Let’s get the ugly truth out of the way first here. I am unnaturally in love with everything that Libba Bray has written, I find her Gemma Doyle trilogy completely wrongly marketed, and thereby misunderstood, her Going Bovine impossible to really put into words, and that short story in Geektastic while poorly placed in my opinion also, pretty much how all fiction should be.

So, enough fangirling over the author, let’s try and talk about the book nice and objective-like shall we.

The first thing I’m going to say about Beauty Queens deterred me, but is bound to attract just as many readers as it scares away. And that is that I honestly didn’t find the book visceral enough. The concept put me in mind of Lord of the Flies, and so I was envisioning this awesome beauty queen showdown with everyone. Everyone. Ending up with their head on a pike. As I said, to Creepy McMe this was a flaw, the normal reader may find that in the book’s favour. But, don’t go into Beauty Queens expecting blood. (Oh boy, that sentence feels dirty, this is going to be one of those reviews).

Of course, in my never-humble opinion the greatest strength of all of Libba’s work is extremely interesting characters in extremely bizarre situations. And yes, it would be fair to say for the second time my favourite character in the book came out as the gay one. Leave my sub-concious alone. Beauty Queens does not let down in its cast of interesting characters are abound, though, easily the blandest character is the protagonist herself. I don’t think this is a pitfall I have ever seen Libba fall into before, but truly Adina (I see what you did there) gets extraordinarily eclipsed by everyone else in a way the Gemma Doyle never did.

I liked the ‘setting’ though. Not in the sense of desert island, but in the invention of a cultural context complete with advertisement scripts and product placement. It added some of that wicked surreality that has me selling more books for Libba than her agent at the bookstore where I work.

The story itself had some hits and misses. Again, I found the protagonist crumpling under the pressure of holding up the whole story, especially when she’s such a bland character. The book’s major claim to fame will be straight up facing issues. It reads like a check list of YA issues in fact, and unfortunately if I run through the check list I risk spoiling a major plot point which I had guessed about 50 pages prior to it happening. But then, I’m a genius.

After all, this rambling and do I, or do I not, recommend Beauty Queens? That, my friend is a wholehearted ‘probably’. The charm of her other tales are here, and while Adina’s not my favourite, the other characters make up for it. And the atmosphere is awesome, I felt like there was a missing punch in the face. The good kind. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t put it down, but I felt kinda like there was a build a lack of climax and then a let down with such glowing happily ever afters I was in danger of being ill.

I still love you Libba, promise?

I’m not sure if I have the internet up to date, but I’ve read 5 of my summer books, and mostly done Clockwork Orange for number six. From there I have an ultra spiffy Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of Libba Bray’s new book Going Bovine which sounds strangely like I wrote it and forgot. Yes, its that absurd. Speaking of which I have been trying to do some writing, but as usual there are too many stories in my head and I don’t know which to get started on. I’d like to think one will pull away from the pack as being a fly away best seller so I don’t need to find a job, but that’s about as likely as me doing any form of exercize beyond blinking and walking. I have mastered the art of lazy.

Aaaaand apparently UOttawa wants $30 from me for reasons henceforth unknown. Probably all those times I locked myself out of residence which I was pretty sure I had paid for. Not too keen on that. But, but, but. L.A. finally got back to me and I may actually have a place to live next year. Hurrah and suchlike, beause I was starting to worry I was going to have to like on the street like most of my fellow philosophers (oh snap?) Fingers crossed this doesn’t fall through (again!) and I actually am not street bound, or Stanton bound. I was already senior citizen enough in res without adding another year on top of that. All those little seventeen-to-eighteen-year-olds scoffing at old twenty-almost-twenty-one year old, not nice.

I think I finally figured out what I’ve been doing wrong with Enth3 that it doesn’t e-mail me anymore, I think I have an extra “\” in there somewhere throwing off the space-time continuum. But let’s not talk about my Fanlistings, they all look like arse and it depresses me. Especially the Magical Mystery Tour — who let me put it on the internet looking like that? It looks so drab and more of ‘A Detailed Tour of Saskatchewan’ then anything Magical or Mysterious. (Sorry Saskatchewan, it’s just so easy…)

Anyways, I want to get to the bookstore so I can fix up some shelving and make a few bucks given no where in Southern Ontario will give me a job. So, I’m signing off.