Beauty Queens by Libba Bray: Review

Beauty Queens
By: Libba Bray

Format: Hardcover, 390 pages
Published: May 24, 2011; Scholastic Press
Source: Received at BEA

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Synopsis (from Goodreads): From bestselling, Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray, the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.
Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to email. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.

My Review: Like a master juggler, Libba Bray manages to keep track of a large cast of characters, tackle some serious issues, and inject some seriously funny satire in Beauty Queens.

I read this book after a rather serious read, and it took a few chapters for my brain to shift into the mode that would allow me to see this book for what it was. It starts out with a pretty serious satire against commercialism and corporate control. Much of the dialogue (both inner and outer) between the characters is extremely entertaining and surprising.

I am absolutely fascinated by the dynamics of women when they are in a group. It takes just a matter of moments for a pecking order to be established. Libba absolutely nails this dynamic in a way that is both funny and very real. Once I got into this book, I breezed through the next three-quarters of the book.

And then it's like the story kind of started to fall apart. I felt like many of the social issues that Libba was trying to tackle became overdone. The sexuality became much more overt. And the story just started to lose its luster. There were a few funny passages here and there, but overall, the last 100 pages just weren't impressive. I ended up skimming most of it.

I was specifically bugged by the not-so-subtle comparison of Ladybird Hope to Sarah Palin. Without getting really political in this review, I'm just really tired of Sarah Palin. I'm tired of the bashing, making fun, and media attention. I'm tired of seeing her on the news and will she run for president, what will she do, OMG what's in her email?! So, instead of just taking Ladybird Hope for what she was, I was just annoyed.

I know that many readers have adored this book, and while I think that it had some redeeming qualities, I think it's best if we just remain friends.

My rating:

Profanity: Frequent
Sexuality: Lots
Violence: Death is pretty frequent
Drugs and Alcohol: One of the fruits eaten on the island gets the beauty queens high, and there is underage drinking

Anastasia' Secret by Susanne Dunlap: Review

Anastasia's Secret

By: Susanne Dunlap

Received from Around the World Tours

Synopsis (From Goodreads):

For Anastasia Romanov, life as the privileged daughter of Russia’s last tsar is about to be torn apart by the bloodshed of revolution. Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the family’s future with agonizing slowness and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance quietly blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death?

Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap’s new novel is a haunting vision of the life—and love story—of Russia’s last princess.

My Review:
The fate of Anastasia Romanov is one that many writers and filmmakers have taken many liberties with.  My dad asked for a book about the Romanov's a few years back after reading a news story that documented DNA testing done by scientists on a grave near where the Romanov family was executed.  It was found to be Anastasia. I guess that took a little of the mystery out of the story for me, but I still enjoy reading stories about this family and the history behind the Russian Revolution and its eventual control by the Bolshevics.

There were many things I liked about this book. It was extremely informative. It was clear that Dunlap had done a lot of research into the Romanov family and the circumstances behind their assassination.  The details of their personalities and relationships with each other and their servants were meticulous and made me care very much about their family.

I really loved the mentions of Rasputin and wished he had been a larger player in the book. There were several passages in the book relating to him that made me shudder. In fact, most of the writing in the book was very beautiful.

However, the spark just wasn't there for me with this book. As I said, I felt the book was informative, but not entertaining. It read more like a non-fiction biography than a work of fiction. Anastasia and Sasha's relationship felt lukewarm to me. It wasn't convincing enough for me to care much about it.  There were long passages where not much happened in the book. I ended up skimming some of the beautifully written, but frankly kind of dull passages.

I appreciate what Dunlap was trying to do with this book. It's clear that she has a wonderful talent for writing, and I would have liked to see her take a few more creative liberties with the story. By the end of the book I felt like I had learned a lot about the Romanov's, but little beyond the facts found in a history book.

However, if you enjoy your historical fiction on the dry side, Anastasia's Secret is for you. I'm sure many will be captivated by its beautiful writing and heartbreaking story. It just wasn't for me.

Book-A-Likes: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

My Rating:

 

Profanity: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Sexuality: Moderate
Violence: Mild

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray: Review

A Great and Terrible Beauty
By: Libba Bray
Fantasy, YA Fiction

After witnessing her mother's murder in a vision that turns out to be true, Gemma is enrolled in Spence, a girl's academy. She is snubbed by the popular Felicity and Pippa, and even her dumpy roommate Ann until she blackmails herself and Ann into the clique. Gemma soon discovers she has a power that she's not sure how to control or whether she wants it.

I have to admit that after I finished this book I couldn't quite figure out what it was about. Ultimately, I determined it was about choices. Every character in the book makes a series of choices that have both negative and positive consequences. Okay, so I know all books are about that, and I know I'm not doing a very good job of explaining the point behind this book. Basically, I really liked the conflict that Gemma had within herself on whether or not to use her powers. I think that kind of struggle is very real, and I really like the conclusion she came to in the end. Each character in the book had their own personal struggle that ultimately was resolved. I really liked the way this book ended.

Things I didn't like... I don't really like cliquey, bratty girls. So, sometimes reading about their stupid little fights was annoying at times. And, sometimes I just felt really lost when Gemma had her "visions."

I gave it 3/5 stars.