theatomicpirategirl's review against another edition
4.0
Narcotic teen beauty queens + Lord of the Flies – adult supervision + political conspiracy + TV show pirates = Beauty Queens by Libby Bray.
I tried to win a copy of this on GoodReads, but alas, no. So I ended up checking the book out from my wonderful library. Libby Bray needs to thank whoever came up with the cover of this book because it’s clever and smart marketing. A bandolier of lipsticks?! Agh! Brilliant!
But onto the meats and potatoes of the book: The story. I was skeptical of reading this despite its awesome cover. Its been awhile since I’ve read a young adult book that didn’t offer a pallet of spooky supernatural characters and plots. I have to say: totally surprised! Actually, pleasantly surprised!
Let me sum up for you fine folks:
Plan crashes on the way to a beauty pageant run by the Big Brother-esque company called The Corporation. Only a handful of the girl survive and, with no adult supervision, and they are wrangled by an alpha female, Miss Texas, who insists that they continue their beauty pageant routines because they want to look good when they are rescued. The remaining girls discover not only who they are as individuals, but also, a secret Corporation compound and that they do not plan on saving the girls. Then we meet a dictator named Momo B Chacha, a U.S. presidential candidate and Corporation head honcho Ladybird Hope and a whole slew of Reality TV show pirates.
I think what I loved most about this book was that despite the crazy plot, the characters seemed relatable. Sure, they were all basket cases, but having once been a teenage girl, emotions and hormones are always running on overload. It makes you a little unstable. Ask my folks and my brother. I mean, they had to deal with three teenage girls who are eighteen months apart. I’m surprised there wasn’t some kind of hormonal angst ridden nuclear fallout at my house growing up.
What I think Bray did best was to make this book is make all the main girls have secrets. They range from their past, their true intentions, and who they really are. Not going to give the secrets away though. Because I’ll just ruin the book for you! This is a reflection on all of us always wanting to be accepted, so we cover up who we are and mix with the flow of conformity. But who is to say that people wouldn’t like us for who we are? I think that this is the subtle message that the Bray weaves in her story. And if some people think you’re a freak? Who cares? There is always someone out there who gets you. Nice message in a world where everyone is always lumped into some social group.
Bray’s writing is easy to read and made the book go by really fast. I was kinda bummed when I got to the end and it was, well, done. I liked how she interested little breaks between the chapters: commercial breaks, questionnaire sheets the girls filled out, the “classified files.” There were a couple parts that I had to go back and read because I got confused with the sudden shift in the 3rd person narrative, but that is my only complaint about the entire book. Oh! And a total bonus: This book is so funny. They things that happen to these girls and what they do to in response made me laugh out loud.
I think Libby Bray tricked us in marketing this book as a young adult novel. This is, in fact, a book written for adult females so we can look back on our awkward time as teenagers and say “thank god we made it!”
I tried to win a copy of this on GoodReads, but alas, no. So I ended up checking the book out from my wonderful library. Libby Bray needs to thank whoever came up with the cover of this book because it’s clever and smart marketing. A bandolier of lipsticks?! Agh! Brilliant!
But onto the meats and potatoes of the book: The story. I was skeptical of reading this despite its awesome cover. Its been awhile since I’ve read a young adult book that didn’t offer a pallet of spooky supernatural characters and plots. I have to say: totally surprised! Actually, pleasantly surprised!
Let me sum up for you fine folks:
Plan crashes on the way to a beauty pageant run by the Big Brother-esque company called The Corporation. Only a handful of the girl survive and, with no adult supervision, and they are wrangled by an alpha female, Miss Texas, who insists that they continue their beauty pageant routines because they want to look good when they are rescued. The remaining girls discover not only who they are as individuals, but also, a secret Corporation compound and that they do not plan on saving the girls. Then we meet a dictator named Momo B Chacha, a U.S. presidential candidate and Corporation head honcho Ladybird Hope and a whole slew of Reality TV show pirates.
I think what I loved most about this book was that despite the crazy plot, the characters seemed relatable. Sure, they were all basket cases, but having once been a teenage girl, emotions and hormones are always running on overload. It makes you a little unstable. Ask my folks and my brother. I mean, they had to deal with three teenage girls who are eighteen months apart. I’m surprised there wasn’t some kind of hormonal angst ridden nuclear fallout at my house growing up.
What I think Bray did best was to make this book is make all the main girls have secrets. They range from their past, their true intentions, and who they really are. Not going to give the secrets away though. Because I’ll just ruin the book for you! This is a reflection on all of us always wanting to be accepted, so we cover up who we are and mix with the flow of conformity. But who is to say that people wouldn’t like us for who we are? I think that this is the subtle message that the Bray weaves in her story. And if some people think you’re a freak? Who cares? There is always someone out there who gets you. Nice message in a world where everyone is always lumped into some social group.
