Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

18 reviews

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

3.75

This was a wild ride. I didn't know quite how satirical it would be but I was pleasantly surprised at how funny I found it. It's a strange read all the way through and the ending reached new levels of absurdity but I was happy enough to go along with it. It was published in 2011 and while I never read it at the time, it does have some quality which reminded me of other YA books I read in the early 2010s. It's aged pretty well and lots of the social commentary is more relevant than ever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Death

sarah984's review

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Outing, and Transphobia

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Xenophobia, Vomit, Death, and Islamophobia

fairylightreads's review

funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Transphobia, Eating disorder, and Homophobia

humanmessofaperson's review

emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Mental illness, and Transphobia

Minor: Animal death, Death, and Gun violence

spookybecks's review

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

3.0

This is good silly fun! The satire is a little forced, but I enjoyed seeing the bond develop between the girls. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Transphobia

Moderate: Death

Minor: Cancer, Fatphobia, and Racism

alisonvh's review

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is so smart and so funny and I enjoyed it so much! I cannot recommend it highly enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Transphobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Eating disorder

nicmgray's review

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

Minor: Racism and Racial slurs

obviousthings's review

DNF at 29%. The author clearly tried to be trans-inclusive, which I appreciate, but the way the one trans character is incorporated into the plot just... really sucks. Some of the transphobia is addressed, and probably will be addressed further later in the book, but the way transness is framed here really doesn't sit right with me. Spoilers if you want to know the details:

Petra herself says she's "not technically a girl yet" because she hasn't had "the surgery" (ugh). The fact that she's trans is revealed when someone sees her naked, and the narrative doesn't do anything to counter the idea that she's been "deceiving" the rest of the group.

Frankly, I don't like the book enough to keep reading and see how this turns out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Racism, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Gun violence

Minor: Eating disorder, Cancer, Cannibalism, and Deadnaming