She's a Lady - Tom Jones

Beauty Queens

Author: Libba Bray
Pages: 390
Publisher: Scholastic Press

Very Brief Summary:
Lord of the Flies...with Beauty Queens. I could tell you more, but, really, that's all you need to know.

Review:
Thus far, I have been hugely skeptical of Libba Bray. I read A Great and Terrible Beauty and found it neither great nor terrible; mostly, I thought it was boring. After that let down, I had little desire to read more of her stuff, despite the crazy buzz about Going Bovine (and the pressure of my friend Nori). Allow me to happily renounce any bad thing I have said about Libba Bray in the past! This book was off the hook awesome and I am now very glad that I gave into the impulse to purchase A Great and Terrible Beauty (from Goodwill), since I hope to find things I missed before.

Why is this book so great? Well, how about I give you a little (or long) list.

1. It's a dystopia.
   
2. Beauty Queens stranded on an island...who doesn't want to see that? Also, how did the Corporation not think of that?
3. The mocking of pretty much every aspect of pop culture, most especially of reality television.
4. The Corporation. You may wonder why I would love an evil corporation that's trying to take over the world and doing all sorts of awful things. That's because the commercials remind me of Veridian Dynamics, so I spent the whole book imagining that it was The Corporation. Oh references, intended or not.
5. Girl power. For an example, check out Tiara's speech on page 335.
   
6. Love for the LGBT community.
7. Everyone didn't pair off in the end. I get so sick of that, sweet as it is. In real life, everyone doesn't find their true love at 16.
8. Every page is abso-friggin'-lutely hysterical. I dare you to read this book and not laugh out loud at least once.

So yeah, I definitely need to read the rest of Libba Bray's stuff and to procure a copy of this book for my very own, since I read one from the library. Also, I just realized that Libba Bray's name uses only letters from the word library. Coinkydink? I wonder...

Oh, and just for funsies, here is my one criticism of the book: on page 361, Adina says something (singsongs it, actually). Unfortunately, she's not actually in that scene yet. Wah wah. Editor fail. She enters on page 363.

That brings us to the song for today. Although there are a lot of things that would be hilarious and appropriate for today's book, I also cannot miss adding a reference to Miss Congeniality. I also love imagining Adina or Taylor reacting to some guy saying this to them. haha.

"She's got style, she's got grace, She's a winner.
She's a Lady. Whoa whoa whoa, She's a Lady.
Talkin' about that little lady, and the lady is mine.
Well she's never in the way
Always something nice to say, Oh what a blessing.
I can leave her on her own
Knowing she's okay alone, and there's no messing."