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heathercottledillon's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, Libba Bray. How you make me laugh! I enjoy Bray's satirical humor, and this "Lost" meets "Miss Congeniality" story is full of it. Sure, the satire is heavy-handed, but it gets the point across. Although most of the characters seem to be just stereotypes at first (exhibit A: the gun-toting, Bible-quoting Miss Texas), the layers peel back as the story progresses and before long I was rooting for every one of them. The story is extremely far-fetched, but isn't that what fiction is for? I rolled with it. In fact, the ridiculousness is one of the things that entertained me the most. Anything goes with this story, so I had no idea what was going to happen next. The ultimate conclusion is a bit predictable, but I'd probably have been upset if it had ended any other way so I'm okay with it. The overall message--"be yourself and don't listen to what society tells you about your worth"--has been preached to teens quite a bit. It's nothing earth-shattering, but I don't think anyone expects it to be after seeing the cover and reading the description. It lives up to what it claims to be: a fun, engaging story that will entertain many adults as well as teens.
wanderingjedi's review against another edition
1.0
Yet another book that promises a bisexual character and then fails to deliver in a decent manner. When she and another character are talking about sexuality we are provided with what amounts to a well defined "yes, I'm gay" from the lesbian character, while the supposedly bisexual girl gets these gems:
and
Ugh. Why do writers always feel like they have to make bisexual characters seem confused, or worse yet, go down the road of "oh I don't like labels". This is a trend that needs to stop. Bisexuality exists, and it's really frustrating to have representation dangled in front of you only to have it yanked away at the last second. Later on we are treated to even more of this sort of thing, and while she does at one point say "I don't know what I am, yet", which is nice because it clarifies that she's still figuring herself out, it doesn't really do much to make me less annoyed.
Now, to be fair, I know there are people who genuinely don't like labeling their sexuality, and that's totally fine. I also understand that there are people who are confused by their sexuality (believe me I've been there), and that's also fine. However, maybe people would be less confused if they actually got to see themselves represented every once in a while.
Incidentally I went to write a review after I finished re-reading this book, and discovered that last time I read it I only gave it one star. Apparently re-reading didn't change my opinion.
Sosie wasn't sure how to answer. Since she could remember, she'd had crushes on both girls and guys. They were person-specific infatuations...It seemed odd to Sosie that she had to make some hard-and-fast decision about such an arbitrary, individual thing as attraction, like having to declare an orientation major: I am straight with a minor in gay
and
Sosie didn't know if she was a lesbian; she was, however, a Jenniferian.
Ugh. Why do writers always feel like they have to make bisexual characters seem confused, or worse yet, go down the road of "oh I don't like labels". This is a trend that needs to stop. Bisexuality exists, and it's really frustrating to have representation dangled in front of you only to have it yanked away at the last second. Later on we are treated to even more of this sort of thing, and while she does at one point say "I don't know what I am, yet", which is nice because it clarifies that she's still figuring herself out, it doesn't really do much to make me less annoyed.
Now, to be fair, I know there are people who genuinely don't like labeling their sexuality, and that's totally fine. I also understand that there are people who are confused by their sexuality (believe me I've been there), and that's also fine. However, maybe people would be less confused if they actually got to see themselves represented every once in a while.
Incidentally I went to write a review after I finished re-reading this book, and discovered that last time I read it I only gave it one star. Apparently re-reading didn't change my opinion.
guillevaldata's review against another edition
5.0
AAAAAAA OMFG THIS BOOK! DIVERSITY, FEMINISM, GIRL POWER, HUMOR. IT WAS AMAZING! 4.5 <3
lyakimov's review against another edition
2.0
Well...this was SOMETHING. I went into this book expecting one thing, which was to read about beauty queens on an abandoned island, but came out of it with a full story and totally a plot that I was not expecting.
I feel like the messages were portrayed in a pretty realistic way, in terms of the objectifying of women and the slut-shaming. The character development for all of the girls was really interesting, but I still felt like the development was rushed.
I also felt like the romances were rushed in the novel, from one to the other it's just so dang fast-paced. Not that you can really flesh out multiple romances in a standalone about a bunch of girls, so it's not really that much of an issue for me.
I loved the writing style and how easily it was to read this book, and I liked the snarkiness that all the characters had, and that the Corporation had in all their commercials and their "alternate versions" of events. (That "alternate version" thing made me laugh so hard idk why). And I also really loved Taylor, but her development, if you could even call it that, was too rushed, and I don't believe she could've gone that far into the deep end that fast.
