Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

So I was away last week on vacation in Maine, where I had no access to the internet whatsoever. Instead, I had my good friend (she made me write that), NickDing, write that previous post, as you might have guessed. But I'm back now, and ready to jump back into the world of book reviewing!

But first, let's talk about beauty queens and pageants. Gosh, how I hate those things; they are terribly demeaning to females, not to mention they take away from things that really matter. Like war, like getting help for the poor. Like family and living until you're so filled up with being alive you just float away. I've always thought of beauty queens as stuck-up snobs; as those girls that you hate because they are just so loud, not in volume but in presence, the girls that are obsessed with whether they look good or not.
And then I read this book.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
 If you were to judge this book by it's bikini-clad cover, you're likely to imagine it's a frivolous and somewhat cheesy tale of beauty queens fighting over who will win the prized crown.
But, oh, my dear, dear readers, it is nothing like that at all.
50 teenage beauty queens, publicists, and chaperons are all in a plane flying to a remote tropical paradise where they can practice before they battle for the title of "Miss Teen Dream." Filled with excitement, not scared at all.
Then, the plane crashes on a supposedly deserted island in the middle of the ocean. Only 13 girls have survived the crash; no one else. Together, they have to figure out how to survive on the island; though some--Taylor Hawkins, a.k.a. Miss Texas, in particular-- believe they should continue to prepare for the pageant instead of trying to survive.

The girls build huts, discover who they are, save pirates, and save themselves from the Corporation, the people who are sponsoring the pageant, and who want them dead.
Most importantly, though, they save themselves from themselves.

This looks like a trashy beach read (though, let's face it, we all need those).
This isn't a trashy beach read; this is a novel rich with feminism, with empowering girls, with displaying the inequality that is still experienced by females across the globe. It's riddled with humor, suspense, and mystery.

If Lord of the Flies had girls instead of boys, it might have turned out a bit like this.

What are you still doing here? Go out and get a copy today!