Making the Grade / Beauty Queens

Hi!

Thanks for sticking with me while I took my blogging break! It was just enough time for me to catch up on some blog-related items, but I’ll continue to update the site and fine-tune a few more things as the month goes on {i.e. patience would be appreciated :)}.

Anyhoo, Libba Bray’s books may be some of the most bizarre and unique stories in the young adult market, but that’s not stopping them from being good! I was impressed with The Diviners when I read it last winter, and after taking a quick glance at Goodreads, I knew Beauty Queens would be next on my TBR list. Feminist themes, beauty pageants gone wrong, and pirates? I was in. I have lots to say about this one {let’s just say I finished feeling torn}, so let’s get right to the newly formatted review!

Summary: The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner. What’s a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program – or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan – or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up? {Goodreads}

Let’s discuss! Do you have any other good YA feminist novels to recommend? Have you read or are planning to read anything else by Libba Bray? I, for one, can’t wait for the second Diviners book, Lair of Dreams, to come out next year, but in the meantime, I think I will start the Gemma Doyle trilogy.

Have a lovely Wednesday!
Bella