Beauty Queens

Libba Bray serves up a terrifying prediction of the future from her 2011 book with Beauty Queens. There is no way this wasn’t written in 2017 and then post dated back to 2011, but apparently it the relevance it has to today is probably better than it was even back then. There have been a lot of reviews celebrating how great this book is and I hate to spoil it, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do too.Beauty Queens has been compared to Lord of the Flies, only with girls, actually the book compares itself to Lord of the Flies, but it isn’t really what this is about. Maybe the armature is the same, maybe it really is an apt comparison, but when one is bleak and dark, this one is hilarious and only terrifying in that it really does capture how much our species kind of sucks. Yes yes, the book is really about finding beauty in the ugliness (I’m almost certain that is the armature) but still, it’s depressing that a book written six years ago could be so accurate to today. Maybe culture didn’t change that much, but it seems like not only did it, but it changed in exactly the way this book predicts and that is horrifying, way more than Lord of the Flies because at least that book is fiction, but Beauty Queens? Yeah, kind of not.For those of you not sure yet, this is a very feminist novel. It is one of the most feminist novel’s I’ve ever read and especially so with a modern slant. These days the going trend is that women can and should do what they want to do, you know, like men have been able to forever. So that means being tough! Or.. not, it’s all up to you. There is no measure of success for being a woman or a girl and that’s fine, even if you want to be like a home maker or something. Anyway, if you’re really anti-feminist then maybe you should pass this book up and dig a hole and then jump in it. Seriously, repressing women is the vilest of vile you should be ashamed.Maybe you don’t want to read this book because it’s too preachy, you know saying girls can do stuff and it’s okay to be beautiful, or not beautiful. . ect. Well, let me tell you a few good things about this here hole. No one will tell you to treat people respectfully or with dignity in the hole. No sir, (or madam, turns out women can be sexist too (a point not lost on this book ) ). Anyway, this hole is perfect, there isn’t any troublesome women wanting to have their own views, thoughts or opinions in there, plus you can pretend it’s nineteen fifty. Or you know, twenty seventeen because we’re still pretty sexist it turns out.Okay, but what if there are actually things you don’t like in this book? The first act does set a very interesting stage in that the book seems to take place like it were a television show. Not like, they’re filming a show secretly, but like you’re actually watching a show. This isn’t a secret, it’s given away in the opening and then through the entire story with commercial breaks and what have you. This means a lot of the stuff that goes on has the license of a corner tv series or movie and the book really takes advantage of that at times. It didn’t bother me, but if you want serious and down to earth then for reals this might bug you.There is LGBT material in this story and the book is pretty unapologetic about that. If that bothers you then you’re in luck, the hole didn’t go anywhere. You can still enjoy it with the same hole holiness that you would of if you climbed in for the feminist stuff. Seriously though, if feminist or lgbt themes but you than this really really isn’t the book for you.Ultimately, I found this book to be one of the best things I’ve read ever. The surrealism wasn’t my favorite, but it was all in line with what the author was doing and therefore fit just fine with the action. The topics are all of interest to me so I didn’t find any part of it preachy, but I guess some people will, so you’ve been warned. There really is a lot of beauty in the ugliness and this book shows it, with an extremely good grasp of writing and story telling and humor, Beauty Queens is truly an essential read.