Bray’s writing is easy to read and made the book go by really fast. I was kinda bummed when I got to the end and it was, well, done. I liked how she interested little breaks between the chapters: commercial breaks, questionnaire sheets the girls filled out, the “classified files.” There were a couple parts that I had to go back and read because I got confused with the sudden shift in the 3rd person narrative, but that is my only complaint about the entire book. Oh! And a total bonus: This book is so funny. They things that happen to these girls and what they do to in response made me laugh out loud.
I think Libby Bray tricked us in marketing this book as a young adult novel. This is, in fact, a book written for adult females so we can look back on our awkward time as teenagers and say “thank god we made it!”
kirstennicole's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rattybluestocking's review against another edition
5.0
So I was conflicted about this book. I did like it, there were some awesome elements, but there were some things I didn't like about it. After giving it thought for the past day I decided what I really liked outweighed the few things I didn't like. Five stars! And I would read this book again.
I loved the girl power and be yourself elements. It was great seeing girls banding together inside of fighting and cattiness. What I especially loved was the LGBT element and that romance. It was also refreshing for a YA novel to have romance take a backseat. But having LGBT be part of the story and having it treated so normal was awesome!
So in all this book is great! I love it! Everyone should read especially young girls. :-)
I loved the girl power and be yourself elements. It was great seeing girls banding together inside of fighting and cattiness. What I especially loved was the LGBT element and that romance. It was also refreshing for a YA novel to have romance take a backseat. But having LGBT be part of the story and having it treated so normal was awesome!
So in all this book is great! I love it! Everyone should read especially young girls. :-)
roseybot's review against another edition
3.0
I'm hovering between a 3 and a 4. I'm more on the side of the three though. I really did want to like this book -- satire, feminism, etc. -- but me and Libba Bray have had some issues in the past (see how I still haven't finished the last of the Gemma Doyle books... it's staring at me, asking me why I moved on), and this book just exacerbated them.
I felt cheated of the story when, and the romances were all... it was just very contrived in the end. And .
I kind of felt like she was trying to throw every kind of person into this story. Some were interesting and good and it was great to see representation, but it also felt very divorced from reality. Maybe I don't know enough about beauty pageants, but it all felt contrived.
If the satire had been better it might have carried the contrivances, but it wasn't quite enough, and Bray did a lot of "Oh hey, look, I'm pointing a bright light at this message and flashing it on and off, pay attention here", which bothered me.
Overall, I think it was good. It was funny in parts. Nicole's story made me cry, cause I had a lot of feelings about it. I just think it tried to do too much without paying attention to the details that could have made it great.
I felt cheated of the story when
Spoiler
the pirates appearedSpoiler
what she did to Taylor upset me, which is silly cause I didn't like her all that much, except for a book that proclaimed so many feminist views, it was weirdly ableistI kind of felt like she was trying to throw every kind of person into this story. Some were interesting and good and it was great to see representation, but it also felt very divorced from reality. Maybe I don't know enough about beauty pageants, but it all felt contrived.
If the satire had been better it might have carried the contrivances, but it wasn't quite enough, and Bray did a lot of "Oh hey, look, I'm pointing a bright light at this message and flashing it on and off, pay attention here", which bothered me.
Overall, I think it was good. It was funny in parts. Nicole's story made me cry, cause I had a lot of feelings about it. I just think it tried to do too much without paying attention to the details that could have made it great.
thatoneseason's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
gingeraffe21's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
geo_ix's review against another edition
2.0
This was most definitely not my cup of tea at all. The writing style left me confused all the time, while I still thought it was clever.
The first 50-60% of the book I ached to put it down and never read it again. It literally took more than a month to read because I had to keep putting it away and picking something else, but I refuse to be a quitter, I mean I can't like everything I review. And I refuse to review something I never finished like I know some people do.
I did kind of like it, the characters ended up being fun, my favourite was Tiara and Taylor but only Taylor towards the end. I liked the Pirate captain sinjin, and I liked agent jones's man flower drugged alter ego.
The first 50-60% of the book I ached to put it down and never read it again. It literally took more than a month to read because I had to keep putting it away and picking something else, but I refuse to be a quitter, I mean I can't like everything I review. And I refuse to review something I never finished like I know some people do.
I did kind of like it, the characters ended up being fun, my favourite was Tiara and Taylor but only Taylor towards the end. I liked the Pirate captain sinjin, and I liked agent jones's man flower drugged alter ego.
woodendress's review against another edition
2.0
Eh, this book was just ok. I felt that it tried too hard with the satire and I agree with the Book Smuggler. It was more of a spoof than a satire.
ajlacassie's review against another edition
2.0
I got till 20% and couldnt take it more. Its not a bad book its just that this kind of books are not for me. Im sorry but i really tried.