Overall, this book was just crazy and weird and went very unexpected ways. It's probably a 3.75, rounded up to a four.
I feel like the messages were portrayed in a pretty realistic way, in terms of the objectifying of women and the slut-shaming. The character development for all of the girls was really interesting, but I still felt like the development was rushed.
I also felt like the romances were rushed in the novel, from one to the other it's just so dang fast-paced. Not that you can really flesh out multiple romances in a standalone about a bunch of girls, so it's not really that much of an issue for me.
I loved the writing style and how easily it was to read this book, and I liked the snarkiness that all the characters had, and that the Corporation had in all their commercials and their "alternate versions" of events. (That "alternate version" thing made me laugh so hard idk why). And I also really loved Taylor, but her development, if you could even call it that, was too rushed, and I don't believe she could've gone that far into the deep end that fast.
Overall, this book was just crazy and weird and went very unexpected ways. It's probably a 3.75, rounded up to a four.
futurama1979's review against another edition
1.0
Disclaimer: I read this book for a class.
Basically, oh god, where to start. I guess: I take notes on every book I read for a class and I had 9 full pages of single spaced typed notes for this, and that's how many things I took issue with.
The pacing was so off. Reading this gave me the exact feeling that watching a classic kids' movie again as an adult and realizing everything was moving way, way too fast and simply to enjoy because it was made to cater to a 5 year old mind and attention span gave me. Only this book was written for a YA audience and was just paced utterly inanely. Bray moves too quickly from one thing to the next - not to mention incorporates a ton of extraneous elements - to actually develop her character arcs at all, or follow through on any of the bonds she has her characters forge. The speed Bray forced this story along at by default made the characters shallow, the plot shallow, the stakes shallow, because none of it was given enough time. And somehow this book is still 400 pages, which tells you exactly how much crap was shoved in to negate that length.
The plot kind of goes like "a plane crashes on a deserted island. at first the only issues are waiting for rescue and personality clashes between the ensemble cast made up of a diverse group of people, but they soon come to rationalize that rescue isn't coming and they have to build shelter and come up with systems for food and water. However, the island isn't what it initially seemed... not only are there remnants of an old civilization, like a temple, but there's another group of people, operating out of underground bases hidden in the jungle whose interests directly conflict with the survival of the survivees. Oh, and there's a crazy girl with guns in the jungle." If you're thinking, hey, kinda interesting, what I just described word for word was the premise of the TV show LOST. Which this book rips off not just the character development set-up and POV changes from but also most of the plot points of. Don't worry; if you're not a fan of LOST, that's not the only thing this book rips off.
The things that made the story unique - the relentless quips and attempted humour, the crash victims being pageant contestants learning to claim their identities, and the intercuts of "Words from our Sponsors" and "Commercial Breaks" - had me really interested because I'd never seen the exact combination of things that went into this book. But as it went on, I realized how derivative most of it was, how surface level. The things that stand out as unique at the beginning are beat like dead horses before the halfway point and Bray keeps on beating them.
I haven't even touched on the cruel stereotyping of every minority character, that vicious brand of 'woke' white woman racism, the liberal cis woman's loud championing of yet obvious discomfort with trans women, and I don't think I will at length. But: when you're a white author writing minority characters as exclusively their struggles and stereotypes for an audience of young readers, maybe "but it's satire!" isn't the trump card you think it is.
It's a bummer this book sucked so bad, because there were the beginnings of a lot of interesting themes and character dynamics. Just the beginnings, really. There are some moments that are better than others, some little wisps of this story that make me think I should have given it, like, a 1.5 star. But then I remember the rest of it.
Basically, oh god, where to start. I guess: I take notes on every book I read for a class and I had 9 full pages of single spaced typed notes for this, and that's how many things I took issue with.
The pacing was so off. Reading this gave me the exact feeling that watching a classic kids' movie again as an adult and realizing everything was moving way, way too fast and simply to enjoy because it was made to cater to a 5 year old mind and attention span gave me. Only this book was written for a YA audience and was just paced utterly inanely. Bray moves too quickly from one thing to the next - not to mention incorporates a ton of extraneous elements - to actually develop her character arcs at all, or follow through on any of the bonds she has her characters forge. The speed Bray forced this story along at by default made the characters shallow, the plot shallow, the stakes shallow, because none of it was given enough time. And somehow this book is still 400 pages, which tells you exactly how much crap was shoved in to negate that length.