When satire is done well, I mean really well, there is nothing like it. The subtle (or not so subtle) poking of fun at society is so skillful, you almost don't recognize it at first. I love to teach Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five to my senior literature classes because satire is such an interesting literary tool for inward self-realization. But Young Adult literature doesn't often touch satire; I guess because it is a sophisticated method of writing? But Libba Bray wasn't afraid to break down the boundaries for YA lit with Beauty Queens. She wrote a hilarious, scathing, and eerily familiar satire that will have you laughing and reflecting the whole time you plow through this "beauty"!When 50 girls, one from each state, fly to the Miss Teen Dream contest, they didn't expect a plane crash on a deserted island. They especially didn't expect to have to learn to survive on their own. Only a handful of girls survive the crash, and all the adults are killed. The girls that do survive are a motley crew, full of a transgender former boy band singer, an anti-pageant feminist who plans to take Miss Teen Dream down from the outside, a die-hard Texan beauty queen, a budding young lesbian, and a girl with a severe hearing impairment, among others. The minorities are of course represented, as they should always be, with an Indian girl who touts her immigrant success story, but is really just a valley girl, and a black girl from Colorado who everyone notices doesn't "talk black". That's right, all your cliches and stereotypes are present and accounted for!The Corporation runs the pageant, as well as most of the world. They create/control most TV, products, and even the secret (or not-so-secret) arms deals. The Corporation has become a huge monster that hides behind silly reality TV and cosmetics. Its connections with Ladybird Hope, former Miss Teen Dream and presidential hopeful, are disturbing at best. But the Corporation doesn't want the beauty queens found- if they are, the islands dirty little secrets will be revealed. In particular, their arms deal with MoMo B. ChaCha, dictator of the Republic of ChaCha (ROC) where they plan to sell him weaponized Lady 'Stache Off against the sanctions on his country. They hope the beauty queens will just die off, but what they aren't prepared for are some seriously butt-kickin' ladies who have developed some serious survival skills amongst their baton twirling and Sparkle Pony dances! These girls aren't going down without a fight! Now add into the mix some fake reality TV pirates (one of which is a cross-dresser and is very excited the girls have recovered some of their high-heels) and you've got yourself quite an island.Sadly, I just don't think my description does this story justice- it was absolutely hilarious! I loved the snark filled satire, complete with descriptions of a Scottish spy character who prefers his "haggis boiled, not fried". Bray did a marvelous job of slipping into a world of complete buffoons and social commentary cleverly disguised as a simple "survival on a deserted island" story. Truthfully, you won't be able to put this beauty down, even if the bathing suit portion of the show is coming up!With the presence of satire, I would say this would be a great book for that child or student who really gets subtle humor or is fairly sarcastic themselves. This story is going to seem silly and vapid if the reader isn't able to understand the undertones of the story. I can think of a handful of snarky (I love snark!) students who would absolutely love this story. The cover might turn off a couple of boys (or make them more interested), but this story would work well for either male or female readers- it is snarky fun for any gender! It really reminded me of "Lost" coupled with "Miss Congeniality" and a healthy dose of Lord of the Flies thrown in for good measure. I absolutely loved this story, and it certainly appealed to my own snarky side!

According to this book and the Teen Dream Beauty contestants, women and particularly girls tend to apologise immediately before or after voicing their opinion. For example: "I'm sorry but I just think..." or "I really don't like such-and-such, sorry but that's just my opinion". So in true girl power spirit I'm going to openly, honestly and without apology declare that I EFFIN' LOVED THIS BOOK! In every single possible way.This is what every teenage girl should be reading. In fact, scratch that, it's what every teenager regardless of gender should be reading. This is the novel that has compiled it all, pretty much every single young adult issue has been condensed into this 380 (give or take) page book of awesomeness. I won't go shouting about it being everybody's favourite book... I'm sure that just isn't true and the mixed reviews so far have only proved my concerns about Libba Bray's humour not suiting everyone and the strange format in which the book is written also won't appeal to every single person. But, god if it isn't important!It says everything that needs to be said. It also says what people think and don't say because they're afraid of looking bad or being laughed at or being pitied. It's not just a book about gender, feminism, slut-shaming, beauty myths, depression, family issues, homosexuality, transexuality, race, racism, disabilities and feeling inadequate. It's about all of those things combined on a desert island where a bunch of Teen Beauty contestants struggle to survive without hair straighteners, make-up and lotions.I expected this to be another 'bitch' book. What do I mean? I mean the stories where girls turn on each other and destroy one another through carefully manipulated psychological abuse. I expected a combination of Lord of the Flies and 'Mean Girls'. This is not that book. This story is the one where girls, who in other circumstances are little more than each other's competition, come together in a time of crisis and find that just by sticking together and opening up to one another they come to understand more about themselves and how they are far more important than the labels they wear.This is the message I've always wanted to see and I understand why some people don't think this is the reality. I've read some reviews where it seems to be the opinion that girls in these circumstances would turn on each other in true high school bitchy fashion. I disagree. Yeah, I'm going to say that (and I'm not going to say sorry either, lol). I think that, in fact, I know from experience that people act differently when in a crisis. Priorities change and you see whole new sides of people's personalities. That is what happens here. When the girls' world is turned upside down, they do what they must to survive and, through doing so, realise a great deal of important stuff too. What I love most is that while Libba Bray's message about beauty being of no real importance is obvious, she also works to show the reader how that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with a girl wanting to look nice. This is an expression of sexuality and the novel's all for that. Can a girl who wears make-up be a feminist? Of course, ridiculous question!This is a book about survival, femininity and (kinda cheesy but I love it) being yourself. I thought it was wonderful and all the time managed to stay on the right side of that fine line between feminism and misandry. If you learn nothing else from this book, at least take away the fact that every opinion is just as important and you should never apologise for your own... on that note, I am completely, shamelessly and unapologetically (I looked it up and it is a real word!) in love with this book.

