Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is a hoot. Take 13 overachieving (for the most part) beauty queens, place on a deserted (supposedly) island without any adults and few cosmetics and what do you get. Well, in this case you get (on one level) a serious case of Girl Power Gone Wild, and on another level some pretty fierce political and social satire.



For the first time in most of their lives, these girls get to think for themselves and put their priorities on order. So we find out that we have an ultra feminist determined to bring down the pageant, a lesbian, a transgender person in transition, well, pretty much everyone has something to hide. I love the way the characters find their own voices and forge friendships, how they overcome obstacles and survive. I also love the pure absurdity of whole book. This is definitely a book for older teens. There is language and sex. I also think it is a bit sophisticated for tweens. Overall, a barrel of fun.



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