Friday, July 1, 2011

Review: Beauty Queens - Libba Bray

Where I got it: My collection (been awhile eh?)
Rating: 5 stars  
Cover Rating: 5 stars (I really think this might be the greatest book cover ever. It also totally captures the whole book perfectly. ^_^)  
Genre: Young Adult  
Publication Date: May 24, 2011  
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Page Count: 390 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon

A group of teen Beauty Queens are in a plane when it crash lands on a mysterious island. All the adults are dead and most of the other Queens are dead too. There are a few survivors. Adina is Miss New Hampshire, she's not one for pageants, but is more of an investigative reporter. Then there is Taylor who is Miss Texas through and through and will always go out fighting, because she refuses to lose. There are a few other girls and every one of them is hiding something; something from themselves or something from the other girls, but something. So what do a bunch of defenseless Beauty Queens do when stranded on an island after surviving a plane crash? Maybe they panic, or maybe they try and show the world they are more than their looks. Or maybe they go crazy and get killed, who knows? It is a tough world out their for the beautiful.

Oh my goodness, buy this book right now. Don't worry, I'll wait....Have you bought it? Did you love it? Well, I certainly did. This book had everything I could ask for in a summer read. It had kickass protagonists, tiaras, island, espionage and deception. I loved Adina(obviously, GO TEAM NH), except for the fact that her name is Adina. She was a very welcome brain in a sea of beauty. I appreciated that each character had something about them that made them different, and the thing they had most in common was the pageant. I also thought it was great that there were two stereotypical Beauty Queens. I don't know if I could buy a story about Beauty Queens if they were all super intelligent and good at survival. At some points in the novel it gets a little confusing who's who, but once you get to know the characters it gets a lot easier to tell them apart. I love how sarcastic this whole novel was, and I love all the jabs Libba made to some people. The formatting of this book was perfect for the feel, I loved the commercial breaks and all the little snippets like that. I could go on and on about this novel, but I mean, what more can I say other than; if it sounds like something you would want to read, buy it you won't be disappointed. The characters really cam to life, especially the ones that were parodies of real people. Almost every girl had a bizarre secret, and I loved getting to know them through their backstories. I almost wish this book was longer just so I could know even more about them. I don't really know what book to compare this to, but it's definitely not anything like Libba's Gemma Doyle trilogy. This book was a funky, spunky, witty ride about human nature and the ridiculousness of media.

First Lines:
"This book begins with a plane crash. We do not want you to worry about this."

Favorite Lines:
"'Her buttocks remind me of tiny cats."

"She bestowed the blessing of a wild girl's lips." 

"'What kind of person doesn't let you have gummi bears?'"

2 comments:

  1. I'm having the hardest time getting in to this book! What is wrong with me?? lol Maybe if a persevere a little longer it will click for me. Everyone seems to love it.

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  2. Glad to see you loved Beauty Queens! Doesn't Miss NH represent? For my first Libba Bray book, I was very impressed. I picked up Going Bovine after reading it because it also seems like a different kind of book.

    And I love your favorite lines. The whole gummi bear scene is hilarious!

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