The book premise is that a group of teenage beauty queens survive a plane crash on an island which isn't what it seems. Simple enough. But with this plot in mind, I beg you to do a few things for me.1) DON'T believe any mornonic reviewers that say this book is basically Lord of the Flies meets Lost because this is not an accurate reflection of this novel at all. There are vague similarities, but the grittiness of Lord of the Flies and the earnest mystery of Lost are nowhere to be found. Yes, there is an island where strange things happen, and yes there is a group of young people creating a society in the absence of adults. That's about as close as the stories actually intersect.2) KEEP READING. This book is more than the sum of its parts. Yes, it's a satire initially, but please don't think you know where the author is going with it in the first 10 pages of the book, because you very likely do not.If you follow those two rules, what you will find is a satirical commentary on gender and expectations combined with a reflective feminist primer book that eases the reader into the idea that things don't have to be just what they seem.I'm being crypic, I know. To say it more plainly, this book is excellent and it needs to be read. It's got some very adult scenarios (transgendered person and loss of virginity, the importance of safe sex, to name a few.( This makes it difficulty for me to name a bottom limit as to which age group I'd recommend this for. Then again, perhaps if I'm wondering how old someone should or shouldn't be, I've missed the message of the book entirely.

Much more enjoyable to read despite being the same pretence as lord of the flies - modernising it and adding the other elements of the corporation added so much! I really loved the ending and how you got to see in to the girls’ futures a little too (no spoilers beyond that) - the characters were so much more relatable and sympathetic with a vast array of diverse traits - amazing book and I can’t recommend it enough! I’ll definitely be re-reading too!

I bought this as a last-minute addition to my holiday reading list, on the off-chance disaster occurred and I was left with nothing to read.I have to say, it just rocketed to the top of my list of favorites.Starting out as a fluffy novel perfect for reading on the beach, the startling wit, fantastic humor and genius highlighting of important issues that affect women today really made this a pleasurable book to read.I enjoyed the notations as an unusual addition to a fiction book, they added even more laughs and not-so-subtle digs at our image obsessed society.I would classify the story as a mix of Miss Congeniality + James Bond + Lord of the Flies = Awesome!

Libba Bray has written a story where you can't avoid thinking about  Lord of the Flies  by William Golding and  Heart of Darkness (Penguin Classics)  by Joseph Conrad. In a violent crash landing on a beautiful island, the entire cabin crew, the pilots, the film crew and 37 Miss Teen Dreamers loose their lives while the remaining few needs to find a way to survive. As dark as that may seem, Libba Bray made me laugh out loud again and again.The story unfolds against a dystopian backdrop: The world is obsessed with beauty, and nothing is worse than being ugly. Through footnotes, "commercial breaks" and classified documents we learn quite a lot about the world we are seemingly isolated from on the island.The way I see it, Libba Bray does two things with this novel. She critizises an increasingly shallow world with a consumer mentality that encourages very shallow values over personality, and she critizises those who can't see the girls (and boys, for that matter) under all the glitter and makeup. The beauty queens in this book are more than beauty queens: they are girls, but they are not allowed to be who they are. They are forced into roles by the outside, and they are judged based on those very roles. All this is written satirically, and it's at times hilarious.The only reason I will not give this book 5 stars is because I think the girls lack a sense of adventure and exploration (I'd expect more despite Taylor's rules!), and I find it strange that some of the girls withhold very important information.But overall I recommend this book. It's funny, warm and unfortunately disturbingly spot on. Lord of the FliesHeart of Darkness (Penguin Classics)