Libba Bray

When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.

Beauty Queens

Ryan Mateyk

Goofy and campy and quite a fun time, despite it's silliness.

Vicky  Nuñez 

There are no words to describe the awesomeness of this book. Even now that I've finished reading it I am still laughing. 

Beauty Queens is a laugh out loud book whose main message is about women empowerment. The book is full of crazy characters who go through crazier situations that could only happen in a Libba Bray book or a Lady Gaga music video, but Libba B actually makes it work!

maryam

I didn't think I was going to like this book all that much, but what I wasn't expecting was to love this book a whole lot. The start was a little shaky for me, I think because it's so different from any YA book I've read, because it drips with satire and humor, but when the book starts to pick up, it really picks up. I love the whole premise of girl power prevalent throughout the book, how these outwardly vapid, individualistic girls become each other's support and also best friends. And wow, call me corny or cheesy, but I LOVE that. I love how there was actually a mix of plots going on, because from the front flap, it just seems really about some girls who get stranded on an island waiting to be rescued. But it's so much more than that. What really gets to me is the ending. It's so fast-paced and shows so much bonding and strengthening with the girls, it made me so happy and excited. I loved the themes in this book, about friendship and love and finding yourself. I don't think that this is just a girl's book. I think everyone should read it. I'm so pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book because it's so different and funny and charming and smart and also kind of weird. Who knew there could be a book on beauty contestants, reality pirate stars, and an evil, capitalist group, and it actually be good? I didn't, but I'm so glad I picked it up.

Survival. Of the fittest.The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream Pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner. What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up? Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

Nessa Luna

Actual rating: 4,5. I bought this book back in May last year, because I wanted a nice summer-y read for the upcoming summer. I then read a couple of pages, and put the book back on my shelf. I promised myself many times that I would pick up the book and read it, but I never did, until now. And now that I have finished the book, I wonder why the hell I waited this long.

Beauty Queens tells the story of fifty Pageant contestants, whose plane crashes in the middle of a deserted island. The survivors must try to survive in this jungle, until help comes. If help comes at all. I honestly really loved the concept of beauty pageant contestants stranded on an island with no help, no hair curlers and hardly any make-up at all!

I think the reason I put it on hold for so long, was Taylor. She was so annoying in the beginning of the story in my opinion, and I really had no patience for a character like that to be honest. But as the story went on, she kind of grew on me, and I have to say in the end I actually liked her character. As for the others, there was a lot of diversity and I really liked that. My favourite character, out of all of them, has got to be Jennifer. Partly because she loved comics so much and yeah I love it when there's a comic-loving character in a story. (view spoiler)[One thing I did find annoying, was that sometimes the characters kept on being named as their states, like 'Miss Texas' for example. It got really confusing at some points, and I really wished they had just kept to their actual names. (hide spoiler)]

This book was written in such a humouristic and sarcastic way, I honestly loved it so much. It was making fun of so many things and everything was just so over the top sometimes, and that is honestly my kind of humour (that and sadistic humour). I honestly loved the writing, and I really do plan on picking up more of Libba Bray's books. I loved all the little annotations that were made in the story and how it looked as if the Corporation had written the book, similar to Illuminae, but then with more story than actual files. I definitely live for these kind of books!

At the end, it got so thrilling, that I really didn't want to put the book down, and I think I finished the last 150 or so pages in one whole evening. I can definitely say Beauty Queens belongs on the list of my favourite reads this year, and I am still hitting myself for waiting this long to read it.

If you love stories about plane crashes and a group of people trying to survive in harsh circumstances (like Lord of the Flies), and especially if you love sarcastic stories that take the piss out of things, definitely definitely pick up Beauty Queens by Libba Bray!

My opinion in one gif:

Ummm..I've been holding off this book for a long, long time. Maybe it was about time I read it, so I did. One thing I could say about it is that it is pretty lengthy, or at least it felt lengthy. I've read books much thicker than this one but this one definitely felt the thickest. 

I didn't not like it, I liked it, I guess. Kind of. It was an entertaining premise and I was curious as to how these girls would survive but it just wasn't my type of genre I guess. I'm more into the realistic kind of stories, sure there can be magic and dragons and such but I guess maybe, just less animated interactions? And I know this book is not about that, it's dark comedy and satire, but I'm just not feeling it. But then again, that is just my personal opinion.

Jeannette Ordas

You know, I thought I'd hate this book - the language is all very knowing and nudgey and not subtle in the least. But the characters grew on me and I liked how the girls became feminists and set off to fight the big fight. S'okay!

