Scan barcode
A review by bumblemee
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
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