Beauty Queens by Libba Bray; young adult; 400 pagesA plane full of beauty queens crash lands on a deserted island. That's Bray's book in a nutshell, but like her previous, Going Bovine, there's so much more to it than that. The girls find themselves in a Lord of the Flies meets Lost scenario, with strange people showing up on the island (including literature-loving pirates!), crazy monsters attacking, and their own insecurities manifesting in the isolation. Ultimately, this is a very empowering book without ever getting preachy. Also, if you're unfamiliar with Bray, her writing is hilarious, and I often found myself wishing there was someone to whom I could read these brilliant lines (I settled for my dog, who mostly puts up with it). The characters are also wonderful--with such a large and diverse cast, it would have been really easy for Bray to slip into stereotypes or caricatures, but she fleshes out each character fully (well, except for the Sarah Palin knock-off, but that's okay). This is easily going on my best of the year list.
No comments:
Post a Comment