Izza

I never laughed so much while reading a book. Perfect Summer Read.

jess

i tried reading this book a while ago but i dropped it very very quickly or never got around to it. well. i heard it was about feminism and very quickly picked it up again because wow am i interested in feminism and representation and all that other social justice stuff. and i was pleased on that end. representation of everything BUT the G in lgbt (even a trans* girl which is not seen often); women of color and best of all a cast that was full of girls who were all great and different and kickass and very well-written wow.

and yes, feminism. and that was good. i liked that about the book, that it showed that girls can be tough and not tough and crazy and that it’s okay to like feminine things and still be kickass and successful. that was good. the actual plot? not so much. 

the premise was interesting, but then it just got confusing. mary lou’s curse? what? i thought this was realistic fiction? and what was the corporation doing, and is this an alternate timeline. that was extremely confusing for me. and then the pirates. that just was confusing, but i tried not to pay too much mind to it because to me it just seemed like fun. 

and yes, the deconstruction of transnational corporations was enjoyable to me. i liked that as well. this was one of those statement novels - the novels that try very hard to make statements about things, and this made a statement about many many many things but it didn’t seem completely overwhelming and it was masked by plot, even if the plot was weaker than it could have been. (the only other libba bray books i’ve read was her a great and terrible beauty series and i remember enjoying those and the plot of those.) it wasn’t, say, like brave new world where it was like hey!!! i am criticizing this look at me criticizing this!!!

as for characters, i found that taylor, ninety-nine percent of the time, irritated the living shit out of me. and i guess that was supposed to happen. i loved tiara. okay. tiara was amazing. and petra, too. (i shipped them, for a bit.) i liked sosie. i had a love-hate relationship with adina. on one hand, she had good intentions and i agreed with some of what she was saying. on the other, she irritated me at times when she was making her own points about feminism. shanti misgendered petra a few times in the beginning, so that irritated me throughout most of the book. 

it wasn’t a bad book. but it wasn’t a good one either, and it was clear satire. i liked seeing a lot of things criticized, and sometimes it came off too strong, but most of the time it didn’t feel like that. 

i think i’ll give this a 5/10, and recommend it for anyone who likes satire of society because let’s face it that was the best part of the book.

(Audio Library Edition)

Latitude Tamarind

Danielle Raymond 

Should be required reading for all teenage girls. The feminist manifesto my soul need.

Tameka Young

I’m not normally a fan of audiobooks, but I really wanted to read this book and kept finding reasons to read other things. I'm so glad I picked this up as an Audible book. Libba Bray is not only one of my favorite authors, she’s one of my favorite people. I absolutely loved listening to this story as Libba’s reading made all of the characters come to life for me. It felt like I was being told a crazy story by a close friend and not an author whose books I already love. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to laugh their faces off. Loved, loved, loved it.

Helene Utterback

This book is incredible, especially as an audiobook! It was entertaining and diverse

Ana Matti

couldn't even finish it. i like that there are some morals to be learned from the story but half the time i just wanted to shake everyone and ask them "what is wrong with you??"

"New Maxi-Pad Pets. Accessories for your period. Brought to you by The Corporation: In your homes and in your pants."

This book has some issues, but maybe I was just in a bad mood before because this book cheered me up and I'm probably giving it a higher score than it deserves. But I mean...it was pretty good. And had me in stitches at times. And I really just wish that THIS was at least the norm for YA lit.

Flavia Louise

4 stars
Great writing style and idea.
Great format and representations.

megan adlam

favourite of mine as a preteen (and now) <33 i feel like people don’t appreciate it as well as they should
-the most unique take i have read on the plane crash/deserted island trope
-absolutely love all of the girl characters and the found family they create
-very complex with each girl dealing with their own history and traumas
-good plot twists
-actually hilarious without trying to be and heartwarming
-girl bosses to the extreme and probably what inspired me to be learn about feminism, misogyny, transphobia, sexism, etc.

Juliette

3.5 ⭐ // this book is interesting to say the least, but I still enjoyed it. I'm really glad I listened to it as an audiobook because it probably wouldn't make as much sense just reading it with the commercial breaks and all

Maria

This book is so much fun! Как отметили в других ревью, когда берешь книгу, в которой «девочки-подростки оказались на необитаемом острове», немедленно начинаешь ожидать пересказа «Повелителя мух», тем более что девочки – участницы конкурса красоты. Но Либба Брэй делает ровно обратное – она пишет до неприличия феминистскую книгу про сестринство и girl power. Девочки не просто выживают – они строят хижины, учатся ловить рыбу, собирать дождевую воду, и – куда без этого – вырастают над стереотипами и показывают средний палец философии конкурсов красоты.

