READING: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Publication date: May 24th 2011
Published by: Scholastic
Genre: Insane-o books!Really, no idea...
Rating: 4/5

This is the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.

Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to email. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.

And now for something completely different!

Whew!Beauty Queens was quite a ride, I'll tell you that. A very crazy, hilarious ride. "What the freaking hell is going on??" was mostly what went through my head while reading this insane book!Beauty queens playing Survivor, pirates with lubed abs and British accents, secret government arm dealings, Elvis-impersonating dictators and a mounted monkey lieutenant? I mean, come on!Priceless!

I'm sure you've realised by now that Beauty Queens is very different from any other YA book.Or any other book, for that matter. I don't even know if it should fall under the YA category.

What Libba Bray basically tried to do here is show that there's a lot more to people than appearance and what other people think of them or want to make of them, which I didn't completely buy, but I found myself not caring about it as I got more into the book. Besides, Beauty Queens was so totally bonkers, that you couldn't be bothered to look for any deep meaning behind all the demented stuff that went on. 

Don't get me wrong, I liked the fact that she finally said no to the jerk that mistreated her even though she was attracted to him. I think it was honorable that she said no to her because she wasn't sure and didn't want to hurt her feelings. (names are not necessary. They could be anyone of us). I liked their determination, their spunk and their stupidity. Yes, there was plenty of that an it was adorable. I by no means try to be condescending but personally, what I think makes Beauty Queens such a great book is that it's SO MUCH FUN!!!I found myself giggling at the over the top(or very realistic)idiocy of some of the girls and the hilarity of the product placements. I don't know if that sounds insulting but I think that was what the book was about. Having fun. And Bray's amazing writing and sense of humor were an endless source of that. 

I admit at first I had some trouble getting into Beauty Queens. The scene with the LSD-type fruits was the point I really thought of quitting because I couldn't follow at all. But sticking with it paid off and then some!

And may I just say one thing? Taylor, you're my girl! Texas forever!

I know Beauty Queens is probably not for everyone. It reminded me of Dia Reeve's books somehow, books you know you like but can't really explain why you like them or know who to recommend them to. Beauty Queens is an insanely weird book and definitely not YA, in my opinion. So if you're into that or wanna maybe explore a genre which is basically undefinable, dive right in. It will not disappoint you!