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bumblemee's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was such a wild mix of emotions that I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I read Going Bovine a few years back and this one felt a lot alike writing style wise. The humor, the absurdity, the messiness.
I liked a lot of things. Seeing the beauty queens grow and develop their identities, the handling of beauty standards and societys expectations towards girls/women. I think this book can make a lot of teenage girls feel understood and maybe help them reflect on things that are so implicit in a lot of social structures that they feel too normal to be challanged.
The characters grew on me as well. It was interesting for me to realize how I liked them all the more they became themselves. I felt for them and their individual struggles.
I also liked the amount of work that went into the audio production, like the musical elements.
However, I found this book to be a little messy. There was a little too much going on - I didn't mind that it got absurd, but sometimes I thought it tried to do a little too much at once.
Also, while some stereotyping made sense in the context of the satire that is this book, other stereotyping didn't. I do think that the author would've done a few things differently if this book came out now instead of 2011 - which was 13 years ago at this point, holy shit. I don't know if I'm simply not aware of similar books existing over a decade ago or if it was - in some aspects at least - a little ahead of its time.
All in all I'd recommend this book, if you are okay with absurdity.
I liked a lot of things. Seeing the beauty queens grow and develop their identities, the handling of beauty standards and societys expectations towards girls/women. I think this book can make a lot of teenage girls feel understood and maybe help them reflect on things that are so implicit in a lot of social structures that they feel too normal to be challanged.
The characters grew on me as well. It was interesting for me to realize how I liked them all the more they became themselves. I felt for them and their individual struggles.
I also liked the amount of work that went into the audio production, like the musical elements.
However, I found this book to be a little messy. There was a little too much going on - I didn't mind that it got absurd, but sometimes I thought it tried to do a little too much at once.
Also, while some stereotyping made sense in the context of the satire that is this book, other stereotyping didn't. I do think that the author would've done a few things differently if this book came out now instead of 2011 - which was 13 years ago at this point, holy shit. I don't know if I'm simply not aware of similar books existing over a decade ago or if it was - in some aspects at least - a little ahead of its time.
All in all I'd recommend this book, if you are okay with absurdity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Violence, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Transphobia
Moderate: Racism and Sexual content
amberwallace2012's review against another edition
5.0
Such a great story. Miss Congeniality meets Lord of the Flies.
I love all the back stories for the beauty queens, they aren't shallow people or air heads like they tend to be portrayed.
I love all the back stories for the beauty queens, they aren't shallow people or air heads like they tend to be portrayed.
hilikus_00's review against another edition
3.0
Initially I gave this 4 stars but I think I'll only give it 3.
I don't read “chick-lit”. I don't read YA. This book read like those two genres except that it touched on a lot of really important intersectional feminist issues and it did it in a way that didn't make me completely cringe anyway. It did so critically and in a way that aligned with my politics. If all chick-lit was written from a feminist perspective and written to touch on issues in this way, then perhaps I would read more of it. Perhaps...
The themes in the book were intelligent, however I didn't find that they were executed in an intelligent, manner. I think Bray bit off more than she could chew and tried to cram too many social isues into one book. Maybe that was the point though, to show that a handful of women have an equal if not greater set of issues. It touched on everything from disability to race, gender, sexuality and it did it in a fun way, but it just wasn't ultimately very...fulfilling.
I found the commercial chapters really irritating, to be honest. As well as most of the characters, actually. The writing style otherwise, was fun and light. I particularly enjoyed Petra, Taylor, Nicole and even Sinjin who I thought were the higlights of the book and were to me, the most dynamic characters.
From what I understand, this book differs greatly from some of Bray's other work but I'm still not sure if I feel inspired enough to pick anything else up.
I don't read “chick-lit”. I don't read YA. This book read like those two genres except that it touched on a lot of really important intersectional feminist issues and it did it in a way that didn't make me completely cringe anyway. It did so critically and in a way that aligned with my politics. If all chick-lit was written from a feminist perspective and written to touch on issues in this way, then perhaps I would read more of it. Perhaps...
The themes in the book were intelligent, however I didn't find that they were executed in an intelligent, manner. I think Bray bit off more than she could chew and tried to cram too many social isues into one book. Maybe that was the point though, to show that a handful of women have an equal if not greater set of issues. It touched on everything from disability to race, gender, sexuality and it did it in a fun way, but it just wasn't ultimately very...fulfilling.
I found the commercial chapters really irritating, to be honest. As well as most of the characters, actually. The writing style otherwise, was fun and light. I particularly enjoyed Petra, Taylor, Nicole and even Sinjin who I thought were the higlights of the book and were to me, the most dynamic characters.
