-Libba Bray
The 50 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.
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Satire, dark humor and stereotypical caricatures were a prevalent theme in this all-girl Lord-of-the-Flies lampoon. If you are easily offended, this may not be the book for you. It is tongue-in-cheek and darkly humorous. If you can laugh at the obvious digs directed at superficiality, you will thoroughly enjoy this book! Beauty Queens confronts the truth behind our lives with surgical precision. It challenges racism, sexism and stereotypes while keeping a sarcastic tone. The circumstances the surviving beauty queens find themselves in are outrageous and certainly ludicrous, but the pervasive “can-do” attitude throughout their ordeal pushed me over the edge of hilarity. Don’t get me wrong - this book may seem silly and lighthearted but this book deals with many serious issues, although they are addressed in a very off-hand manner. Be open to the underlying message.
I was afraid this book was going to be one where the female characters turned on and destroyed each other with manipulation, sabotage and psychological abuse. I expected a combination of “Lord of the Flies” meets “Mean Girls” - but I was mistaken. The girls find that by sticking together and opening up to each other, they learn and understand more about themselves and realize their lives are more important than beauty labels.
Heidi Y.