Стереотипы, кстати, не только гендерные. Либба потыкала палочкой расизм, гомофобию, трансфобию, фэтшейминг, слатшейминг. Героиня-индианка напрягается, когда видит среди выживших чернокожую девочку: «Вот моя конкурентка, в финал никогда не пропустят двух цветных». Еще одна героиня, впервые за много дней попробовав кусок жареной рыбы, говорит: «Это так вкусно, что я даже не буду его выташнивать». Героине-трансгендеру другие участницы поначалу заявляют, что она не может участвовать в конкурсе, потому что не «настоящая девочка».

Но это не печальная социалка, если что. Это сатира с элементами абсурда. Реальность выкручена на максимум, поэтому мисс Мичиган способна голыми руками завалить огромную змею, а мисс Техас – в одиночку взорвать пол-острова. И это правда очень, очень весело – и очень вдохновляюще, и про настоящую дружбу и преданность, потому что Teen Dreamers своих не бросают ни в джунглях, ни над бассейном с пираньями.

Портит «Королев красоты» только немного затянутый финал, и это у Либбы Брэй уже было в конце трилогии A Great and Terrible Beauty – прямо хочется порезать все эти сцены в два, а то и в три раза. (Надеюсь, она не наступит на эти грабли в финалке The Diviners, а то я ведь не переживу). В остальном же – прекрасное чтение для девочек и недевочек всех возрастов.

Насохраняла цитат, не не могу выбрать, какие запостить! Поэтому запощу все:

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Nicole hated that she could never quite feel like she was just herself, just Nicole, but that she was somehow representing an entire race. That’s how they saw her, as a “they” and not a “she.”
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Being beauty queen is like being marine, only harder. Marines do not fight in four-inch heels.”
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“Come down this instant and we work on interview portion. You can tell story of how much you wish to be mother someday. People like to hear about your future plans for ovaries.”
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“It is important for girls to be likeable.” “But why?” Shanti asked. If Mrs. Mirabov had an answer, she wasn’t sharing.
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In school, they would tell you that life wouldn’t come to you; you had to go out and make it your own. But when it came to love, the message for girls seemed to be this: Don’t. Don’t go after what you want. Wait. Wait to be chosen, as if only in the eye of another could one truly find value. The message was confusing and infuriating. It was a shell game with no actual pea under the rapidly moving cups.
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When the virus stole most of Sosie’s hearing, it also stole her right to complain. She figured out early that nobody liked an angry disabled person. It messed with their sympathy, with the story in their head about people overcoming adversity to be shining lights in the world.
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“You sure you want to be a girl? It’s a lot of work.”
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“Why do girls always feel like they have to apologize for giving an opinion or taking up space in the world? Have you ever noticed that?” Nicole asked. “You go on websites and some girl leaves a post and if it’s longer than three sentences or she’s expressing her thoughts about some topic, she usually ends with, ‘Sorry for the rant’ or ‘That may be dumb, but that’s what I think.’”
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Brittani smiled. “Right. I forgot. Sor — I mean, can we do makeovers at Girl Con?” “Do we have to?” Adina said with a sigh. “How is that empowering?” “Things don’t have to be empowering all the time. It can just be fun.
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Stinging slaps of names bit at her skin in the school hallways: Whore. Slut. Nympho. Easy. Trashy. Trampy. Not the girl you bring home to Mother. But Mary Lou didn’t really want to go home to someone’s mother. She already had one of those and, frankly, one was more than enough.
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“Maybe girls need an island to find themselves. Maybe they need a place where no one’s watching them so they can be who they really are.”
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Olivera Mitić

4.25/5 stars

This was...weird. It read like a movie. But also like the grown up version of Toddlers and Tiaras. But also a bit like Lost. But also like America's Next Top Model. 

I don't honestly know. It was fun, but also ridiculous and very feminist. It did go a bit overboard with the satire, but as a whole it was enjoyable and unique and quite funny.

Jade Flynn

I'm really confused about this book. It started and ended brilliantly - but the middle was......kind of boring. I did expect it to be much better than it was, because of all the hype it attracted.

Анастасия Розова

4.75/5
So satirical, so smart and laugh-out-loud funny. This book explored a lot and showed us so much. And it sends such a strong message. I'm pretty sure I'll be thinking about it for days, weeks even. It definitely made it to my favourite books list. I'd recommend it to anyone, especially your girls and women, but not only to them. Which, knowing myself, I'm going to do. I need EVERYONE to read this book. 

