Beauty Queens

Beauty Queens comes from Libba Bray, aka, the Author who Devastated me with the Gemma Doyle trilogy. Going into the book, I had a different picture in my mind. After all, this book recently came up in discussions when Hollywood announced a female-driven Lord of the Flies movie, and I haven’t read Lord of the Flies, but I know it is a dark story. Beauty Queens, on the other hand, is a feminist satire that commentates on consumerism, beauty standards and capitalism. The story is simple enough in the start – a plane full of teen beauty pageant contestants crash on an island, and in the absence of adult supervision, figure out a way to survive, nay, thrive, while discovering themselves. The story is interspersed with ‘commercials’ and ‘interviews’ and is presented as a story that is in third person while speaking from the viewpoint of different characters. At first, it seems like most of the girls are vapid and to be honest, I thought it would be a story that would only tackle beauty standards and all, but boy was I pleasantly surprised. The story, while rooted in the misogyny of our society and how it keeps girls under control with the sham of ladylike standards, intersects with racism, and different sexual orientations, and gender identities. We have a bisexual/pansexual (though it isn’t specifically mentioned in text) disabled girl, a transgender girl, two girls of color, and other girls who have their own stories be it about manipulative parents, or an absent mother, or forced chastity. The first half has the girls discovering what they really want out of life, and them learning to stand up for themselves. But because this is not just a story about transformation, the story also includes a subplot about an evil corporation, a dictator, and some lost boys. Most of it is very comical and exaggerated but it works with the vibe of the book, and it balances all the fun moments with the poignant ones. Some of the girls’ stories are presented differently, with Petra’s story likened to a fairytale, and Marie Lou much like a werewolf transformation. The second half falls apart a little with the introduction of the boys, but it also shows the effect of the girls’ transformations more clearly. The end is, well, a little cheesy but I liked that we get the ‘future’ stories for all the girls. Their friendships that developed during the book, despite all the initial disagreements and hate, was a beautiful aspect of the book and I loved that. I would like to add that if you plan to read this book, consider the audio. It is read by the author herself, and she does an amazing job with the accents, and characters. And actual music and jingles are used in the advertisements and interview sections, which makes the experience that much more fun and immersive. Seriously, do yourself a favour and get the audio! Content warnings: Violence, transphobia, murder