Book Review: Beauty Queens

TITLE: Beauty Queens
AUTHOR: Libba Bray
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: parody/satire
PREMISE: A group of beauty queen contestants get stranded on a island.
MY REVIEW: Here's the tricky thing about Beauty Queens: it's an issue book as well as satire. Why is that tricky? Well because it's a issue book there's about a fifty fifty chance the reader won't like it whether it be the issues talked about, the point the author is making, etc. The problem with satire is simply that not everyone likes satire and I get it, satire can go very badly sometimes.
Me personally though, I loved every minute of this. It was hilarious (most times, I admit some of the jokes were a bit forced) and I enjoy humor like this that has something to say even if I didn't always agree with what was being said. Is the book revolutionary? No. Is it Bray's best work ever? Hardly. But it was a fun read especially for this feminist. I especially loved all the made up commercials which are so accurate it's painful.
So while I loved this and whole heartedly recomend it, I do so realizing that there is a good chance you yourself may not get into it so I say your best bet is to probably check it out from the library and see if it's for you.
WHO SHOULD READ: feminists, Libba Bray fans, fans of satire
MY RATING: Four out of Five bikinis