Author: Libba BraySummary: When their plane crashes on a (seemingly) deserted island, the contestants of the Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant learn that dance routines and eyelash curlers can't save them. Or can they? As if struggling to find food and shelter isn't enough, the girls must also contend with snakes and pirates and terrorists. Oh my!
My thoughts: I can't decide if this book is the smartest, funniest thing I've read in a long time, or overly preachy and dull. Can it be both?
On the one hand, the concept is fun and original. Lost meets the pageant circuit meets wicked satire. Love it! Bray pokes fun at consumerism, pop culture, government, and just about everything else you can think of. She also takes a long, hard look at the labels and expectations that girls live with in our culture. It's compelling stuff, and all couched in hilarious/thrilling adventure. It would seem she couldn't go wrong.
Unfortunately, the emphasis is in that "long, hard look" is on the long. The message is a good one, but it was rubbed in my face so many times that it was losing impact. Bray doesn't leave a trail of bread crumbs. She gives you a truckload of baguettes. I started off loving the story, but I had to force myself through the last hundred pages or so.
3 stars
PS. Am I the only one who noticed that Adina speaks on pg. 361, but she doesn't actually enter the scene until pg. 363? Did I read that wrong somehow?
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