Commercials. Oh, those fucking commercials. They were the best. THE BEST, YOU HEAR ME? Seriously, though, they were so real in the absurd way and soo satirical. I know I'm repeating myself, but I can't even express all I feel about this book. And Libba took a lot of stereotypes, turned them over and used them beautifully.

"TIARA! TIARA! TIARA!" She was my favourite. I love a lot of girls like Petra and Adina and Marie Lu, but Tiara was so sweet and just crawled her way into my heart using cuteness and her beautiful mind. But honestly, almost all the girls were so interesting and diverse! Boys were wonderful as well, although we didn't get to see some of them as much. I think I've never read such a diverse book. Libba managed to include so many different characters without being annoying and trying to shove them down our throats. Petra and Adina were all I stand for and so much of who I am (view spoiler)[(not a MTF, but other things) (hide spoiler)], I can even say all of them sort of were, but those two were the closest. 

This is the first time I've actually enjoyed the acknowledgments or listened to them at all. Libba Bray is an amazing voice actor (if I can say that) and has a great sense of humor. I didn't really notice it in The Diviners, but this book made me love her even more, soo much more! And how she made voices and accents, oh my god! It's like there were a lot of people reading this book. The best.

I don't know what was this 0.25 star, I can't put it into words. Maybe cause I've been listening to it for a month and it just wasn't so intense, I don't know. Probably just something very unconscious. But overall a great fucking book. Go read it!

Nikki K

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW
I looved this in audiobook form and recommend anyone who wasn't sure about the book listen to it! Libba Bray read this herself and put so much personality and spark into all of the characters and I think it enhanced the story so much. All the footnotes and commercials also came with music and sound effects to set the mood :)
I loved the satirical tone of this story, and had so many laugh out loud moments. It was farcical to the extreme, but it was hysterical in its sending-up of the many tropes women face in literature and film and the many tragedies of a capitalist society. 
I absolutely lived for this book addressing so many feminist topics, including, but not limited to [spoilers/cw]: 
- LGBT+ individuals
- racism and black experiences
- sex and consent, inc. female masturbation/sexual assertiveness, birth control!!, abuse
- body image/expectations, "the beauty myth",
- literally just so many I can't even deal
Basically just this brought up so so many important issues and sent up expectations of women in society in such a fun and hilarious way. 
I really recommend this book, and I think the audiobook is perfect for conveying the humour Libba Bray intended. 
4 stars because the second(ish) half got hella crazy and lost some of the fun of the beginning- still loved it though!

Lisa W.

Beauty Queens is hilarious! I literally laughed out loud numerous times. Some of my favorite lines were as follows 
- "Holy Stilettos Batman"
- "When we get back I'm eating everything. Twice."
- "You want to know what pain is? Ty running out of Advil when you've got a Category Five period. I've had cramps that would make grown me beg for a bullet between the eyes."
- I've had so many bikini waxes, I cry every time I see a Popsicle stick."
-" I'm going to stop worrying about that third nipple."
- "Does don't move include your bowels? Cause you're too late"

 Libba Bray did an amazing job with the character expansion. Over the course of the book the individuals you once hated become some of the most crucial members. Each character had its personal quirks and back stories that allowed you to create a deeper connection. Although the ladies were thought to be you typically beauty queens, Bray gave each character depth. It would be very hard to not associate with a character in this particular book; she left few cultures/personalities untouched. 

Bray's ability to tie controversial topics into such a comical and youthful books was flawless. She touched on homosexuality, trangendered lifestyle, politics, self esteem, religion, race, beauty and gender roles. Her knowledge and acceptance of each category makes the reader that much more intrigued. 

-Dislikes-

1) The confusion of what "The Corporation" actually is. To my understanding I see it as a mix between the government and a conglomerate. Being that the explanation was so vague, readers were left to assume the power of "The Corporation." 

2) Why weren't there more efforts being shown by the parents and or the government to retrieve the girls. Its impossible for 50 female, American teenagers to go missing while on their way to an island and not have every U.S. Authority searching for them. Thus is why I question whether "The Corporation" has ties or is the government. I found myself wondering "What the hell are these girls parents doing"?

Jayarna La Bozzetta

I think this is an amazing concept despite some issues I have with the actual final work. My biggest issues were how on the nose this is at times and the lull in the middle but the end did it for me and I enjoyed how off the wall this was. Super strange and I loved both the villains

Beauty Queens

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