Beauty Queens Review

I became interested in this book when I heard it was becoming a movie. I had never heard of it previously, but as soon as I learned the premise of it, I was intrigued by how it would go.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

Summary: When on their way to a beauty pageant, the contestants' plane crashes on an island. There, they must learn to survive and battle through an island full of more dangers than expected. Based on the Lord of the Flies premise, Libba Bray decides to explore what would happen if it were young women stranded on an island instead of men.

This book had a very satirical style that I don't see very often in YA and so it took me a bit to get into the flow of it. However, it ended up being a wonderful book with a lot of insight on forced gender roles. Once I got into it I could see how certain things were exaggerated so the reader would recognize the absurdity in them and in our own society.

I saw on tumblr people judging this book because it's a female version of Lord of the Flies and they assumed it would mean that the women would descend into chaos just as the boys did. My response to them is: READ THE BOOK BEFORE YOU ASSUME WHAT HAPPENS!

In fact, you quickly learn that these beauty queens thrive without society's expectations for them. They build an efficient home for themselves and learn to support each other so they can survive.

The diversity in this book is superb. There's LGBTQ+ and PoC and it's not afraid to confront issues and stereotypes. You learn the backstories for each of the main characters and learn that their image of being a beauty queen isn't the only side of them. Instead, they are all unique and contribute to their mutual survival.

One of my favorite parts was they acknowledged how often women apologize for everything we do. My own parents constantly tell me to stop apologizing, but it's my instinct. It's as if women are apologizing for their existence and I appreciated how Bray brought this up. It seems so small, but it's a trend I've noticed in many women in our own patriarchal world.

I'm really excited for the movie, I just hope they don't mess up what made this book so amazing. Especially considering two men are apparently supposed to direct it.

Women of all backgrounds are displayed in this book and the reader ends up respecting all of them. This was one of the most feminist books I've read in a while and I highly recommend it. Overall, it's a very fun read with some great insights. It's funny and quirky while giving you a lot to think about. Once I got into it, I couldn't put the book down and quickly sped through it.

5 out of 5 stars!