalities, well-developed and sympathetic. Not an extraneous character in the main plot; each girl carried her weight through the story. This is one of my favorite reads from the past year.

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Jun 16, 2011 Juwi rated it it was amazing

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. so funny and just brilliant. cleverly written and kept me laughing or smiling throughout with random outbursts of horror or shock but that is one excellent novel which deserves as much credit as possible. =D

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