Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Review: Beauty Queens (Audiobook)




Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Genre: YA, Humor
Length: 14 hours and 37 minutes
Narrator: Libba Bray
Source: eLibrary
Author's Website | Twitter
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | Audiobook | B&N | Book Depo

Description:

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

My Rating:
My Review:
Beauty Queens is a satirical take on everything from pageantry to Reality TV.  On the way to a beauty pageant, the plane carrying the pageant girls crash and the girls are forced to learn to survive on a dangerous island. The seemingly artificial and shallow pageant girls turn out to have bigger problems and bigger dreams.  I've seen this cover around last year but it never caught my interest until Alysia from My Little Pocketbooks reviewed the audiobook.  The story begins with a plane crash and there is never a dull (or serious) moment thereafter.  Over the top humor isn't the only thing this little gem has to over though; it is full of adventure and will have you sitting on the edge of your seat every step of the way.  There's even a few lessons along the way.

On the story...
I was really surprised to find that I enjoyed this audio very much.  I'm not one of those people who have a strong opinion one way or the other about pageants so I didn't think it would interest me much.  But I found that this book touches on EVERYTHING and there is something for everyone.  With that being said, I did find myself wishing that the critique was just a tad bit narrower.  There were many characters and different POVs to follow but there is never a fear of confusing the characters because they are so unique.

On the narrator...
This is definitely the audio of all audios.  I was so surprised that Ms. Bray had so many distinct voices in her and they were all so well done.  I'm pretty sure Ms. Bray made this book for me.  I actually laughed out loud when I recognized the voice of Lady Bird Hope, the queen of the pageant, to be a great imitation of Sarah Palin.  I would probably recommend listening over reading this one.

Overall...
This was a fabulous audio that surprised me from beginning to end. 

P.S. This book has footnotes.  You know how I feel about footnotes. Grr....
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22 comments:

  1. I loved the audio of this book. Libba Bray is an amazing narrator and who better to read the book than the author. I found this novel to be hilarious and I would recommend the audio version over the book version to anyone.

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  2. I had no idea she narrates herself.
    I love when authors do that.
    This sounds like fun!
    Thanks for the review.

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  3. I absolutely loved this book, I should check out the audio! I didn't know Libba also narrated it.

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  4. i've been wanting to read this one for so long! sounds like the audio book really added to the story!

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  5. Your review made me smile, I kept thinking about what a fun audio book this must be. Sounds fantastic.

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  6. Ahh this was on my wish list, once upon a time. Don't know if it still is??

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  7. How do they handle the footnotes in this audiobook? For that element, I prefer to read. I also liked being able to refer back to previous sections to handle all the characters in this book but it's great that Libba Bray got to do her own impressions and add her own inflections for the best experience.

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    1. There is a little bell sound and the narrator states the information in a very prim voice. The footnotes sound like commercials really. I think Libba Bray considers all this when writing this book. You wouldn't have to look back to see who the characters are because of the distinct voices that match each beauty queen's state or some stereotype.

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  8. Oh, the audio version is very tempting but I personally hate the footnotes on audio, I think they are such an awkward thing to fit in!
    Thanks for your review though! I will have to see which one is easier to get for me, text or audio :D

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    1. Oh no, you would forgive the footnote issue in this one. Everything else is so spectacular. I can't imagine it being better read. I think you have to listen to it.

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  9. I think it's interesting the author herself read this one, but it is probably great from a listener's standpoint. I mean, the author knows her characters better than anyone so I'm sure she did an excellent job with it. I do love the premise for this one, which I never knew until you and Alysia reviewed it.

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    1. It was one of the best narrator experiences I've heard. You should really try it.

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  10. Loving the cover. But that is one island where I would not want to be

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    1. Haha! There is a lot going on on that island. You might want to be there for the entertainment value :)

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  11. I am so happy that you found it funny and a good audiobook too! I was actually nervous. I have never really raved about an audiobook until this one. LOL! Glad you liked it!! ;)

    @Jade try it out!

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    1. At first I was so hesitant. When earlier books came out about this book I completely ignored them. So when I started listening it was the first I even knew what it was about. I went off your recommendation and didn't even read the description! I'm so glad I did. It was so fun :)

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