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

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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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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Jun 13, 2011 Jay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, favorites, nook

Libba Bray rocks my socks. I'd love to see this book replace one of the many super depressing books you have to read in women's lit in college. A book that puts it all out there AND makes you laugh. Golden. ...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Heather rated it it was amazing

Libba Bray is a masterful author. Most authors have the same, or nearly the same, writing style book to book. Not Libba Bray! The first books of hers I read were A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing. I loved these for the mix of supernatural and historical fiction. I then read Going Bovine which was a trippy heroes journey. The writing style was completely different from the first books I had read. Now, Beauty Queens. I love the style of this book- a humorous, yet r ...more

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