The plot kind of goes like "a plane crashes on a deserted island. at first the only issues are waiting for rescue and personality clashes between the ensemble cast made up of a diverse group of people, but they soon come to rationalize that rescue isn't coming and they have to build shelter and come up with systems for food and water. However, the island isn't what it initially seemed... not only are there remnants of an old civilization, like a temple, but there's another group of people, operating out of underground bases hidden in the jungle whose interests directly conflict with the survival of the survivees. Oh, and there's a crazy girl with guns in the jungle." If you're thinking, hey, kinda interesting, what I just described word for word was the premise of the TV show LOST. Which this book rips off not just the character development set-up and POV changes from but also most of the plot points of. Don't worry; if you're not a fan of LOST, that's not the only thing this book rips off.
The things that made the story unique - the relentless quips and attempted humour, the crash victims being pageant contestants learning to claim their identities, and the intercuts of "Words from our Sponsors" and "Commercial Breaks" - had me really interested because I'd never seen the exact combination of things that went into this book. But as it went on, I realized how derivative most of it was, how surface level. The things that stand out as unique at the beginning are beat like dead horses before the halfway point and Bray keeps on beating them.
I haven't even touched on the cruel stereotyping of every minority character, that vicious brand of 'woke' white woman racism, the liberal cis woman's loud championing of yet obvious discomfort with trans women, and I don't think I will at length. But: when you're a white author writing minority characters as exclusively their struggles and stereotypes for an audience of young readers, maybe "but it's satire!" isn't the trump card you think it is.
It's a bummer this book sucked so bad, because there were the beginnings of a lot of interesting themes and character dynamics. Just the beginnings, really. There are some moments that are better than others, some little wisps of this story that make me think I should have given it, like, a 1.5 star. But then I remember the rest of it.
spaceemacee's review against another edition
5.0
I am a huge fan of anything written by Libba Bray. At first, I thought this book would be cheesy and non-dimensional but in the end it was an amazing read! I couldn't put it down. It was the perfect balance between action, girliness, and adventure! Loved it!
yodamom's review against another edition
5.0
4.5- audiobook
5- narration
What a fun unexpected read this was. I struggled through the first 20% not sure if it was a comedy or what. I went into this book with no knowledge of what it was really about, it was recommended by a friend. I would not have read it normally, the blurb sounds like something I'd avoid. Don't read the blurb people, jump in and have some fun with these beauty queen hopefuls. This is fun in the sun summer reading enjoyment, LOL for days reading.
What was the book about ? A plan crash, over the top stereotypical beauty pageant girls, corrupt companies, more corrupt people in power and self discoveries. There is also a lot of slimy snakes, bombs, bullets, death, sparkles, and moisturizers. This is a book about girl power.
Loved it !
5- narration
What a fun unexpected read this was. I struggled through the first 20% not sure if it was a comedy or what. I went into this book with no knowledge of what it was really about, it was recommended by a friend. I would not have read it normally, the blurb sounds like something I'd avoid. Don't read the blurb people, jump in and have some fun with these beauty queen hopefuls. This is fun in the sun summer reading enjoyment, LOL for days reading.
What was the book about ? A plan crash, over the top stereotypical beauty pageant girls, corrupt companies, more corrupt people in power and self discoveries. There is also a lot of slimy snakes, bombs, bullets, death, sparkles, and moisturizers. This is a book about girl power.
Loved it !
reader4evr's review against another edition
4.0
oh my gosh, this book was super funny! It was a little to long but I think it had to be with all of the twists and turns Libba Bray wrote. Loved all of the girls in the pageant, my favorite was Tiara. She had some of the best lines in the book. Ladybird totally reminded me of Sarah Palin (lol).
I am so glad that I listened to this instead of reading it. Libba Bray was probably one of the best narrators I have listened to in a long time. I think it is the best when authors read their own books because I think it makes the book more special.
All of the little hints that were done throughout the book and I think some teens would get it but not all...kind of on a higher level but I would not recommend this to any student.
There were only a couple things I didn't like about the book:
1. the footnotes
2. the commercial breaks
Overall, this was one of the funniest books that I have read in a long time.
I am so glad that I listened to this instead of reading it. Libba Bray was probably one of the best narrators I have listened to in a long time. I think it is the best when authors read their own books because I think it makes the book more special.
All of the little hints that were done throughout the book and I think some teens would get it but not all...kind of on a higher level but I would not recommend this to any student.
There were only a couple things I didn't like about the book:
1. the footnotes
2. the commercial breaks
Overall, this was one of the funniest books that I have read in a long time.
ecstarr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
Edit on 31st of August: Did a re-read of this book during my vacation. Oh my goodness, it was just too much fun. I would definitely love more books like this. I still agree with my review from 2013, the only thing I want to change is my rating. 4 > 5 stars!
