Denise C. (dscrawford) reviewed on + 175 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
3.0 out of 5 stars Just a little too much..., May 18, 2011
I eagerly anticipated this book after having read Going Bovine with my teen book club. Because I read that novel, I realized that Libba Bray could present some crazy scenarios and over-the-top characters. She certainly does it again with this maybe too clever satire on beauty queens, beauty pageants, and all the implements and "talents" a girl needs in order to become a Miss Teen Dream.
A plane carrying the 50 contestants for a beauty pageant crashes on a deserted island. The surviving girls must figure out how to feed and shelter themselves until they are rescued. Because they are competitive, a few girls vie for the leadership role; the winner of that vote decides that while they are busy trying to stay alive that they will also keep practicing for the pageant that each desperately wants to win.
MEANWHILE, on the other side of the island is a secret compound hidden inside a volcano. Some bad men are planning some shenanigans with a greedy dictator. AND, in other evolving events, a ship of pirates lands on the same island. Guess what -- they are all young men who are stars of a reality show. Sounds crazy, right? Well the story does get somewhat ridiculous at this point and I sort of lost my taste for the continual subtle and not so subtle attempts at humor though at times I did laugh out loud at a particularly funny or sarcastic bit of prose. The real problem I had with the book, however, was that the author chose to put in TOO MUCH of everything. The graphic descriptions of sexual encounters, drug use, gays, lesbians and transgender love affairs, etc. might be way too much for the young adult age group that would be drawn to this book. I would suggest that interested parents read this first before giving it to or buying it for a younger teen. I'm also not sure that all younger readers would "get" the inside jokes.
I enjoyed the book, but after awhile it just got to be tiresome and instead of the early entertaining biting sarcasm, satire, and wit, it was ultimately predictable and a bit of a let-down.
I eagerly anticipated this book after having read Going Bovine with my teen book club. Because I read that novel, I realized that Libba Bray could present some crazy scenarios and over-the-top characters. She certainly does it again with this maybe too clever satire on beauty queens, beauty pageants, and all the implements and "talents" a girl needs in order to become a Miss Teen Dream.
A plane carrying the 50 contestants for a beauty pageant crashes on a deserted island. The surviving girls must figure out how to feed and shelter themselves until they are rescued. Because they are competitive, a few girls vie for the leadership role; the winner of that vote decides that while they are busy trying to stay alive that they will also keep practicing for the pageant that each desperately wants to win.
MEANWHILE, on the other side of the island is a secret compound hidden inside a volcano. Some bad men are planning some shenanigans with a greedy dictator. AND, in other evolving events, a ship of pirates lands on the same island. Guess what -- they are all young men who are stars of a reality show. Sounds crazy, right? Well the story does get somewhat ridiculous at this point and I sort of lost my taste for the continual subtle and not so subtle attempts at humor though at times I did laugh out loud at a particularly funny or sarcastic bit of prose. The real problem I had with the book, however, was that the author chose to put in TOO MUCH of everything. The graphic descriptions of sexual encounters, drug use, gays, lesbians and transgender love affairs, etc. might be way too much for the young adult age group that would be drawn to this book. I would suggest that interested parents read this first before giving it to or buying it for a younger teen. I'm also not sure that all younger readers would "get" the inside jokes.
I enjoyed the book, but after awhile it just got to be tiresome and instead of the early entertaining biting sarcasm, satire, and wit, it was ultimately predictable and a bit of a let-down.
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