3.5 - 4 stars 
 Initial Impressions: Beauty Queens was funny -- great satire -- really great audio.... But I felt like it was way too long. Some of the voices were really, really great. Others really annoyed me, so it just dragged towards the end. 
 Libba Bray pulled this off really well, but it wasn't quite amazing for me. 
 Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: BEAUTY QUEENS is a hilarious jab at -- well, I guess American society in general. Beauty pageants, yes, but also commercialism, stereotypical ideas of beauty, government, and so much more. Satirical is really the best way to describe it and there were plenty of laugh out loud moments, though at times (as satire tends to do), I felt like things went a bit over the top and I do have a tendency to reach a point where I feel like it's overkill and then I end up rolling my eyes, and I won't lie -- BEAUTY QUEENS had several moments like that as well. 
 Let's start with the characters -- at first I though that Adina was our main character because the story started with her vantage point, but really the book covers the POVs of several (and I mean several) of the key beauty queens along with some members of the Corporation. At first I thought I would be confused with so many different perspectives, but the girls' personalities really stood out on their own, especially having read this book on audio (which I'll get into later). The girls are so much more than beauty queens and we really get to know each one of them individually. I actually came to appreciate and care about many of their stories, but there did come a point where I felt like the book should have focused on a few less to not spread the readers so thin. 
 I actually really enjoyed the storyline with these pampered and over-the-top girly girls having to figure out how to survive on this (seemingly) deserted island. Some flounder and some let their leadership take control and after many trials and tribulations, the girls finally figure out how to not only survive but to get along and make true friendships. There is a lot of social commentary and insinuations about how girls are expected to act and how some of those expectations are completely unrealistic and demeaning. I'm not a feminist by any stretch, but I think there's something to be appreciated from what these girls learn -- not only in the way of how they're perceived as "respectable women" but just allowing themselves to be who they are and act how they really want. The girls just learn a lot about themselves as individuals and they really learn to be comfortable with who they are and what they really want out of life. 
 What I wasn't quite a fan of in the book was basically everything to do with MoMo B. ChaCha (which I had to look up how to spell since I read the audio haha). I just found his whole character and everything to do with it entirely too ridiculous, past the point of satire and social commentary and hilarity. I was just annoyed and those parts of the audio definitely dragged because I was also tired of listening to him. Some of the ways the plot resolved were just a bit too contrived for me and things got too silly for my tastes. Things all wrapped up well in the end, but I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary moments and dialogue and backstories that really just made the book feel a bit too long. Especially listening to the audio... I was enjoying the book but it felt LONG. I was about 75% of the way through and I felt like it had just been dragging. 
 I think BEAUTY QUEENS is a different type of humor that I haven't seen a lot of in YA. It was definitely enjoyable, but I think for my tastes it was maybe a bit too much to spend a whole 14 and a half hours with (400 pages if you're reading it). I really think that's a personal taste though, as I know many people really appreciated and loved the book! I'm interested in reading more of Libba Bray because she definitely knows how to write her stuff and I'd really be interested in reading something more serious from her. 
 Audiobook Impressions: Libba Bray narrated BEAUTY QUEENS herself and she is a damn good narrator! She had so many different voices which really was necessary considering how many characters she had to portray differently. Her different accents for all of the beauty queens were great (although Miss Nebraska sounded a little too Northern MN/WI/Canadian... does Nebraska really sound like that? I assumed they'd sound midwestern). Her non-American accents... Not as convincing to be realistic, but still better than I could do! The "commercial breaks" had music and everything so that was really entertaining! It was almost like listening to a real radio commercial so that was pretty neat. Overall, the book was just LONG on audio -- I'm not sure how it comes off actually reading it -- but I hadn't listened to a long audiobook before so it just felt like it kind of dragged on!