SPARKLE PONIES!!!!! 
 I ABSOLUTELY LOVED Beauty Queens! It's hysterically funny, and this one was the perfect book to listen to as an audio book! Like, funny as in listening to it in public wasn't the best idea, because I'd randomly start laughing. 
 The fictional pop culture references were great...and more than a few bore an uncanny resembelence to real life people and products. I mean, Joey Testosterone reminded me of Mario Lopez, there was an evil corporation, the island was kind of like the one on Lost, Lady Bird Hope kind of reminded me of Sarah Palin...although I was never able to put my finger on who Mo-Mo, the hilarious dictator of The Rock reminded me. Just the general stereotype of someone who publicly doesn't like the U.S. but secretly like certain aspects of our culture. Also great were the random footnotes and commercials. They just fit with the book so well! 
 It was fun to listen to the 12 survivors survive on a deserted island. You wouldn't expect all of those 12 to survive as well as they did, but of course, they all survived, got off the island and went on to lead very productive lives, while remaining close friends. 
 The characters were definitely cliche, but for the most part, I wasn't annoyed by it. I mean, Miss Texas was the ultimate beauty queen, and it's a shame we don't really see more of her, especially after she goes off the deep end. That's one story I'd like to read! 
 Idina, by far, was the character who irritated me the most. She's the girl who's only in the pageant because she wants to expose how evil and horrible pageants really are, and, at one point, complains about how stupid girls can get when they're around guys (only to act that way herself). She does have some great moments with Taylor (Miss Texas), who is her polar opposite in many ways. I loved Tiara and Mo-Mo. Tiara was just adorably random, and Mo-Mo was hysterical. 
 Narration! Libba Bray (the author) also narrated, and she did a great job with all the voices, footnotes and commercials. I already mentioned that this book worked well as an audio book, and I am so glad I did listen to the audio book. 
 Girl power and accepting others for who they really are did come through, but it just didn't work for me. It was kind of hard to take those messages seriously, mostly because it seemed a little too random. I mean, I know they're stranded on island, and it was easier to be themselves away from society and all, but...it was still a little too random. 
 Final thoughts: Beauty Queens was great, especially in audio form. I liked the characters, the book was hysterical, and the pop culture references keep me guessing. Beauty Queens gets 5 stars.