Beauty Queens
Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: My 24, 2011
Pages: 400
Source: ARC received from Publisher
About the Book: From bestselling, Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray, the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.
Teen beauty queens. A “Lost”-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to email. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.
My Thoughts: This book is made of awesome. Seriously. From the premises to the cover to the footnotes (yes, footnotes!) I adored it.
Beauty Queens starts off with “A word from your sponsor.” The Corporation wants to warn you about the book and let you know how you should feel about it. Throughout the book they break in to give commentaries, footnotes, product placement and commercials. I love the snarky style of these interruptions. I think that it will appeal to older teens.
At the start of the book we see all the girls as simply beauty queens. As the story moves along we get to know more about each girl and her reasons for being in the pageant. I really liked this approach. We learn that under all the snark there is a story of friendship, courage, loyalty, love, and searching for who you are. Also, hot pirates. The story is definitely more than it seems on the surface.
Random things I loved:
*The line, “Awkward, we know.”
*Sonic Screwdriver mention
*Libba’s oh so true opinion on dolls (Note to Libba: NEVER go to House on the Rock in Wisconsin… Creepy dolls EVERYWHERE! They even have a carousel of them!)
*David L. Evithan
*The footnote about librarians
*”Man flower”
*The way the girls introduce themselves by their titles first (Hi! I’m Miss ________)
Also, you should read this Q & A on amazon in which Libba interviews herself.
Loren Chase
I loved this book as well! And I though her Q&A with herself was made of awesome 😉
~Loren
Lindsi
I’m almost finished with this book! I was a little confused at first, but not I’m interested in the underlying story.
lisa (the nerd)
i love that you loved this! i do adore the snarkyness of it for sure.
Beth S.
Loved this review! David L. Evithan. Ha! That’s awesome!
Can’t wait to get my hands on this book!
Ashley
So glad to hear you liked this one! I’m SO insanely excited for it! I cannot WAIT to read it! And every great review gets me more and more excited! 🙂