From what I understand, this book differs greatly from some of Bray's other work but I'm still not sure if I feel inspired enough to pick anything else up.
kerameia's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the idea behind the story (the contestants of Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant accidentally crash land on a desert island and have to learn to survive). There were thought-provoking moments when the reader learned about the motives and true feelings behind certain contestants' participation in the beauty pageant. The dialogue was cute ...
... but the story lost me when it took an unexpected slight supernatural twist with one of the characters, introduced a boatload of (conveniently) hot & available pirates, and finished with a pretty dramatic coup against a supposedly-human-rights-violating-but-susceptible-to-cuteness-group of bad guys.
... but the story lost me when it took an unexpected slight supernatural twist with one of the characters, introduced a boatload of (conveniently) hot & available pirates, and finished with a pretty dramatic coup against a supposedly-human-rights-violating-but-susceptible-to-cuteness-group of bad guys.
ms_westgate's review against another edition
Dated, funny, satirical but didn’t need to finish
lauraborkpower's review
3.0
This book hit a perfect sweet spot of summer escapism during a pandemic. It's the book I've enjoyed reading the most since March, and not because it was great (it has major flaws), but because it easily drew me into its goofy world and kept me there with all of its sequins, corny dialogue, and teen-girl-survivalists.
Libba Bray's narration is often cloying, and she "does" voices for Black women, which should 100% never happen ever. But she is clearly having a great time, so I just sat back, accepted that it's not really a good book and she's not a good narrator, and I enjoyed the story.
Libba Bray's narration is often cloying, and she "does" voices for Black women, which should 100% never happen ever. But she is clearly having a great time, so I just sat back, accepted that it's not really a good book and she's not a good narrator, and I enjoyed the story.
jenmangler's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a lot of fun to read. Bray is pretty vicious in her takedown of beauty pageants, reality TV, and corporate culture, and I am here for it. It could have been even better without the addition of the teen pirates. Without planning to, I've now read two books in a row (the 1st was Girls With Sharp Sticks) with girls who start to critically examine society's expectations for them and realize how crap they are. They support each other and forge their own path, realizing that they are more capable than they knew and entitled to take up space. I love that.
boombaeyah's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Such a fun, hilarious and enjoyable book! I listened to the audiobook on my drives to and from work and found it to be a very easy and pleasant, I flew through it in a matter of days. I loved the premise and the humor and most of the characters. I would have loved to give the book 5 stars, however about half way through the book it loses some of its charm due to how repetitive it becomes. The foot notes and commercial breaks are almost too frequent towards the end of the story and somewhat interrupt the flow of the story. Plus, I personally found entire character of MoMo ChaCha to be obnoxious and takes up too much of the plot. The second half of the book almost felt like a chore to get through at some points but the feeling didn’t linger for long because as soon as I was read to drop the book it would get back on track with the enjoyable parts of the story.
Despite those minor criticisms, Libba Bray did a wonderful job with the book and her reading of it! Underneath the gimmicks of it all, the girls were all engaging and their connections were the real heart/appeal of the story. If you enjoyed the shows Yellowjackets or The Wilds, this is like a comedy version of that.
Despite those minor criticisms, Libba Bray did a wonderful job with the book and her reading of it! Underneath the gimmicks of it all, the girls were all engaging and their connections were the real heart/appeal of the story. If you enjoyed the shows Yellowjackets or The Wilds, this is like a comedy version of that.
herperfume's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A few years ago two male authors were proposing writing a female Lord of the Flies and then Libba Bray and everyone who has ever read/listened to Beauty Queens said SHUT YOUR MOUTH IT ALREADY EXISTS AND ITS PERFECT. Beauty Queens is a modern, capitalist fever dream and It. Has. Everything. Teen beauty queen contestants of all stripes. Survivalism on a tropical island. Reality TV. Commercial interludes. What happens when men intrude on an all female society. Destroying corporations threatening us all. And the author herself narrating the audiobook to perfection.
jgurniak's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn't sure what I was going to make of this novel and in some ways I'm still not sure. I liked it in the beginning and was sure that it was going to wind up being a great story on survival. Well, I wasn't wrong on the survival part but it wasn't what I had in mind. *SPOILER ALERT* Once the pirates came in I thought it became unrealistic and dumb. I could have lived without the pirates and the whole corporation. One thing that I did like though was that the author included LGBT. I give it 3.5 stars with the potential to be 4.