Having this book for about 1 or 2 years, and trying to read the book about 2 or 3 times in that time span, I wasn't really looking forward to reading it again. But it was for a challenge of one of my groups, so I decided to go for it.
The book is satire, and you can see that pretty much immediately, it takes Reality TV, Sponsorship by corporations, products and things about beauty and mashes that all together to make this book.
There are little side notes, commercial breaks (highly annoying) and tells us about the characters through forms submitted for the pageant.
The book itself, starts of slowly and the characters are quite annoying at the beginning, but soon, about half way, they start to become more awesome, you learn more about them. And yeah, though I wasn't thinking I would, but I started to love the book.
The characters are awesome, from cute, beautiful girls with only one thing on their mind: beauty, they turn to kick-ass babes who know how to do stuff. They make huts, fishing lines and a lot more!
Also who can say no to a girl when she is carrying a flame-thrower? :)
Of course they are not the only ones around. We also got the Corporation wandering about, a cute guy and last but not least: Sexy Pirates... yes you heard me right. Sexy, bodacious pirates. *rolls eyes*
The pirates, well, let's just say they brought an interesting thing to the island. And it was fun to see how all the girls went from kick-ass to girly girls who batted their eye-lashes and acted giggly. Such a nice stereotype.
In overall, the book had it's up and downs. But the ups are more prominent than the downs. The only things I didn't like were the little notes at the bottom of the page, it would have been better if they were featured at the end of the book, less distraction. Also the whole commercial stuff, some were funny, but most were just lame and not interesting to me.
I would say, read this book, give it a try. If you like satire, and everything from beauty to corporations being trolled/joked about, survival and beauty queens, some Hollywood scenes then you will like this book!
I will also mention that this book is clearly not for tweens/teens. I would recommend this book for 16 or 17+, this due to some slight sexual scenes.
And as an extra some fun quotes:
“You want to know what pain is? Try running out of Advil when you've got a Category Five period. I've had cramps that would make grown men beg for a bullet between the eyes."
“Really, being a librarian is a much more dangerous job than you realize.”
“I hate this place,” Tiara whimpered. “It’s super creepy. Like a haunted Chuck E. Cheese’s where the games all want to kill you and you never get your pizza.”
Having this book for about 1 or 2 years, and trying to read the book about 2 or 3 times in that time span, I wasn't really looking forward to reading it again. But it was for a challenge of one of my groups, so I decided to go for it.
The book is satire, and you can see that pretty much immediately, it takes Reality TV, Sponsorship by corporations, products and things about beauty and mashes that all together to make this book.
There are little side notes, commercial breaks (highly annoying) and tells us about the characters through forms submitted for the pageant.
The book itself, starts of slowly and the characters are quite annoying at the beginning, but soon, about half way, they start to become more awesome, you learn more about them. And yeah, though I wasn't thinking I would, but I started to love the book.
The characters are awesome, from cute, beautiful girls with only one thing on their mind: beauty, they turn to kick-ass babes who know how to do stuff. They make huts, fishing lines and a lot more!
Also who can say no to a girl when she is carrying a flame-thrower? :)
Of course they are not the only ones around. We also got the Corporation wandering about, a cute guy and last but not least: Sexy Pirates... yes you heard me right. Sexy, bodacious pirates. *rolls eyes*
The pirates, well, let's just say they brought an interesting thing to the island. And it was fun to see how all the girls went from kick-ass to girly girls who batted their eye-lashes and acted giggly. Such a nice stereotype.
In overall, the book had it's up and downs. But the ups are more prominent than the downs. The only things I didn't like were the little notes at the bottom of the page, it would have been better if they were featured at the end of the book, less distraction. Also the whole commercial stuff, some were funny, but most were just lame and not interesting to me.
I would say, read this book, give it a try. If you like satire, and everything from beauty to corporations being trolled/joked about, survival and beauty queens, some Hollywood scenes then you will like this book!
I will also mention that this book is clearly not for tweens/teens. I would recommend this book for 16 or 17+, this due to some slight sexual scenes.
And as an extra some fun quotes:
“You want to know what pain is? Try running out of Advil when you've got a Category Five period. I've had cramps that would make grown men beg for a bullet between the eyes."
“Really, being a librarian is a much more dangerous job than you realize.”
“I hate this place,” Tiara whimpered. “It’s super creepy. Like a haunted Chuck E. Cheese’s where the games all want to kill you and you never get your pizza.”